UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls

Finance and Administration Office

Special Course Fees

Special Course Fee Approval Procedures


Special course fees are defined as charges in addition to the regular instructional fee (tuition) and segregated fees. These fees are assessed to all students enrolled in a course with an approved special course fee. Special course fees must be used solely for support of the course involved. Difficulty in securing adequate regular budget support shall not be the determining factor in the decision to charge a special course fee. Special course fees can only be used to cover cost of special fees related to a course. Special course fees cannot be used for expenditures that are unrelated to the original special course fee request (i.e. capital purchases, faculty travel to workshops, etc.). 

When filling out the Request for Approval of Special Course Fee Form, be sure to complete the Reason for Special Course Fee section. The justification needs to be specific and fit within the guidelines of UW System Policy 825 Special Course Fees. Please refer to this policy paper for detailed information and clarification. For example, studio supplies is not adequate, specify type of supplies. Explain why there is a charge. If all students in the class will not be paying the special course fee, contact the Student Billing Office prior to submitting the Request for Approval of Special Course Fee Form. 

All special course fees for GPR courses for a particular term/session must be approved prior to the beginning of registration for that term/session. In order to allow processing time, the following deadline dates have been set and need to be adhered to:

    Fall - March 1
    J-Term - October 1
    Spring - October 1
    Summer - February 1

If the approval for a special course fee is not received by the above deadline date, the department will have to wait until the next term to charge the special course fee.

All Outreach/Extension courses must be approved by the academic dean (Outreach Course Addition Form and/or Course/Instructor Appointment Form) before the course is put on the Web and open for enrollment, but can be approved at any time during the term. At the same time as the course is entered on the Web, but before it is opened for enrollment, the Special Course Fee Form must be completed and forwarded to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration. 

1. A Request for Approval of Special Course Fee Form must be completed for each special course fee. There should only be one special course fee per course. Separate forms must be completed for GPR and Outreach/Extension courses at this time.

2. If there is ANY change from the original request, a new request must be processed (i.e., amount of fee, section #, term, component, etc.). If changes are made to the course set up in eSIS and a new form is not submitted, the special course fee will not be assessed to the students. Special course fee forms will be required each year.  You can request the fee be assessed for one year (rolls from fall to spring), or one term only (fall OR spring). There is a separate Special Course Fee Form for fall/spring terms and one form for J-Term/summer terms.

3. Enter "All" in the section field if all sections of a course should be assessed the special course fee. If the fee is NOT for all sections of a course, please indicate the section numbers on form (i.e., 1 & 2 - 4, 5, 6 & 7, etc.). The section number is important because the special course fee will be assessed to those specific section(s). However, if a course has a different section number than on the original request, the special course fee will not be charged to the students.

4. The completed Request for Approval of Special Course Fee Form should be forwarded to your department chair/unit head.
    a. Department chair/unit head denies the request and returns the request to the person submitting the request, or
    b. Department chair/unit head approves the request and forwards it to the dean.

5. Dean receives the approved Request for Approval Special Course Fee Form.
    a. Dean denies the request and returns the request to the department chair/unit head, or
    b. Dean approves the request and forwards it to the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration.

6. Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration receives the approved Request for Approval of Special Course Fee Form.
    a. Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration denies the request and returns the request to the dean, or
    b. Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration approves the request, and
        1. Sends the form to the Student Billing Office for processing, who in turn will update class notes with the fee amount in eSIS system, update the Excel spreadsheet and keep a file of all special course fees. Legible copies are acceptable.
        2.  Assistant Chancellor and/or Student Billing Office will work with dean's offices on renewing special course fees every year.

7. Refunds: A 100% refund will be issued for special course fees to students who withdraw or drop a course within the first two (2) weeks of a ten-week or longer course and during the first week of a course lasting nine or fewer weeks. After that time, no refund will be issued.  For courses that refund the special course fee to all students enrolled in the course, the minimum refund amount is $25 per student. Funds less than $25 per student will be used for student support purposes.

8. All education abroad fees must be coordinated and approved by the director of the Office of International Ed, who will sign off instead of the department chair. This form is then forwarded to the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for academic approval so advertising can be done for the tour. Once the tour (course) has been entered on eSIS, it is forwarded to the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration for signature/processing.

Special Course Fee Form

 

Special Course Fee Form

View Standard Operating Procedure for more assistance.


All special course fees for GPR courses for a particular term/session must be approved prior to the beginning of registration for that term/session.

Deadlines:

  • Fall - March 1
  • J-Term - October 1
  • Spring - October 1
  • Summer - February 1

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Request for Education Abroad Fee

 

 

Contact Us

Finance and Administration Office
David.Ruhland@uwrf.edu
Phone: 715-425-3737
M-F, 7:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
111 North Hall