2014-15 Student Technology Fee Plan Requirements

  M E M O R A N D U M

To: College Presidents
From: Brian Cohen
Subject: Student Technology Fee Plans - Academic Year 2014-15 Plan
Date: February 21, 2014

As you know, each year campuses develop a Student Technology Fee (STF) Plan with the goal of bettering the student educational experience through technology improvements.  Over the years the STF has greatly benefitted CUNY students in many different ways such as funding software and hardware improvements, expanding our library resources and developing mobile applications.  In order to continue our success and allow for meaningful STF plan review and input prior to the end of the academic year, and provide the Colleges with sufficient time to begin implementing their proposals over the summer, this year’s plans should be submitted to the Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor and University CIO by April 25, 2014.

The STF Plan, and the associated budget, should be based on projected enrollment for Academic Year 2014-2015 and reflect your campus priorities regarding technology investments and improved technology related services. 

Academic Year 2014-15 Student Technology Fee Plan Requirements
The projects supported by the STF must directly benefit students.  Common uses include continued upgrades and replacement of student accessible computers, providing new or improved online student services, providing wireless access on campus, mobile applications, and supporting faculty development, and increasing the number of electronic media resources/publications in libraries.  Please ensure that at least 10% of the planned expenditures are for electronic media resources and publications in libraries.

Your submitted plans should include the following:

(1) A list of the members of the Student Technology Fee Committee, including their respective positions on campus. We ask that you be mindful of the interim Chancellor’s request that significant student representation on the Student Technology Fee Committee be maintained at each campus.  Please be sure to include a member of your elected student representatives when selecting your student participants. 

(2) A summary of your overall budget, using the attached Budget Summary form; each sub-section on your Budget Summary Form must have a subtotal (see attached).

(3) A detailed description of each project to be covered by the STF.  Please provide sufficient detail to enable us to understand your reasons for selecting the project and its intended purpose.  For example, please describe how software selections will benefit students.  A listing of projects and their costs alone is not sufficient.

(4) Plans must also be made easily accessible via your college’s website.

Tech Fee Increase
As a result of the success of the programs and services associated with the STF the CUNY Board of Trustees, at the June 2013 meeting, approved an increase in the Student Technology Fee.  Beginning with the Spring 2014 semester, full-time students at senior colleges will pay $125 (a $25 increase) and part-time students will pay $62.50 (a $12.50 increase) per semester.  The increase will take effect at community colleges beginning with the Fall 2015 semester. 

Revision of the Enterprise Technology Initiative
The current Enterprise Technology Initiative (ETI) has over the past several years been very successful in introducing, supporting, and adopting new technologies that have enterprise benefits to our students and colleges.  Under the current program, initiatives funded through the ETI are seeded for up to three years before the costs become part of the campus/University annual operating budget.  Each year the ETI has been funded with approximately $3 million, of which $2 million was used to support previously approved projects and $1 million was allocated to new projects. 

The revised ETI program will now be funded at $7.5 million each year, and all funds will fully support those projects selected and approved through a newly defined governance process.  The $7.5 million will include the original $3 million campus ETI funds provided in previous years and an additional $4.5 million from Student Technology Fee monies.  The campus responsibility for the additional $4.5 million will be calculated by using the number of student FTEs in the most recent IPEDS report available.  This has already been shared with the members of the IT Steering Committee.  

Since the Tech Fee increase for the community colleges does not go into effect until Fall 2015, their portion of the increase to the ETI will be waived until then.  The community colleges are still responsible for contributing their respective portion of the ETI as in previous years.    

Please send an electronic version of your Student Technology Fee plan by April 25, 2014 to Tech.Fee@mail.cuny.edu . If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at brian.cohen@cuny.edu . As always, I am available to assist you in identifying other successful themes and projects around the University. You may also wish to consult with George Otte, University Director of Academic Technology, who will be helping me review your plans and make recommendations on your submissions.

Attachment

c: Chancellor Kelly
Allan Dobrin, Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer
Chancellor’s Cabinet
George Otte, University Director of Academic Technology
IT Steering Committee

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