IT Services
Student Technology Fee

Technology Fee Management Plan
January 2003

PURPOSE

The general computer technology fee approved by the Board of Education at the March 18, 2002 meeting created a new source of revenue for the college. This Technology Fee Management Plan replaces the Interim Technology Fee Management Plan dated May 2002.  The plan is intended to provide general information about the technology fee, specific management guidelines and instructions for applying for funding.

FY03 EXPERIENCE

FY03 was considered a transition year.  The disbursement of tech fee revenues was managed under the Interim Technology Fee Management Plan.

Actual revenue from the technology fee totaled $ 657,681 for the period July 1 to December 30, 2002.  The fund is assessed a 4.5%.  Estimated total revenue for FY03 is $ 920,000.

Following the guidelines established in the Interim Technology Fee Management Plan:

• TACT approved $ 258,000 to replace course fees that were eliminated when the technology fee was created.
• TACT also approved $ 390,753 in departmental requests through the October 31 funding cycle.
• Through December 30, 2002 tech fee allocations totaled $668,515.  Collected revenues totaled $657,681.

The AVP for Information Technology, with TACT as the advisory board, manages the fund for the college. The first year of administration of this new revenue was considered a transition year. During the transition year, the principal fund objectives were clarified.  In order of priority, they are:

• Adequately maintain existing technology
• Provide increased student access to technology
• Establish a student technology reserve fund
• Fund new technology

Requests for funding with the general computer technology fee will be ranked using these criteria:

Technology that impacts students

This criterion gives priority to uses that provide the greatest benefit to the greatest number of students.

Alignment with college plans

This criterion gives priority to uses that support college plans and initiatives like the Technology Vision and Guiding Principles, the LASR project or SLI initiatives regarding technology that impacts students.

Other resources available to the requesting unit

This criterion recognizes that some units have multiple sources of funding available. It gives priority to units without other funding sources.

TACT reserves a portion of year’s revenue to maintain the fiscal stability of the fund.  For FY03 TACT reserved 3% for bad debt, 10% for a student technology reserve fund and 5% for contingency.  The bad debt reserve percentage is fixed by the college, TACT re-evaluates the other percentages each year. PROCESS

The AVP for Information Technology, in consultation with TACT, will manage the funding process.
Annual funding process:

• This process coincides with the college budgeting cycle.
• Requests for FY04 must be received by March 7, 2003.
• Requests must be submitted by a departmental manager.
• Multiple requests from one department must be ranked by priority
• A contact person must be included with each request in case additional information is required.
• Requests will be reviewed by the AVP for IT and TACT.
• Decision on funding requests will be made by May 15.

• Contingency requests may be submitted at any time during the year.
• Requests must be submitted by a departmental manager.
• Multiple requests from one department must be ranked by priority.
• The AVP for IT will review and approve contingency requests as appropriate

FUND GUIDELINES

Some guidelines that TACT has established:

• Funds are applied to instructional computer technology uses (as opposed to, for example, automotive technology).
• Funds may be used for hourly lab assistants, but cannot be used to fund any salaried positions.
• All expenditures must remain in the technology fund (that is, the FUND code used on all expenses must be 926500).
• Any department funding allocation remaining at the end of each fiscal year will be returned into the technology fund (that is, there is no departmental carryover).
• Any expenditure in excess of the approved allocation is the responsibility of the department.
• Collaborative initiatives are encouraged.
• Funds must be used only for the approved purposes.
• In FY04 requests should be for annual amounts.