The central walkway along the main campus "pedestrian spine", past the science buildings, will look better this fall following repair work by Helmutz Interlock. "We are correcting drainage issues and replacing spalled pavers," says Tom Galloway of plant operations. Michael L. Davenport of information systems and technology took the photo last week.

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Time for fall students to ‘arrange’ fees

Thousands of students are getting ready to come to Waterloo for the fall term, or to return after a term away. And that means — guess what — paying their tuition and incidental fees, and in some cases also fees for residence.

“You need to become ‘fees arranged’ each and every academic term,” says a memo sent late in July to the students who are preregistered for the term that begins September 12. In a change from previous terms, undergraduate students have been warned that if they aren’t “fees arranged” by the deadline of September 7, they won’t have access to the online learning system (UW-ACE or Desire2Learn) for their fall courses until the fees are settled. Off-campus co-op students who are planning to take an online course, but haven’t paid by the deadline, could find themselves barred not just from their credit course but also from their PD courses. Graduate students don’t face the possibility of being barred from ACE or D2L this term.

The place to see the size of the fee hit is Quest, the online student system. (Click Finances, then “Account Inquiry”, then “Fall 2011”, says the memo, sent out by the university’s finance office.) With annual fee increases that went into effect starting with the spring term, the per-term tuition fee could be as low as $2,692 for a Canadian student in fourth-year arts, or more than $16,000 for international students in some professional fields.

Says the memo: “The easiest way to become ‘Fees Arranged’ is by paying your fees in full. Please see Payment Options on our website.

“Your account balance may change as a result of housing or meal plan adjustments, or changes to your program, citizenship status or course load. Fees are recalculated nightly. Check your student financial account on Quest frequently for updates. The entire balance posted to your student account must be covered by payment in full or by a Promissory Note with proof of approved financial assistance and payment of any remaining balance, by the due date to avoid late fees.

“A completed payment of any remaining balance calculated on the Promissory Note is due with the Promissory Note. You will be prompted to attach proof of a completed payment when submitting the online Promissory Note. If you choose to print the form and submit it via expressmail or in our drop-box, you must attach a certified cheque, money order, bank draft, proof of completed bank payment or proof of international wire transfer for the remaining balance. Submitting a Promissory Note with acceptable proof of any of the forms of financial aid indicated on the form allows you to defer payment of that portion of your fees covered by the financial aid available to you for the term.”

The finance office doesn’t accept cash payment of tuition fees at the cashiers’ counter in Needles Hall, and also doesn’t accept personal cheques. In addition, international bank drafts won’t be accepted from outside Canada and the United States. Payments from other countries must be done by international wire transfer or Travelex bank-to-bank transfer, the memo says.

Over-the-counter and mail payments should be by certified cheque, money order or bank draft, and are due by August 29. The deadline is nine days later, September 7, for anyone handling fees through bank payment (such as online transfers), Travelex transfer or international wire transfer.

“Fill in the form correctly,” the memo advises. “Submit your documents together! We will not match them up for you. If you do not submit proof of funding with your Promissory Note, your Promissory Note will be discarded. If you do not submit a Promissory Note with your proof document, your document will be discarded.

“Promissory notes and certified cheques/ money orders/ bank drafts are date stamped upon receipt in our office and are processed in the order received. Processing may take up to five business days from the received date, particularly if you submit during the week prior to and including the due date. Please continue to check your Quest account. Your Registered Status at the top of the financial details page for Fall 2011 will change to ‘Fees Arranged’ once your payment or Promissory Note is processed.”

Because the university deals with each student on an adult-to-adult basis, but the reality is that some students do have backing from the family, the memo adds this vital request: “If your parents are paying your fees, be sure to forward this email along with a copy of your Quest account for Fall 2011 to the person who will be making the payment.”

There’s also a special note for UW employees and children of employees: “If you want to deduct the amount of your Tuition Benefit from the amount you have to pay, your Tuition Benefit form must be submitted with a Promissory Note and proof of a completed payment for the fees not covered by the Tuition Benefit. The payment must be dated no later than the Promissory Note due date or it will be considered late. Tuition Benefit forms submitted without a Promissory Note will be discarded, unless the student’s account has already been paid in full.”

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In the waning days of spring term exams

Two announcements are scheduled for today on the Waterloo campus, with president Feridun Hamdullahpur hosting government officials in each case. The morning event — 11:00 at the University Club — stars John Milloy, provincial legislator for Kitchener Centre and minister of training, colleges and universities in Ontario’s Liberal government. He’s coming “on behalf of the Hon. Carol Mitchell, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs” to make “a special announcement regarding the Broader Public Sector Investment Fund”.

This afternoon, the federal MP for Kitchener-Waterloo, Peter Braid, will be at Waterloo “on behalf of the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario” to make “an important announcement regarding recipients of the Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative”. That event starts at 1:30 in the tribology laboratory on the second floor of Engineering 3 building.

Also on campus today are a cohort of soon-to-be first-year students, as well as some of their parents, attending the parallel programs for younger and older generations that together make up Student Life 101. The session that began yesterday and finishes today is the last of eight SL 101 offerings for this summer. Students are waking up this morning in Ron Eydt Village, “practising” using their WatCards to buy a residence breakfast, writing the English Language Proficiency Exam — a head start on something that would otherwise happen in September — and attending sessions including a tutorial on “the basics to nutrition, sleep and exercise during university and why they’re so critical to your success”.

A lot of people in the university, such as those who have to schedule teaching assistants and lab space, are eager to know exactly how many of those first-year students there are actually going to be when the fall term gets rolling. “The official target for the November 1, 2011 count of registered students is 6,148,” says a memo from Mary Soulis of the institutional analysis and planning office. The admissions office knows how many students have said they’re planning to come in September, and the calculations start from there, with the addition of previous students who will still be in first year this fall, Soulis explains: “The estimated November 1 count of registered students is 6,340. Comparing this to the official target puts us at 3% over our total November 1 target. We are expecting to be 120 below last fall’s November 1 count of registered students of 6,459. All Faculties are near or above their targets.” An update on the report is expected in early September, once those “confirmed” students actually show up on campus — or don’t.

When the new students get to campus, they’re going to need textbooks, and Kathryn Fedy of the retail services department describes an easy way to get them: “Students living in Waterloo residences (Village 1, Ron Eydt Village, Mackenzie King Village, Columbia Lake Village, or UW Place) this fall have the opportunity to skip the Book Store line and pick up their course materials right at their residence front desk thanks to the Books in Rez program. Until August 26, students purchasing their textbooks online through the Book Store website can choose to have their books delivered to residence, at no charge to the student. Their books will are available for pick up on move-in day right at the front desk. Books in Rez, now in its second year, is run by a partnership between Retail Services and Housing. The Book Store operates the online ordering, packs all orders, and delivers them to the residences. Housing takes care of storing the orders and the final delivery to students on move-in day. This is one example of how we’re working together on campus to serve the academic needs of students and enhancing the overall experience for first year students.”

The front door of the registrar’s office, on the second floor of Needles Hall, is barricaded these days, and students dealing with September registration and student aid have to enter by a side door. “We are changing the look and function of our front counter and how we serve students when they visit the office,” says Mark Grant, the office’s manager of customer services, explaining that construction work will take until the end of this month. “One of our co-op students will be stationed in the hallway to assist students and direct them to the appropriate person when they enter the office. It is my hope that the disruption of service will be minimal during the construction but I do apologize for any inconvenience. Our new customer service front is scheduled to be completed and open on August 29. This will be a giant step forward in improving the student experience when they visit the Registrar’s Office and will have a positive impact on the service culture here at the University.”

CAR

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