What are College Based Academic Fees?

The College Based Academic Fee (CBF) is a mandatory Cal Poly fee, supported by a vote of the students, which is one portion of the overall registration costs each student pays to enroll at Cal Poly. A quarterly fee of $200 beginning fall quarter of 2002, adjusted for inflation, is assessed each student in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) to help support and enhance instruction programs in the five CAED departments (Architectural Engineering, Architecture, City & Regional Planning, Construction Management, and Landscape Architecture). The current fee as of Fall Quarter, 2009 with inflation adjustments, is $252 per quarter for full time students, and $126 for part time students. The fee is considered a part of the Cal Poly Plan fee, an additional portion of which goes directly to Academic Affairs and is not subject to any increases.

Where do College Based Fees Go and who oversees their use?

In the CAED, the distribution of funds is directed entirely to the departments by major. All five departments in the CAED have established a consultative committee comprised of students and faculty that has a set of bylaws to govern the distribution, uses and accountability of these funds.

What can the fees be used for?

The fees are to be used exclusively to support the education of students majoring in the degree programs offered by the five departments. Uses of the fees must be consistent with the university CBF priorities as adopted in 2002: hiring faculty and student assistants to protect or improve course access and progress to degree, purchasing or maintaining and repairing instructional equipment and information technology, and supporting instruction-related activities.

How were the original fees established?

During the 2001/02 academic year, all Cal Poly students were asked by their respective instructional colleges to help ensure the value of their Cal Poly Degree by supporting an academic fee whose purpose is to strengthen academic quality, expand access to major classes and otherwise facilitate progress to degree. Each of the six academic colleges drafted a statement of purpose, which was presented to its student body. With almost 40% of the campus student population voting, there was strong support within all colleges, including the CAED, for College Based Academic Fees. They were implemented for all instructional departments in Fall of 2002.

The CAED original proposal included:

  1. Establishment of departmental CBF consultative committees comprised of a majority of students;
  2. Provision for departmental CBF committees to set up their own bylaws to guide their work;
  3. Departmental responsibility to provide all students a summary that identifies how all CBF funds were expended (see each respective departmental web site); and
  4. College responsibility to conduct a consultative vote of the students every three years to reauthorize up to one-half of the fees.

The full text of the original college proposal may be found at the CAED CBF Proposal web page.

When was the College's last CBF reauthorization?

During the Spring Quarter 2005, as part of the CAED approved process, students in the college reaffirmed their support of CBF through a reauthorization process wherein the student vote in each department was strongly in favor of keeping the level of fees in place. 85% of students voting endorsed the continuation of the full fee.

How does the 2009 new College Based Fee Proposal affect the existing CAED provisions?

College Based fee provisions would leave intact the CAED’s unique structure in which all fees generated by the students remain with their respective departments, and the consultative committees and their bylaws remain in place. The provision for the every 3 year reauthorization vote will be terminated, to become consistent with the processes used elsewhere in the University.

In the event the new proposal under consideration is not adopted by the President, the 2002 fees and all the student approved provisions would remain in effect, and the CAED would then conduct a reauthorization vote in Spring Quarter 2009.