Whether a class is online or in person, class fees for the fall semester at the University of Wyoming will not change even if a class converts to online or in person instruction.
Classes that were initially in person but moved to online due to COVID-19 will have the program fees associated with in person classes. All classes initially online will have the Distance Delivery Fee (DDF) according to Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Kyle Moore.
The Program Fees are for campus based courses and vary depending on the college and department offering that course. All fees are a set amount, decided upon by that college and department, per credit hour. These fees cover materials and supplies for the classes. The DDF helps fund computer labs and internet connectivity and other technologies in Wyoming.
DDF also assures that the online course will meet Quality Matters standards, funds professional course designers and teacher resources, pays for Honorlock to proctor tests at $6 per test per student, and funds online tutoring and advising. All online courses have a $25 per credit hour fee regardless of college or department.
More information on the Program Fees and DDF can be found on this site provided by UW.
Hunter Bullard, a senior majoring in Political Science at UW, made a petition through change.org to ask the university to abolish the online fees for classes and to ask for full transparency when it comes to what students are paying for and where their money goes.
“I think that students knowing how much is going towards their classes in and of themselves is great,” said Bullard. “But the President mentioned making a way for students to know where all of their money is going. Which would be great for a few reasons.”
Bullard says the reasons transparency would be great is because then students would be more aware of what the university offers to them. For example, student fees pay for ASUW, the Writing Center, STEP Tutoring and much more.
“The list goes on and on,” said Bullard. “Some students may not know that they’re paying for these things or even that they exist! This will lead to students being more well versed in what is available to them.”
Also, if students are aware of where their money goes then accountability is created for those said places that are receiving funding.
“Transparency and accountability are the keys to making a university that truly works for the students,” said Bullard.
President Seidel saw and responded to Bullards petition on July 29 after receiving about 3,868 signatures. Seidel said he agrees financial accountability and transparency are important especially now during COVID-19. He shared the same decision stated by the Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment Management, Kyle Moore, that classes will have their fees associated with the original intent of how the course was going to be given, either online or in person.
“The program and advising fees on these now-online courses will go directly to support student success services, materials for students, and professional academic advising, as they normally do for campus courses, and those services will continue to be available to you regardless of location,” said Seidel. “This decision will only apply to courses that switched modality from face to face from online, not to courses that originally were scheduled for online delivery.”
Seidel said he requested his team to work with ASUW to make a tool allowing students “to easily understand the fee structure for all degree programs, investigate a better itemized bill structure, and create a dashboard by fee to directly show the benefits of each fee.”
Bullard said she hopes to see a plan for this transparency tool by the fall semester of 2021 giving the university over a year to come up with a plan. She said she will be graduated by then but would help other students create another petition if transparency is not shown by then if asked.
“If it takes longer, then I’d like to see transparency as to why that’s the case,” said Bullard. “As long as they’re being honest and up front with us students I’ll understand if they can’t get it together by next fall.”
Overall Bullard said she is satisfied with the outcome of the petition. She said she knew she was asking a lot in her wanting all classes to have the Program Fees and none have the DDF. Bullard said she is very thankful to everybody who signed the petition, shared it and contacted those who could make decisions on this matter.
“I was so amazed and excited! I had gotten responses to the petition from people in ASUW, but they were all people who are friends of mine,” said Bullard. “I definitely wasn’t expecting a response from President Seidel and I’m so thrilled and honored that not only did he take the time to reply but that he also heard us and decided to implement the requests in the petition.”
