In light of student concerns being raised last semester, administrators have stated that students will not be issued refunds on laboratory fees. In an email to The Stute, the Office of the Provost commented that “all revenues collected from tuition and fees go back to support the overall academic experience for students and the operations of the university.”
For background, every course that is identified as a lab has an associated fee, currently $98, for necessary materials and general upkeep. As outlined in an article by Matthew Cunningham last semester, numerous ‘labs’ charge this fee, despite not supplying equipment or materials to enhance the student experience. The list of courses currently includes E 120, CS 115, CS 135, and CS 306, all of which simply have students bring their own computers.
The Stute reached out to a senior studying Computer Science, who commented saying, “any lab that charges a fee should be providing materials used in the lab; classes such as CS 115 and CS 306 have no such materials.”
When the lab fee dilemma was initially brought forth in the Spring of 2019, Associate Provost Cindy Chin detailed that further analysis with respect to how courses are identified as labs needed to be done before conclusions could be drawn and action could be taken. Chin also explained that they would be investigating the scope of the issue before making the decision on whether or not refunds would be issued to students charged.
Provost Christophe Pierre, when reached out to for an update last week, explained that “due to the cyberattack, [they] are delayed in finalizing [their] review, but expect to conclude later this semester.”
Provost Pierre went on to mention that despite the raised concerns, no changes could be made to address the situation in time for the 2019-2020 academic year. He clarified that the decision to include lab fees for all labs in tuition rates was made far in advance by the Board of Trustees. Finally, he mentioned that “changes to the fees will be subsequent to a review by the Board of Trustees this coming December, to be effective for academic year 2020-2021.
With the review of the identification process for labs concluding within the same timeframe of the Board of Trustees decision, hopefully the students’ concerns will be addressed in time. The anonymous student responded understandingly, mentioning that, “there are a lot of things happening on campus — the printers still do not even work. I hope that this issue is dealt with soon, even if not for this upcoming year.”
Be First to Comment