THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS OPERATING PROCEDURE
SUBJECT: University Fees and Charges
PROCEDURE NO: 2D:01:04C DATE: July 1, 1994
SUPERSEDES PROCEDURE NO.: 2D:01:04C DATED: June 21, 1993
INDEX
A. Summary
B. Establishing University Fees/Charges
C. Publishing University Fees/Charges
D. Incidental Fees/Charges and Deposits
E. Determination and Collection of University Fees/Charges
F. Appeals of University Fees/Charges and Refunds
A. Summary
All fees, charges, and deposits assessed and collected by or
for The University of Memphis require formal approval by the
President of the University. Many also require approval by
the Tennessee Board of Regents. See Sections B, C, and D
below.
The Bursar should review and provide written concurrence with
all published information in regard to University fees,
charges, deposits, and refunds.
The Bursar's Office is responsible for the determination and
collection of all amounts due the University. Often the
Bursar's Office will delegate this to provide more convenience
to University customers.
The University has specific procedures through which the
assessment or refund of any fee, fine, or charge can be
appealed. See section F below.
University procedures concerning the handling of cash receipts
should be reviewed and followed if the department or activity
will be involved in the handling of collections. Cash
receipting by other departments must be approved by the Bursar
prior to the collection of University fees and charges.
B. Establishing University Fees/Charges
All requests for the establishment of new University
fees/charges or for changes in existing University
fees/charges should be submitted in writing to the Bursar.
All requests should include the proposed effective date of the
establishment/modification as well as the refund policy for
the fee/charge. If there will be no refund of the fee or
charge, it should be clearly indicated as a "Non-refundable"
fee/charge.
The Bursar will prepare and submit each fee/charge request to
the appropriate officials for formal approval. The Bursar
will formally notify the requesting official of the
fee/charge's approval or the denial of the establishment/
modification of the fee/charge.
The Tennessee Board of Regents has adopted the practice of
approving the establishment and/or modification of fees and
charges once per year at their June meeting when the annual
budget is considered. All fee/charge proposals which require
the Board's approval should, therefore, be submitted to the
Bursar no later than APRIL 1 of each year.
The Bursar's Office will maintain all correspondence and
original approvals of all University fees and charges.
Formal, written internal office procedures will also be
maintained by the Bursar's Office on each type of University
fee, charge, deposit, and revenue amount due the University.
These procedures will include specific information describing
the source of the amount due, the authority, calculation
method, refund policy, effective date, and other provisions
of the particular fee, charge, or deposit.
C. Publishing University Fees/Charges
The University attempts to follow a general standard format
when publishing information on University fees and charges.
The format includes, but is not limited to, the following:
1. All statements which include a University fee/charge
amount should be complete and specific enough to prevent
any misunderstanding by the readers.
2. Whenever a University fee/charge is quoted or specified,
the refund status should also be stated. If there are
qualifying conditions for a fee refund, these conditions
should also be stated.
3. Where applicable, specific dates related to the payment of
University fees and associated fee refunds should be
stated.
4. It should be specified that any payment of University fees
should be made payable to The University of Memphis and an
exact mailing address should be provided if payments by
mail can reasonably be expected.
D. Incidental Fees/Charges and Deposits
The following guidelines have been established in regard to
course related fees and deposits:
1. The Tennessee Board of Regents Incidental Fee Schedule,
approved December 2, 1977, eliminated all miscellaneous
course fees with the exception of fees for private music
lessons (subject to Tennessee Board of Regents approval),
courses utilizing off-campus facilities, continuing
education courses, and breakage deposits.
a. The fees for courses utilizing off-campus facilities
should reflect the cost of the facilities/service and,
if possible, should be paid directly by the student to
the operator of the facility. (This does not apply to
courses/programs sponsored through the International
Studies Program.) University approval is not required
as long as the fee is paid directly to the facility
operator.
b. Continuing Education course fees should reflect the
cost of instruction, materials consumed, and
facilities utilized and may be established by the Vice
President for Academic Affairs or his/her designee.
c. Breakage deposits may be required for courses where it
can be shown that there is a reasonable chance for
loss or damage to items issued to students. The
amount of the deposit should be related to the value
of the materials issued and should be reasonably
subject to a 100% refund.
2. University students may, however, be required to obtain
various materials in order to complete the requirements
for a course. These materials should be obtained directly
from a vendor with the academic department only providing
assistance in the identification of the required materials
and of some possible vendor(s) of the materials.
3. The types of materials which a student may be required to
obtain include, but are not limited to, textbooks and
workbooks, paper, personal professional tools and
instruments, specialized personal clothing, individual
project materials, and travel for field trips. These
required materials, in all cases, remain the property of
the student.
4. Whenever possible, arrangements should be made with the
University Store to stock the course required materials.
The department may require quality and quantity
specifications but in no case require the materials to be
obtained from a specified single source.
In unique situations where the department can show that
it would provide a savings and convenience to the
student, and where the materials cannot be provided by
the University Store, a request may be made for the
department to purchase these materials in quantity and
resell the same to the student in small lots. Examples
include lumber for Engineering Technology and clay for
Art. If the request is approved, the Bursar shall arrange
to set up procedures to collect the amount owed by the
student and credit this amount to the department's
operating expense account.
5. Various materials which will generally be provided by the
academic department include, but are not limited to, fixed
and portable equipment, high cost tools, demonstration items,
and lab supplies.
E. Determination and Collection of University Fees/Charges
The Bursar's Office is responsible for the determination and
collection of University fees and charges and for the
determination of refunds. In some cases, it will be necessary
for other University officials or offices to provide certain
essential information to the Bursar's Office in order to
fulfill these responsibilities.
The Associate Vice President for Finance may also approve, in
specific instances, other University officials/offices to
assume responsibility for the determination and collection of
fees/charges and the determination of refunds. Each instance,
however, must be approved in writing by the Associate Vice
President for Finance.
F. Appeals of University Fees/Charges and Refunds
Any student or other interested individual may appeal the
assessment, application, calculation, or interpretation of any
University fee, charge, deposit, refund, or any University
action connected with fees, charges, refunds, and collection
procedures.
A written appeal may be filed on forms available in the
Bursar's Office and may be approved if within their
guidelines. If the Bursar's Office does not approve the
appeal, it will be forwarded to the Director of Finance
for review. The decision of the Director of Finance may
be appealed to the University's Fee/Refund Appeals Committee;
this is the last appeals step which will be acted upon by the
University. The recommendation of the University's Fee/Refund
Appeals Committee will be forwarded to the Vice President for
Business and Finance for a final decision.
Traffic fines are subject to a separate appeal procedure on
forms available in the Parking Office and in the Office of
Judicial Affairs.