Board of Trustees Meeting Recap

07/27/2017


SGA President Ranger Rumrill listens as Sen. Vivian Figures speaks at the summer meeting of the JSU Trustees.

During its summer meeting on July 25, the JSU Board of Trustees adopted the 2017-18 tuition and fees proposal recommended by the Tuition and Fees Evaluation Committee.

“It’s great to be able to report our students will not have an increase in tuition for the next year,” said President John Beehler. “Most of the institutions in the state are increasing tuition 3-5 percent, so we are very happy to be the only institution not to raise tuition this year.” 

The board made the following announcements:

Tuition:

  • No increase in undergraduate or graduate student tuition for Fall 2017, Spring 2018 or Summer 2018
  • For nursing students in the BSN-to-DNP or post-master’s DNP programs, a one-price tuition with a tuition lock if they are consistent with their plan of study (those who do not attend for a semester will have to pay current tuition and fees upon re-entry and lose eligibility for the one-price tuition with lock)
  • For doctoral students in emergency management, a three-year tuition freeze at $461/credit hour. Eliminate the doctoral fee.

New Fees:

  • Respiratory Therapy Program: $200 per semester (for lab supplies and equipment) for this new program
  • HPE 141: $300 per course (Alpine Skiing II course with out of pocket expenses, cost directly related to activity)
  • HPE 303: $130 per course (Live Text requirement for PE students, previously paid in School of Education as a program fee)
  • HPE 355: $175 per course (Praxis fee and supervisor travel, previously paid in School of Education as a program fee)
  • HPE 409: $255 per course (EdTPA costs and supervisor travel for PE students, previously paid in School of Education as a program fee)
  • HPE 482: $255 per course (EdTPA costs and supervisor travel for PE students, previously paid in School of Education as a program fee)
  • SMR 275: $220 per course (certification costs for wilderness and first aid certification)
  • ED 300: $20 (Students have always been required to purchase individual liability insurance in the School of Education. By charging this expense as a fee, it enables JSU to purchase insurance at a group rate and save students $15)
  • Child Study Center: A deposit will now be charged to hold a registration slot for children in the Child Study Center, to be applied toward tuition if child enrolls (non-refundable if family cancels enrollment)
  • Master of Social Work Program: This new program will assess $30 the first semester to cover program materials
  • SW 570 and SW 571: $30 per course (to cover internship materials and field instructor travel for this new program)

Increased Fees:

  • HPE 140: Increased from $200 to $300 per course (Alpine Skiing I course with out of pocket expenses, cost directly related to activity)
  • HPE 147, 148, 158: Increased from $30 to $75 per course (costs directly associated with facility fee (cross-fit) and canoeing/rafting
  • HPE 164: Increased from $10 to $20 per credit hour (costs directly associated with two weekends of natural rock climbing and cliff rappelling)
  • HPE 232: Increased from $10 to $15 per credit hour (costs directly associated with CPR certification expenses)
  • Transcript Fee: For the first time since 1992, the transcript fee has been increased to cover expenses. In-office requests have been increased from $5 to $12, online mailed requests have been increased from $5 to $7.75 (with $2.25 processing fee – bringing the total to $10), and electronic PDF transcripts have been increased from $5 to $6 (with a $4 processing fee, for a total of $10)

Decreased or Removed Fees

  • HPE 104-170 (with exceptions noted above): Decrease from $10 to $5 per credit hour
  • HPE 362, 381, 400, 415: Decrease from $10 to $5 per credit hour
  • SMR 271 and 310: Decrease from $10 to $5 per credit hour
  • FCS 122: Remove the $50 course fee
  • FCS 353: Remove the $15 course fee
  • School of Education Program Fees: Program fees removed. Students in the Teacher Education Program (TEP) were being charged program fees ranging from $228-231 per semester. Those taking non-program courses were charged the TEP program fee. The fee is now converted to a course fee so that students only pay when registering for courses on the TEP checklist). The following course fees will be assessed instead:
    • ECE 306, EED 339, EED 340, ED 496: $275 (total student outlay for out-of-pocket expenses is now prorated over four semesters)
    • SPE 340, SPE 341, SPE 440, ED 496: $275 (total student outlay for out-of-pocket expenses is now prorated over four semesters)
    • CTE 362, CTE 440, CTE 460: $205 (total student outlay for out-of-pocket expenses is now prorated over three semesters for Secondary Education)
    • ED 496, ESE 306, ESE 485: $275 (total student outlay for out-of-pocket expenses is now prorated over three semester; Praxis tests have different costs for different programs)
    • Mathematics and Computer Information Services Program: Lab course fees reduced from $40 to $20 per course
    • Community College Students: University, program and course fees are now waived for community college students enrolled in a required pre-transfer course at JSU.
    • Doctoral Students: Eliminate all fees with the exception of university fees and necessary programmatic fees

In other news, the Board of Trustees adopted the university’s FY2018 budget and passed a resolution delegating the president of the university has the authority to decide when and where alcohol may be dispensed on campus by licensed vendors for special events.

The meeting was the first time the board moved from a one-day to a two-day meeting format, enabling the trustees to spend more time on campus and attend all committee meetings (which previously ran concurrently).

The next regular meeting of the board will take place on Oct. 23-24, with the general session on Oct. 24 at 10 a.m.