1. Requested by: CLA Dean on behalf of the College of Liberal Arts

2. Effective Date of fee: Fall Quarter, 2002

3. Proposed fee increase: The fee information is posted here. The fee will be adjusted annually to reflect the three-year average of the Higher Education Price Index (http://www.afd.calpoly.edu/budget/default.htm). Note that the fee listed for CLA, as for the other colleges, includes the pre-existing "Cal Poly Plan" fee since both make up the "academic fee."

4. A) Basis for the fee level requested: Complete detail can be found in the Dean's html letter to the college that is posted at http://cla.calpoly.edu/cla/CPP/letter.html . The rationale is twofold: to enhance offerings to students and to preserve quality. CLA has analyzed, in detail, the extent to which current funding does not allow us to replace aging equipment and to support student activities like debate, CPTV, and our various music ensembles. We are $188,000 short in the former category and $71,000 short in the latter, unadjusted for inflation, on an annual basis. Additionally, with a ratio of FTES/FTEF that exceeds considerably other colleges on campus and most other institutions that are peers, we are not able to offer the class sizes, number of offerings, and field supervisions that further can enrich learning at Cal Poly. Details of these analyses of teaching force and of the cost to close the gap are posted at http://cla.calpoly.edu/cla/CPP/index.html . Were the projected fee dollars (see below) focused only on hiring new teachers in the college, it could yield approximately 20 positions (@200 sections or about 5,000 seats). Also, while we are hoping against a cut to the college budget in'02-03, these projections demonstrate that temporarily fee dollars could immunize our majors against deterioration, and then the dollars could be re-deployed for significant enhancements.

4. B) Description of consultation used to determine the fee: CLA has posted its consultation process and dates at http://cla.calpoly.edu/cla/CPP/calend.html . On November 30th, the Dean presented fee options to the CLA Advisory Board, CLA Student Council representatives, CLA club representatives, and the CLA department chairs. At that meeting, the participants recommended a fee request between $125 and $150 per quarter. The Dean met with the ASI President on December 10th and met with the CLA Student Council President on January 14th to clarify when and how to meet with other student representatives in January and February, as well as to solicit their input about the proposed consultation process, should the fee be passed. As the calendar demonstrates, at least four open sessions for members of the college were set up for January. As of December 27th, CLA ASI representatives, Student Council members, and department chairs were alerted about these plans. Announcements were posted in The Mustang Daily, broadcast in classes, and emailed, beginning January 7th. Additionally, the Dean met with student representatives from Theatre/Dance, Art/Design, English, Psychology/CD and Philosophy in January. The Dean met with the CLA Student Council about this on January 8th and 15th, too. In January, the Dean met with faculty and staff throughout the college, as the posted calendar shows.

5. Purpose of the fee (in general terms): The academic program fee will be used to support the education of students majoring in their respective departments/programs in the college and taking general education courses and electives. IT WILL NOT BE USED TO FUND GE NEEDS FOR NON-CLA STUDENTS. Uses for this fee will include: hiring faculty, lecturers, and student workers to open more classes; purchasing, maintaining, and repairing instructional equipment and technology to update labs; and supporting student instructionally related activities to enhance, for instance, club activities. With the approval of the review committees (see below), funds can be transferred to other units to support courses and experiences that CLA students engage in outside their own departments.

6. A financial analysis prepared with the assistance of the Budget Office: A preview can be seen under fee distribution at http://cla.calpoly.edu/cla/CPP/index.html. With 3,166 majors in AY, 2001-02, a $125 per quarter fee would yield $1,187,259.

7. Factors influencing the decision to adjust the fee: Much of this can be found under 4a), where we addressed both the cost of enhancement (equipment replacement, renewal, faculty positions, student activities). Also, we have detailed tuition/fees at several dozen competitor institutions and have found that our fees are one-half to two-thirds the norm. (See http://cla.calpoly.edu/cla/CPP/index.html for details.) Since CPEC (California Post-Secondary Education Commission) has documented a substantial decline in constant dollars per FTES in the CSU since 1986, quality has become even harder to sustain. Since 1998, we have compensated, in part, by both increasing class sizes and securing external funds to help with operating expenses especially. In fact, since 1998 CLA has raised over $7,000,000--much in bequests (deferred gifts), in-kind equipment (costly technology), and scholarships. As extraordinarily helpful as such generosity is, it does not fill the fee gap; it does not replace the decrease in constant dollars from the state.

8. Description of proposed process to inform students of the proposal / Information Campaign to Inform Student Voters - 30(+) Days: We will schedule at least four college-wide forums, conduct department meetings with majors visit with IRA clubs in CLA, make announcements about the meetings in each department's classes, post at least four quarter page ads in The Mustang Daily, develop a fee web site with pertinent information, mass email CLA majors twice, and mail to students' parents. A public calendar (http://cla.calpoly.edu/cla/CPP/calend.html) will be maintained, as well as a "talkback site": http://www.calpoly.edu/%7Ecla/clatalk/index.html . A banner will tickertape across the CLA home page at http://cla.calpoly.edu/cla/index.html . Attached to this document is our complete calendar so far.

9. Description of the proposed consultative process to be used in soliciting feedback/advice on the distribution of the funds: a) Each fall, CLA departments will address the accountability of the academic fees in the previous fiscal year. Money not expended in a fiscal year by a department will revert to the fee fund for the entire college; overdrafts and unapproved expenditures will be credited against a department's stateside budget. Exceptions require the prior approval of the dean, the CLA Student Council, and the chairs' council. b) No later than the sixth week of spring quarter (excepting in year one), each department will prepare a "needs" list for expenditures in the next fiscal year, in consultation with its students, through an elected student council of at least three members (with non-voting faculty representation). This student committee, in turn, must show that it has canvassed the majors, though a poll administered for majors in appropriate classes, and/or meetings with club/society members, focus groups, etc. Departments must document that these procedures for consultation have been approved by a majority of the department's participating major students in a well-advertised vote and/or meetings. The sum of the department's needs list must not exceed the dollars arrived at by determining the department's share of the college's majors. c) In preparation for such requests, the dean will prepare an estimate of fees to be collected in the next year, the fore-mentioned target, and the entire college budget, as well as an ongoing narrative of how far the college has approached goals in the strategic plan and its unmet needs. d) Department expenditure plans must be approved by both the CLA Student Council and the CLA department chairs. The functions of the CLA Student Council and the CLA Chairs' Council shall be: 1) to insure dollar efficiency by combining overlapping requests by different department committees; and 2) to make sure that the requests are within the scope of the college's strategic plan and the guidelines of this fee proposal. When a department lacks student representation on the CLA Student Council, it shall be the responsibility of the Council and dean to solicit student representation from the department's student committee, before the consideration of fee proposals. It is the responsibility of the dean to oversee the integrity and timeliness of this process.

10. A pro and con statement - solicited by the college and submitted by students: posted on site at http://cla.calpoly.edu/cla/CPP/pro_con.html.

11. Official Ballot: see http://www.studentaffairs.calpoly.edu/fees.

12. Dates, Times, and Places to Vote: see http://www.studentaffairs.calpoly.edu/fees.

13. Student and Faculty Involvement with Planning: CLA Student Council, CLA Advisory Board, CLA Chairs' Council, CLA IRA clubs, CLA Faculty (tenured, tenure-track, lectures), CLA staff. See 8) and 9) for details.