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Show Text: Loretta Park Accreditation COMPUTERS have been prominently associated with Weber State's campus life during the past several years. A new computer system, which will replace the Harris computers already in use, will raise student fees a maximum of S7 per quarter next year. (Signpost photo: Ron Jugenitz) Fees v,!C K? Jf1 . Text: Loretta Park Full-time (12-18 credit hours) student fees will increase $4 next year. Fees have more than doubled since 1972-73. Full-time students will pay $75 a quarter next year in student fees. Part-time students will pay less. There are approximately 10,000 students enrolled at Weber State. Students can also expect to pay a $ 1 per credit hour surcharge for computer literacy. This will increase a full-time student's fees by $7 maximum. Due to a state law, "student fees cannot be raised at a higher percent than tuition, nor can it be a considerably lower rate than tuition," said Toni Weight, acting dean of student affairs. There are eight areas student fees fund: Associated Students of Weber State College (ASWSC), convocations, instructional-related activities, the athletic department, the union building, the student health center, the building bond fee, and the building refurbishment area. Benefits students receive from convocations are speakers such as Dr. Henry Kissinger, Debbie Fields and others. Students pay $2.25 per quarter out of their student fees for convocations. This is approximately two percent of the student fee. The instructional-related area provides students with bands, choirs, debate, radio station, sports clubs, theater, the day-care center, the Women's Educational Resource Center and the Signpost. One of the largest areas students fund with their fees is the athletic program. Benefits students receive from their contribution to the athletic program include being able to watch the football and basketball teams at a fraction of the season ticket cost, according to Gary T. Crompton, WSC athletic director. Full-time students pay $12.75 per quarter for the upkeep of the union building as well. This is an increase of $3.25. Students also pay for the student health care center. It is located by the security office in Annex 4. Students can go to the health center free of charge. Students will pay $3.80 per quarter for this care. There are two doctors who work at the health center: Dr. Russell N. Hirst, director of the health center, and Dr. Dave Tenisymer. One is on duty every day from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. A nurse practitioner, Juliann Larsen, is on duty from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. The current building bond fund was implemented in 1963 for the east wing of the union building. Students are still paying for the union building, the residence halls and the Dee Event Center, said Dr. Jerald T. Storey, vice president for business affairs. Students will pay for the various bonds until the year 2007. Payment is different each year because of fluctuating enrollment, but for the fiscal year of 1985, the college paid the bond trustees $640,120. The building refurbishment fee is $ 1 per quarter for a full-time student. This fee funds maintenance of the residence halls, the union building and the Dee Event Center, Dr. Storey said. It covers the cost of new furniture, carpeting and other areas that need repair. Recently, $39,215 was transferred from this fund to the student health center to pay back funding that was taken out of the health center account several years ago. Student fees are a substantial portion of what students pay towards their education. "All students get something out of their student fees," said Protzman. "It's healthy if students are aware of where their money is going." This year, the Weber State faculty members debated the issue of accreditation and how it affects the individual programs and the college as a whole. There are two types of accreditation, according to Dr. Marie Kotter, assistant vice president for academic support and chair of the steering committee for accreditation. The first is institutional accreditation. This is granted by a regional accrediting commission which looks at the entire school. The Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges reviewed and accredited Weber State three years ago. WSC undergoes this process every 10 years. The accreditation agencies examine the ways the college meets the needs of the students and community and if improvements have been made. The second type of accreditation is specialized accreditation, Dr. Kotter said. This type of accreditation is granted by a number of professional organizations that represent areas such as law, medicine or social work. In some cases, a student cannot practice his chosen profession or attend graduate school if the program in not accredited, said Dr. Raymond H. Clark, chair of the social work department. When visiting a campus andor reviewing their reports, an accreditation team looks for the following criteria: the objectives of the college or program; how those objectives are met; the qualifications and student ratio of the faculty; the facilities; the curriculum; and where the graduates go after they leave campus, Dr. Kotter said. Accreditation can be used by programs to obtain funding from the college. Most programs need funding for a yearly fee, all or part of the visiting team's expenses, and if changes need to be made in facilities, equipment, curriculum or faculty. The School of Allied Health has the largest number of accredited programs. Most of the accredited programs pay a yearly fee, said Dr. Reed M. Stringham, dean of this school. Fees for the visiting team are usually $900 per program every five to seven years. The School of Education and the chemistry department were considering dropping their accreditation. The reasons cited were financial and the need is no longer there. The state offices of education are more demanding and require more from higher education in teaching teachers than they used to be, said Dr. Richard V. Jones, dean of the School of Education. Dropping the program's accreditation would not hurt students or the program, he said. When the department first applied for accreditation 20 years ago, the WSC chemistry department was relatively unknown, but it has earned a good reputation, he said. The School of Business and Economics is in the process of accreditation through the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. Individual programs in the school cannot be accredited until the whole school is. Part of the problem is lack of resources and the other part is the self-study report. The report needs to contain information concerning the students who graduate from the new master's program, said Dr. Gordon L. Jacox, assistant dean of the School of Business and Economics. There is a definite quality difference in programs that are accredited and programs that are not, said Dr. Don Hanson, chair of the accounting department. Accredited programs meet the minimum standards of education. |