In an effort to produce additional revenue in the midst of budget cuts, Chancellor Dennis Shields finalized a fee increase for dropping or adding a class from $15 to $45. The fee applies to classes that are added or dropped outside of the open drop-add period, which runs during the first ten days of the semester.

Shields informed campus governance leaders of the change, effective next semester, through a Dec. 4 memo.  The memo, which circulated as a draft, includes reduction, revenue and investment categories. Shields said that “the present plan creates reductions in the amount of $1.6 million,” and that he would be making decisions on further cuts after his senior staff submits additional recommendations to him in three weeks.

Registrar David Kieckhafer estimated that $46,500 would be produced annually from the increased fees, based on an estimated 1,735 students adding or dropping a class during the academic year. He stated in an email “approximately 1,600 add/drop transactions [were] assessed the fee each year during the past five years.”

Kieckhafer noted that $21,456.28 was generated during 2015 on the current $15 fee, but that amount will not be enough to cover projected future expenses in the Registrar’s Office

“We know there are expenses that will need to come from this account in the next five years which are primarily salary and software related” Kieckhafer wrote. “Those projected expenses necessitated a raise in the fee.”

Kieckhafer said next semester the drop fee will automatically be added to the student’s bill after the drop has been processed by the Registrar’s Office.

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