NEWS | November 12, 2003

Tuition and Fees
SC leader: Add/drop fee unjust
The proposed add/drop fee may be needed but is unfair to those who are not abusing the registration system, the SC President says.

By Lisa Evans
Contributor to The Shorthorn

Student Congress President Josh Warren has drafted an amendment to an administrative plan to charge students for adding and dropping courses after the first day of class.

Warren, an engineering graduate student, says “innocent bystanders” should not be charged the $2-per-credit-hour penalty if they adjust their schedules because the name of the professor or the syllabus is not available. The fee would also be waived if the professor changed during the semester.

The Fee Oversight Committee will discuss the administrative proposal, first introduced a meeting last week, at its Dec. 1 meeting. Administrators said they proposed the penalty to curb schedule change “abuse.”

“Everyone agrees there is a problem, but our concern is that we want students to able to plan ahead,” Warren said. “This is a great compromise to discourage students from this behavior.”

Rusty Ward, interim vice president for business affairs and controller, presented the Accounting and Business Services plan to congress last week. He told senators the plan is not aimed at generating revenue. If implemented, it is projected to bring in about $275,000, which will be earmarked for defraying the costs associated with billing and collection.

Ward said Tuesday that the administrative proposal protects students who must add or drop classes through no fault of their own. The penalty would not be levied if the schedule change results from a university error.

Efforts to compel professors to post syllabi online have long been one of congress’ missions. Senators adopted a non-binding resolution in spring 1996 calling for mandatory online syllabus postings.

Interim Provost Dana Dunn said administrators urge departments to post syllabi early to help students plan classes, but that it is difficult for some departments.

“I appreciate Warren’s concern, and I think it is viable,” she said.

Ward suggested excessive schedule changes are the cause — not the result — of schedule listings that do not say who will teach the course.

“The name of the professor is not on the schedule of classes because we know that there will be so much adding and dropping, and we cannot accurately tell who will teach the class,” Ward said. “So it’s a chicken-and-egg question: What comes first?”

Warren countered by saying students aren’t equipped to make their schedules without the information.

Ward said students should be able to take care of their business early enough to not be penalized.

“The message we are sending students is: If this is what you want to do, there will be a cost associated with it,” he said.

The University of Texas at Arlington | Department of Student Publications
© Copyright 2001. All Rights Reserved. Corrections | Webmaster