FSEC hears overview of new uniform service fee

By CHRISTINE VIDAL
News Services Editor

An overview of the General University Service Fee, a new administrative fee that will be charged to Income Fund Reimbursable, Research Foundation, UB Foundation and Faculty Student Association accounts, beginning July 1, was presented at the March 31 meeting of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

The 7 percent fee will apply to funds derived from or related to sponsored programs, projects, activities and services that involve university employees or the use of university equipment or facilities. Between 500 and 600 university accounts will be affected by the new fee, according to Leonard Snyder, senior associate vice president in the Office of the Controller.

In the past, each of the units administering those funds - IFR, Research Foundation, UBF and FSA - had its own set of policies and guidelines, and the fees for administering those accounts also varied.

"We came to the conclusion that the savings by having a uniform policy would outweigh the costs," said Susan Hamlen, associate professor of accounting and law, and chair of the Faculty Senate Budget Priorities Committee.

Each of the units charging administrative fees operated under its own set of policies and guidelines and, as a result, there was no consistency in rates, exemptions or waivers. In addition, each unit charged its own administrative fee and, in the case of IFR accounts, a maintenance-and-operation fee also was charged.

IFR policies were established by SUNY and provided no flexibility at the campus level for setting rates, exemptions or waivers, and a significant portion of the IFR overhead assessment was not retained on campus.

But since Jan. 1, each campus has been allowed to establish its own IFR policy and to retain all the fees generated, opening the door for UB to develop a campus policy and guidelines regarding a uniform service fee to replace the myriad administrative and maintenance-and-operation fees that have been in effect.

The General University Service Fee will be charged on all funds generated through the use of university faculty or staff time, excluding sponsored programs, and/or the use of university facilities.

Exemptions include accounts funded by overhead revenue, such as institutional accounts that support various university educational, research, public service, administrative and support functions.

Also exempt are sponsored-program activity administered by the Research Foundation and UBF, as well as accounts where the service fee is recovered through the RF or UBF indirect cost rate. Sponsored programs are those that are supported primarily by an outside sponsor, are conducted over a specified time period, obligate the university to sponsor for the performance of specified services or the delivery of specified work products, and are conducted in or on university-owned or -controlled facilities or involve the use of university personnel in the course of their university duties.

Further exemptions include clinical practice plans, revenue from the campus' state-appropriated allocation and dormitory income fund reimbursable.

But Robert Baier, professor of oral diagnostic sciences and chair of the senate's Research and Creative Activity Committee, wondered if the new service fee would make things easier for faculty, or put up barriers.

The new fee certainly should not put up barriers, Snyder replied, noting that it is hoped that administration of the fee will be more timely and the criteria will be better clarified.

Calling it "a better system than the one it's replacing," Baier added that enforcement of the new fee's criteria will be critical to its success.

According to a memorandum issued Dec. 7 by Senior Vice President Robert J. Wagner, "implementing a uniform service fee...will both simplify policies and procedures, and ensure a consistent cost of doing business. The service fee rate of 7 percent is reasonable and will result in lower fees for most programs. It is also expected that this lower rate will be an incentive to expand entrepreneurial activity."

To ease the transition to the new system, a campus-wide committee chaired by Kevin Seitz, associate vice president and controller, has been set up to guide the establishment, implementation and monitoring of the fee, Snyder said.