7.7.3 Course Material Fees

Some courses on campus may require students to purchase materials or to incur a service expense for the students to receive the full educational benefit from the course. Examples include, but are not limited to,  utilization of clay for an art project or the rental of the Bowling Center for a Life bowling class. These charges are placed in the Campus Solutions (CS) system and billed directly to the student.

Course material fees shall be used exclusively for the acquisition, production, or provision of instructional materials and resources directly related to the course for which the fee is assessed. These funds may not be applied to unrelated expenses. 

Guidelines

1. All departments must apply to the Office of the Provost for the assessment of a course material fee for a specific course using the appropriate Course Material Fee Form on the Office of the Provost website.
2. The fee can be assessed only if it appears in the online registration system for that session, so substantial lead time must be given when requesting a course material fee.
3. CS will bill the student for any course material fee that is assigned to each course registered for. The materials fee charge is billed on the first bill generated after the class is added to the student’s account.
4. As payments are received, CS applies them to the appropriate charges and the money is transferred to the proper financial account.
5. Students are allowed the opportunity to purchase the needed material from other sources. Students who purchase the needed material from other sources must submit the Material Fee Reimbursement form to the Department/School offering the course by the official 10th day of class each semester. The Department/School will review and approve or decline the request; the Department/School will send the approved form to Student Accounts; Student Accounts will verify the fee has been paid and once the fee has been paid Student Accounts will contact the Department/School to submit a voucher for reimbursement to the student.
6. Department/Schools have access to a Cognos report that provides the course material fee revenue details by department, including students enrolled, charge date, and course material fee charge amount. 
7. Questions about establishing materials fees should be directed to the Office of the Provost Office at (309) 438-7018, and all other questions should be directed to the Student Accounts Office at (309) 438-5643.