Student Services Fee Guidelines: Crookston

Membership of the Student Service Fee Committee

• Members are recruited each Fall. 
• CSA will advertise potential membership to a wide, diverse audience. Interested student members should submit names to the CSA Staff Advisor no later than October 15^th. 
• All committee seats are open.
• Membership should reflect a broad array of interest, participation, and knowledge. Qualities include open mindedness, broad understanding and knowledge of UMC and student needs and objectivity. 
• Committee will be composed of six students appointed by CSA (assisted by the Assistant Director of Engagement and Transition Programs). One student will be the Regent’s representative.  Three students will serve two year terms, three students will serve one year terms. Each of these representative students must have paid the student service fee for each fall and spring semester.
• Committee will be composed of three faculty as appointed by the Chancellor.
• Ex-officio members will be the Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Director of Finance, and the Assistant Director of Student Activities. 

Training

• Mandatory committee member training will be held in January by the Assistant Director of Student Activities. Topics will include viewpoint neutrality, introduction to the process, and rationale for the process, member expectations, timeline, criteria, and the Board of Regents Policy.
• Mandatory requesting group training (via email) will be conducted in January by the Assistant Director of Student Activities and the Director of Finance. Additional training is available by appointment for new requests.

Application/Eligibility of Student Services Fee Requests by student organizations

• Must provide specific, identifiable educational benefit and service to students.
• Must have clear plans and goals.
• Must comply with the university’s discrimination policy.
• Must provide achievable, measurable, and affordable objectives.
• Must demonstrate a need for the request for funding to achieve objectives. 
• Must be a registered student organization in good standing (i.e. service hours, meetings) for at least two years.
• Must accurately complete application and fully participate in the identified fees process.
• Must have written governing guidelines and follow them.
• Must not knowingly violate financial policies within the two previous years.
• Must demonstrate an ability to manage and dispense funds.
• New requests must meet the above criteria and submit, in writing, their intent to apply to the Office of Student Activities.
• Application must be received prior to the application deadline. If the deadline is not met, the application will be refused. 
• In order for a unit to receive an increase, they must formally request one and be present at the hearing. 

Process/Support which supports Viewpoint Neutrality

• All fee requesting units must follow the above application/eligibility requirements.
• Phase I is a review of the submitted materials. During phase I organizations will submit their proposed budget and provide an overview of their organization addressing the criteria. Any group asking for an increase in funding or new funding requests will automatically be asked to a hearing in front of the student fees committee.  
• Phase II hearings may be followed up by questions or requests for additional information to the requesting organization from the committee. Members will have the opportunity to ask questions. 
• Final deliberations will be conducted in March with recommendations to the Chancellor by mid-March. All decisions will be made from a viewpoint neutral position. As appropriate, request a review by General Counsel prior to final decisions.
• All student groups seeking SSF funds must comply with the University’s Equal Opportunity Statement.
• Organizations/departments will be notified at the same time and given a minimum of one week to appeal the decision in writing (see the Board of Regents Policy).

Criteria for Decisions

• Accessibility to students
  • Fee-supported services must be available to all students assessed. 
• Fiscal responsibility
  • Does the organization/department’s proposal show a balanced budget?
  • If applicable, does the organization/department have a plan for debt reduction/expenditures?
  • Are prior years’ expenses in-line with their budget?
  • Is the budget presentation clear?
• Advisory board participation for student organizations
  • Does the organization hold regular meetings?
  • Do students have input into the budget process?
  • Did advisory board approve the budget?
  • Is there a student majority on the advisory board?
  • Three students are required to speak on behalf of the fee at the fee’s hearing.
• User fees/in kind/volunteer/other
• Value to the student body
  • Does the organization/department contribute to the total campus life environment?
  • What personal benefits are derived from fees?
• Quality of services
  • What does the organization/department do to access and improve quality of services to students?
  • From the bi-annual survey, how do you address any issues that were raised?
• Uniqueness of opportunities/services
• Consideration of overall fee cost
• Special assessments to the student services fee may be authorized by the fees committee for clearly defined classes of students.

Appeals Process

• Students may appeal the decision of the Student Service Fee Committee only if they believe that one of the following conditions have been met:
  1. The committee violated its own rules.
  2. The committee exhibited bias.
  3. The committee did not make a decision in a viewpoint-neutral and reasonable manner.
• Organizations/departments need to submit appeals, in writing, to the Student Service Fee Committee. The committee will then vote on the appeal and forward their recommendation to the Chancellor.
• A copy of the appeal needs to be submitted to the CSA Executive Board.
• The Chancellor will respond to all appeals. 

Review Process

• Every two years conduct a student evaluation/feedback process via campus-wide assessment. 
• At the end of the cycle, the committee, fee receiving organizations/departments, and students have the opportunity to provide feedback to ex-officio committee members.
• Ex-officio committee members will review student service fee policies and procedures each fall to determine if changes are necessary and will notify all fee receiving groups of changes that will take place during the next student service fee cycle.