TO:

Richard Crofts, Commissioner of Higher Education

Board of Regents of Higher Education

FROM:

Mary Ellen Baukol, Assistant Dean for Business and Finance

Chris Helgeson, President, MSU-GF Associated Students

RE:

Process for Providing Student Input on New and/or Increased Fees

In response to a request from the Commissioner and the Board of Regents, the Administration and Officers of Associated Students at MSU-GF College of Technology met to establish guidelines for proposing new student fees or increases in existing student fees. The primary purpose of these guidelines is to ensure that the Associated Students of MSU-Great Falls College of Technology are meaningfully included in the development, review, adoption, and implementation of fees charged to students by the College.

To ensure maximum student involvement in the process for fee development and review, the following guidelines will be followed:

1. At least two months prior to the submission of new fee proposals or fee increase proposals to the Board of Regents, the College Administration will present any and all fee proposals to the Student Government of MSU-Great Falls College of Technology for review, discussion, and response.

2. Accompanying the fee proposal(s) will be a description of the proposed new or existing fee(s); a statement of the justification for the new fee, fee increase, or fee reduction; and a copy of the proposed budget for disbursement of the fee(s) once collected or the impact in cases of fee reduction or elimination.

3. The Associated Students of MSU-Great Falls College of Technology will, at its discretion, decide how to gather student input on any proposed fee changes(s). These methods might include:

� Campus Surveys

� E-mail

� Campus Newsletters

� Student Forums

� The formation of ad hoc committees consisting of students, administrators, and faculty to review the fee proposal, gather research and input, and report findings to their constituencies.

4. The administration, faculty, and others involved in the individual fee proposals may be invited to appear or may request to appear before the Associated Students to make a presentation, ask and answer questions, express viewpoints, etc. Whenever possible, these invitations and requests will be accepted by the respective parties.

5. Where and when appropriate or upon request by the Administration, the Associated Students of MSU-Great Falls College of Technology will, in accordance with its bylaws, take formal action on the fee proposal(s) and will provide the Administration with a recommendation(s) for or against the fee proposal(s) or for a modification of the fee proposal(s).

The Associated Students of Montana State University-Great Falls College of Technology understands that the Administration may decide to advance to the Board of Regents a fee proposal(s) that was not approved and/or supported by the Associated Students or by the student body of MSU-Great Falls College of Technology. However, the Administration and the Associated Students agree that, whenever possible, any fee proposal presented for approval and action by the Board of Regents will reflect student input through the process of review outlined here and, ideally, will be supported by a majority of the students� representatives who constitute the Associated Students of MSU-Great Falls College of Technology.

The coordination and oversight of this process is the responsibility of the Assistant Dean for Finance, in consultation with the President of the Associated Students of MSU-Great Falls College of Technology.