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Regents committee reviews student services fee policy, including inclusion of remote credits and student-majority governance
Summary
Board presenters described the fee's role funding centers, health and wellness, and student activities, discussed a 2017 bill classification and a June 2024 policy consolidation, and noted procedural changes to increase access to fee-funded allocations.
The University of Minnesota Board of Regents' Special Committee on Student Affairs examined how the student services fee is governed and allocated across campuses at its June 2025 meeting, and discussed policy, procedure and equity questions related to who pays the fee and who benefits.
Heather McGinnis, chief of staff and director of operations for student affairs on the Twin Cities campus, said the board consolidated tuition-and-fee governance elements into a single policy in June 2024 and that one significant administrative change was to include credits for off-campus distance classes in the credit count used to determine who is assessed the student services fee. "To better reflect the changing nature of course delivery and remote delivery of programs and services that have historically been campus based, it was decided that we will no longer exclude credits for off campus distance classes from the credit count used to determine the assessment of the fee," McGinnis said. She noted exemptions for annually approved fully online or mid-career professional credit programs and an opt-in option for students who want access to services.
McGinnis described governance safeguards: each campus must maintain a student-majority committee that publishes allocation criteria applied in a viewpoint-neutral manner, provides a process for appeals, and has staff who train and advise student committee members.
David Israel Swinson, senior director of student engagement and well-being on the Morris campus, reviewed the Minnesota omnibus education bill of 2017, which defined four classifications for fee-funded services and capped increases to the student activities fee at 2% without a student referendum. He said administrative units comprise a large portion of the fee and that the fee supports health services (for example, Boynton Health on the Twin Cities campus), student unions and recreation centers, and debt obligations for facility projects (for example, renovation of the Kauffman Union).
Student representative Jocelyn Sturm asked why Morris's share of SSF costs is higher than other campuses. Swinson said Morris's small, remote context requires higher campus-funded service levels because community services are less available; the campus contracts for telepsychiatry with Boynton to address long local waits and its fees committee has prioritized supporting student groups. "Morris being one of the smallest campuses in a very remote environment does tend to have higher fee costs because we have a number of challenges and don't have services that are available in the community," Swinson said.
McGinnis also described process changes on the Twin Cities campus intended to lower barriers for student groups seeking funding, including 10 application deadlines throughout the year and advising to help first-time applicants prepare stronger requests. Committee members did not vote on fee changes; presenters said the policies cited are already approved and that campuses apply the governance framework in local procedures.
