Technology Fee-You Ask, We Investigate

As members of a college campus, we are all too familiar with budgets, fees, and tuition bills. While students pay them when the time comes, there are times in which some may wonder exactly where the money goes. When some St. Norbert community members raised questions as to how the Student Technology Fee is dispersed, the St. Norbert Times investigated.
According to John Beck, Director of Information Technology, the Student Technology Fee was introduced in 1996 to finance the networking of residence, a staff position to support student computing, and computer lab and software upgrades. Starting at $50 per student per semester, the total of $200,000 dollars was a large part of network instillation and continues to go towards student technology needs.
In 2003, the fee was increased by 50%, all of which goes to the general fund. While many may wonder as to why the $100,000 increase does not go directly towards student technology support, the typed history of the Student Technology fee Beck provided cleared up the confusion. The document stated that the "extra fee went to [the] general fund to recover student technology support costs that had come from [the] general fund."
Beck explained that the division of money is no secret to students. When asked if people are aware of how the money is spent, he stated that "they can come to me and I can show them where the money goes."
While the money goes to different areas with the technology department, Beck emphasized the importance of the fee for the student population of campus. "We really do focus on using the expenditures towards the students," he concluded.