Material and Supply Fees

Sheri P. Austin, Director, University Budgets

We are now accepting applications to establish or adjust Material and Supply Fees for the Fall 2006 term. The decision to implement new or modified fee requests must be approved by the President by March 1st. Therefore, please submit your requests through your Dean’s office by February 17, 2006.

As a result of an audit, it was determined that Departmental controls were not sufficient. Colleges and Departments are reminded that they must maintain records of the revenue and expenditures made per course. To maintain these records, Departments should use the ViewDirect reporting tool for revenue available from University Financial Services (contact George Campbell at 392-0765). We also anticipate implementing a new procedure to track expenditures via the voucher system by linking the course for which you are purchasing supplies through input of the course number in the DEPTFLEX field in the voucher; we will notify you when that is effective.

Courses for which a fee has previously been approved do not require a new application. A request to increase a fee should be accompanied by a detailed description of the cost associated with the increase, including any items that will be purchased. Please note that the fees should supplement rather than replace existing resources. Additionally, a request to amend an existing fee should be submitted prior to purchasing items that were not included in the original proposal.

Your requests should include the following information:

1. The name and number of the course(s) for which the fee should be collected.
2. The amount of the fee requested. (There is no fee limitation, however, fees over $50.00 must be justified.)
3. Detailed cost information about the items for which the fee is to be assessed. (Departments are required to keep a record of the revenue collected and related expenditures for each course.)
4. Estimated annual enrollment for the course.
5. Estimated annual revenue from the fees for each course.
6. The name, signature, and telephone number of the departmental contact person responsible for the accounting aspects of the requested fees.
7. For clinical courses, care must be taken to insure that fees are not assessed for materials if the costs of these materials are also included in the patient’s charges.

Copies of the form and policy guidelines can be found on our Web site: http://www.aa.ufl.edu/material/index.htm. Please call me at 392-2402 or Kimberly Browne at 392-2120 if you have any questions.