This pertains to the assessment of special course fees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The authority to assess special course fees comes from the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System which is empowered to establish special course fees under the provisions of Wis. Stat. § 36.27(1). UW System Administrative Policy 825, Special Course Fees outlines procedures for establishing and approving special course fees for credit courses.
UW-Madison may assess special course fees to pay for certain instructional costs that are not covered by the regular instructional budget. Special course fees may be used for a variety of purposes, as deemed necessary by UW-Madison, for the delivery of a credit course.
Some examples of purposes for which UW-Madison may charge special course fees include:
Special course fees shall be used solely for approved purposes and in support of the courses for which the fees were assessed. UW-Madison must strive to provide all students in a course who are charged a special course fee with a reasonable opportunity to benefit equally from the fee.
UW-Madison may not use special course fees as a substitute for obtaining adequate regular budget support for a course. UW-Madison is prohibited from charging special course fees for costs that should reasonably be covered by the regular instructional budget.
UW-Madison students sometimes incur personal expenses by directly purchasing required, recommended, and optional instructional materials in support of their educational experience. These personal or incidental expenses do not typically require approval as a special course fee unless UW-Madison collects fees from students to facilitate payment for goods and services needed for a course.
Some examples of personal expenses include:
