Section 800: Financial Affairs

Effective:
Revised: October 2016
Last Review: January 2023
Next Review: January 2025
Responsible Party: Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance

Policy:

Special course fees may be established for courses when one or more of the following conditions exist for that course:

  • Specialized activities or equipment fees, where payment is made to entities generally conducting these types of businesses (such as downhill skiing, bowling, etc.);
  • Field trip participation fees;
  • Pass-through fees (such as Red Cross Certifications, Nursing Liability Insurance);
  • Laboratory fees for consumables, excluding standard computer supplies and paper products;;
  • Studio/workshop fees for materials used by students to create a product that becomes the students’ property after used in a specific course.

Procedure:

The following procedures will be followed for obtaining approval for adding and adjusting additional course fees.

  1. Complete a "Course Fee Request" form.
    a.   Explain the reason why new or additional fees should be charged and the use of the fee.
    b.   Describe the type of expenditures to be made.
    c.   Obtain necessary approvals from the Dean and Provost.
  2. Submit the completed form to the Business Services by the end of Fall semester of each even-numbered year. Business Services will then submit the request to the MSU-Bozeman by February 15th for review, and then to Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education in April for submission to the Board of Regents (BOR) at their May meeting for approval.
     
  3. Beginning with the semester following BOR approval, the approved fees will be assessed to all students enrolling in the course. The fee will not be charged prior to BOR approval.
     
  4. Fees collected will be deposited in separate accounts. Use of the money in the account will be restricted to the purpose on the "Course Fee Request" form. Requests for expenditure must have the approval of the course instructor of record, the College Chair, College Dean, and Provost.
     
  5. Balances in the accounts will be subjected to annual review.
    a.   Negative balances will not be permitted. Collections must be deposited in the account prior to expenditure.
    b.   If balances in the account become unjustifiably large, the fee will be reduced or eliminated.