A-30-2 Approval Process for Fees

Revised: 5/11/2026

Institutional Fees:
Institutional fees may be initiated by any of the following three means: student elections (see ASCOCC Constitution for details); student referendum (see ASCOCC Constitution for details); or by College employees. Institutional fees approved via a student election or referendum shall be direct recommendations to the COCC Board of Directors. All other institutional fees (either new or changes to existing fees) may first be reviewed for input by the COCC College Affairs Committee, as well as other campus committees, task forces, and departments as appropriate to each fee, and as possible. Feedback from stakeholder groups shall be presented by the President (or designee), along with a formal proposal, to the COCC Board of Directors.

The COCC Board of Directors has sole authority to approve increases or decreases to institutional
fees, including the fee amount and any applicable credit limits, when such action is determined to
be in the best interest of students and the College.

Course and Program Fees:
Course and program fees are established based on actual costs, with students sharing responsibility for those costs. Fee structures will reflect differences in program expenses and are determined in accordance with criteria and guidance established by the College. For additional information, contact the Office of Academic Affairs for details.

Annually, the vice president of finance and operations, in collaboration with college leadership, will provide guidance and establish benchmark criteria to evaluate course and program fees. Fiscal Services will prepare an annual report that identifies existing course and program fees and the related costs for evaluation. Using bench-mark criteria and annual report, faculty, program directors, department chairs, and instructional deans will evaluate existing fees and provide recommendations for fee changes and new fees to the vice president of academic affairs and the vice president of finance and operations.

Following administrative review, the vice president of academic affairs will present recommended fee changes and additions to the Academic Affairs Committee for approval. The Academic Affairs Committee shall then provide documentation to the Office of the President for formal signature approval of course and program fee changes and shall provide fee approval details to the College Affairs Committee as an informational item. Upon formal approval, the Office of the President shall notify the original requester, the instructional dean, the academic affairs coordinator, and the appropriate department administrative assistant and instructional specialist.

To support student transparency and financial planning, the College shall annually publish an updated list of course and program fees on the Admissions & Records website by the end of Spring term. All newly approved or adjusted fees shall take effect at the beginning of Fall term.

If a course or program fee must be implemented or adjusted outside of the annual review and implementation cycle, approval from the vice president of academic affairs is required. Upon such approval, a proposal will be submitted to the Academic Affairs Committee and the process will proceed as indicated per this policy.