The “Student Technology Fee” consists of $62.50 of the $70 per semester Morris Campus Fee. All UMM students taking more than six credits on campus are assessed this fee.
The funds collected from the Technology Fee are intended to provide new and/or improved technology at UMM to benefit students on campus. Any member of the UMM campus (students, faculty, staff) can apply for these funds.
Proposals for Technology Fee funding are collected in the spring. The Morris Campus Student Association (MCSA) Forum is charged with the solicitation and collection of proposals, as well as the recommended organization and allocation of the funds provided by the Technology Fee. Representatives from Information Technology/Computing Services, Briggs Library, and Instructional and Media Technologies are present during the hearings and allocation meetings to contribute to the discussion and inform the student leaders making recommendations. The MCSA Secretary of Resources and Operations leads the student government in this process.
Once the recommended allocations are determined by the MCSA Forum, they are submitted to the Chancellor for approval. Following this, those who submitted proposals will be notified of the status of their respective allocation(s) and expected to make associated purchases in the following fiscal year (beginning July 1st). The MCSA Secretary of Resources and Operations is responsible for ensuring necessary support is provided to allocated parties as needed.
Allocations are determined based on the Technology Fee Guidelines, as approved by the MCSA Forum. The Guidelines document, current proposal form, and maintenance and upkeep agreement (required for all proposals) may be accessed from the links on the right side of this page.
A Brief History of the Fee
In 1997, 92% of Morris students wanted to see improvements in technology and infrastructure at UMM; 62% of students were willing to pay a mandatory technology fee to support it. The initial fee was assessed at $35 per quarter to create approx. $189,000. When the tech fee was implemented UMM was under the quarter, not the semester system. Once UMM changed to a semester format, the total amount remained approximately the same, and the fee was adjusted to $52.50 per semester.
It was later increased to $62.50 to improve access to funding and adjust for inflation from the original amount. In the summer of 2011, a University system-wide policy change required the creation of the Morris Campus Fee, under which the Technology Fee was consolidated. Completing this fee was a $7.50 line-item dedicated to improvements in technological infrastructure on campus. The rest continues to operate as it did when the Technology Fee existed on its own, remaining the primary source of student computer lab and classroom technology funding, among many, many other special projects that bring significant benefits to the student body and campus as a whole.
History of the Fee was taken from a history compiled by Tim Lindberg in 2005. Sources used: Old MCSA computer files, Archived UR issues