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Frequently Asked Questions


How is technology fee use determined?

The Board of Trustees approves changes to the Fee based upon recommendations by campus administration. The Office of Innovative Technologies is responsible for oversight of the Fee and approving all expenditures. Utilization of the Fee, including but not limited to purchases, travel and salaries, will be in strict accordance with established university fiscal policies and procedures.


How is the technology fee assessed?

​All full-time and part-time students registered through The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, registration system will automatically be assessed the Technology Fee. Both graduate and undergraduate students will be assessed the fee each semester on a $14 per credit-hour basis. As of 2015-2016 there will be a $120 cap.

​Prior to the First Official Day of Classes

If a student withdraws or is dismissed from the University, the Fee will be adjusted 100%. If the student drops or adds hours, the Fee will be adjusted accordingly.

The First Official Day of Classes

If a student adds additional hours or reduces the number of hours, the Fee will be adjusted accordingly. If a student withdraws on or beyond the first official day of classes, the Fee will not be adjusted.

Appeals

Under extraordinary circumstances, individual requests for waiver of the Fee may be submitted to the UTK Office of Innovative Technologies, Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer, for review.


Is the technology fee intended for capital or non-capital items?

Part of the technology fee does cover capital items such as the campus network. The rest of the funding is earmarked for “non-capital” items such as the purchase of computers for student labs, free or reduced price software for students licensed annually, statistical and computer support services for students, online training, and instructional technology enhancements.


Submitting a technology fee success story

What you should include:

  1. Title
  2. 1-2 paragraph(s) describing the usage and benefit of the Technology Fee
  3. College/Department/Organization
  4. An image

A note on images:

Images should be 600px X 200px and in the JPEG (.jpg) format. OIT can provide photography services if needed. Please, contact the OIT HelpDesk to schedule a photo shoot. If you do not submit a photo with your success story, OIT can select an image from a stock photo gallery for you. Note: Stock images are selected based on relevance to the written material and will not be changed.

Please submit images as separate files. DO NOT embed images into a text document.

If you need assistance formatting images, please contact the OIT HelpDesk at (865) 974-9900.


What are the funding requirements?

The technology fee is assessed each semester on a $14 per credit-hour basis.  As of 2015-2016 there is a $120 cap. The student technology fee generates an annual revenue stream between $6,000,000 and $7,000,000.


What effect will the technology fee have on those of us who live off campus?

Off campus students are granted access to their mobile devices via the robust wireless infrastructure that is partially funded by tech fee. For remote or distance use, tech fee funds services such as Canvas, Lynda.com and numerous software packages made available via Apps@UT, the campus’ remote desktop solution.


What is the policy for refunds and adjustments?

​Prior to the First Official Day of Classes

If a student withdraws or is dismissed from the University, the Fee will be adjusted 100%. If the student drops or adds hours, the Fee will be adjusted accordingly.

The First Official Day of Classes

If a student adds additional hours or reduces the number of hours, the Fee will be adjusted accordingly. If a student withdraws on or beyond the first official day of classes, the Fee will not be adjusted.

Appeals

Under extraordinary circumstances, individual requests for waiver of the Fee may be submitted to the UTK Office of Information Technology, Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer, for review.


What type of software products are made available to students as a result of the technology fee?

Many types of software are made available at reduced or no additional cost through the technology fee and other funding sources. See all available software.

If students have requests for additional software to be carried under a site license, they should voice their needs to their student representative on the Technology Advisory Board.


What will the technology fee provide for students?

​Enhanced Network Access On- and Off-Campus

At the time the technology fee was approved (in 1997), the network infrastructure had neither enough carrying capacity (bandwidth), nor did it include all of the campus community. Much has been done to improve the campus network, but to continue to provide and maintain a viable network into the future requires a large commitment from all areas of the university. The technology fee is an integral part of this effort.

Enhanced Student Computing Labs

At the time the technology fee was approved, there were six staffed, open-access computing laboratories and sixteen unstaffed laboratories. Departments and Colleges funded their special purpose labs from operating budgets or grants. Due to the technology fee, many academic labs have been upgraded, new labs have opened, and several thousand new microcomputers have been made available to students through these upgrades.

Enhanced Student Support Services

At the time the technology fee was approved, the OIT HelpDesk was available for thirty hours per week. Currently, it is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Statistical consulting which used to be available to students only on a fee-for-service basis, now offers up to ten hours of free consulting per student per semester with a reduced cost of $20 per hour above the ten-hour limit. Workshops for technology topics as well as self-paced training courses from the Microsoft IT Academy are now available to students at no cost.

Enhanced Instructional Technology

The technology fee plays an important role in the use of instructional technologies on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus. Online@UT and LiveOnline@UT (Canvas and Zoom) are widely used to supplement face-to-face classes with online material and for offering classes totally online. Support and training for using the instructional technologies in classrooms and providing consultation and assistance to faculty to create online materials for their courses are also funded by the technology fee.


Who controls the technology fee?

​The fee is levied by the Board of Trustees; all money derived there from are University or “state” funds and are under University (State) control. Administrative officers on the Knoxville campus are charged with control of all aspects of the technology fee. The Vice Chancellor and CIO of the Knoxville campus, acting as the fiscal officer for the general account is responsible for the day-to-day fiscal control of the Fee and for the presentation of an annual budget that reflects the purpose of the technology fee as previously stated herein. Appropriate consultation with students and faculty will be sought. It is recognized, however, that while seeking consultation in matters pertaining to the Fee, the Vice Chancellor and CIO of the Knoxville campus and other administrative officials will not delegate “control.”