Establishment of Fees and Charges
The Tennessee Board of Regents must establish or approve all institutional fees and charges unless specific exceptions are provided. The Board has adopted a practice of approving changes in fees and charges one time per year at the Board meeting when the annual operating budgets are considered. This is usually done at the regular June meeting of the Board. Fees and charges which require Board approval should be submitted one month prior to the submission of the proposed budget.
The president is responsible for the enforcement and collection of all fees and charges. Fees and charges which specifically do not require Board approval must receive formal approval by the president or designee.
When information on fees and charges is published the following information should be included:
- All statements that include the fee amount should be complete and specific enough to prevent misunderstanding by readers.
- Where a fee is quoted, the refundable status should be clearly stated. If there are qualifying conditions for refunds, those conditions also should be stated. If there is no refund, it should be labeled as non-refundable.
- Wherever possible, specific dates related to the payment of fees and the refundable status should be stated.
- It should be made clear that all fee levels and conditions are subject to change at any time.
Approval of Exceptions
The president or designate has the authority to determine the applicability of certain fees, fines, charges, and refunds, and to approve exceptions in instances of unusual circumstances. All such actions should be properly documented for auditing purposes.
Appeals Process
Separate appeals processes have been established for the different types of fees, charges, and refunds. In all circumstances, the final appeal may be made to the president or a designee.
Payment of Student Fees
As provided in VSCC policy IV:07:08:
An applicant for admission to the college will be considered and counted as a student when all assessed fees have been paid in cash, when the initial minimum payment due under the deferred payment plan has been paid, or when an acceptable commitment from an agency or organization approved by the college has been received by the college. An applicant shall possess an acceptable commitment when he/she has timely submitted an application for financial aid with the reasonable probability of receiving such. It is the Director of Financial Aid's responsibility to accept and approve commitments from agencies or organizations and to record the commitment in the Student Information System (SIS). The Director of Financial Aid will also determine if a student has timely submitted an application for financial aid with a reasonable probability of receiving aid.
Pursuant to the above condition, payment of all applicable fees or payment of the initial minimum payment due under the deferred payment plan(IV:07:01) prior to the regular registration period is required for students who participated in the advanced or preregistration process prior to the official registration period. Students who do not prepay all fees or have an acceptable approved financial aid deferment will forfeit preregistration privileges and must enroll under the normal registration process. The Assistant Vice President for Business and Finance and the Director of Financial Aid are authorized to approve exceptions to this paragraph.
TBR Source: December 2, 1977 TBR meeting. Revised March 14, 1980 TBR meeting; November 13, 1991 presidents meeting; November 8, 1982 presidents meeting; July 1, 1984; November 1, 1988; May 15, 1990 presidents meeting; August 14, 1990 presidents meeting; November 10, 1992 presidents meeting; August 10, 1993 presidents meeting; November 9, 1993 presidents meeting; August 9, 1994 presidents meeting; May 8, 1995 presidents meeting, August 8, 1995 presidents meeting, November 8, 1995 presidents meeting, February 6, 1996 presidents meeting, May 14, 1996 presidents meeting, November 12, 1996 presidents meeting, May 6, 1997 presidents meeting, July 16, 1997 called Board meeting, November 5, 1997 presidents meeting, February 17, 1998 presidents meeting via conference call, August 25, 1998 presidents meeting, May 9, 2000 presidents meeting, August 8, 2000 presidents meeting, November 8, 2000 presidents meeting, February 13, 2001 presidents meeting, August 21, 2001 presidents meeting, May 21, 2002 presidents meeting, February 11, 2003 presidents meeting, May 20, 2003 presidents meeting, February 10, 2004 presidents meeting, August 17, 2004 presidents meeting, February 8, 2005 presidents meeting, May 17, 2005 presidents meeting, February 8, 2006 presidents meeting, May 16, 2006 presidents meeting, August 16, 2006 presidents meeting, May 15, 2007 presidents meeting, August 21, 2007 presidents meeting, November 6, 2007 presidents meeting, February 17, 2009 presidents meeting; May 12, 2009 presidents meeting.
VSCC Source March 11, 1997, President; December 2, 2008, President; June 24, 2009, President
