Instead of paying for things without knowing why, students from all universities will now have a say ablout student fees.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education voted at its August meeting in Charleston to adopt a resolution stating that university governing boards should “ensure continued, informed dialogue between institutional administrators and students” when setting student fee policies, according to a press release.

The new policy will not have a big effect on NIU, though.

“The fee review process has long included student input,” said Gary Gresholdt, associate provost for student affairs.

Students are involved in the entire fee review process.

“Each year, the administrative units having responsibilities for administering portions of collected student fees prepare budgets for the following year,” Gresholdt said.

The administrative units then meet with the fee review committees, which include administrators and students.

The students are selected by the Student Association, but also include representation from other student groups. For example, the Health Fee Review Committee has representation from the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC).

Committee recommendations are then given to the appropriate administrative vice president and then to the president.

The president and the executive vice president for finance and facilities will then meet with the Student Association executive board before the president makes the university’s General Student Fee recommendation to the Board of Trustees.

The board’s fee policy also recommends that governing boards have policies that specify the manner in which students will be consulted on proposals for new fees for non-instructional purposes or any significant restructuring of existing fee programs, according to the release.

Universities also should define student fees, provide for disclosure of fee information and eliminate fees when they have served their original purpose.

“General student fees are assessed to all students enrolled for on-campus instruction,” Gresholdt said. “These fees support a number of university activities, programs, and services.”

According to the Student Affairs Web site, the university has assessed tuition and required student fees according to a graduated payment schedule. For example, tuition and fees are assessed on a per semester credit hour of on-campus instruction basis to a maximum of 12 credit hours.

For this fall and spring semester, students will have to pay $49.23 per semester hour to a maximum of $590.76.

The breakdown of what the money is used for is listed in the Student Affairs Web site at www.stuaff.niu.edu.