Senate Bill No. 255
(By Senators Grubb and Humphreys)
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[Introduced March 3, 1993;
referred to the Committee on Education.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article ten, chapter
eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the collection
of fees for certain student activities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article ten, chapter eighteen-b of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. FEES AND OTHER MONEY COLLECTED AT STATE INSTITUTIONS
OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
§18B-10-1. Enrollment, tuition and other fees at educational
institutions; refund of fees.
(a) Each governing board shall fix tuition and other fees
for each school term for the different classes or categories of
students enrolling at each state institution of higher education
under its jurisdiction and may include among such fees any one or
more of the following: (1) Health service fees, (2) infirmary
fees, (3) student activities, recreational, athletic andextracurricular fees, which said fees may be used to finance a
student's attorney to perform legal services for students in
civil matters at such institutions: Provided, That such legal
services shall be limited to only those types of cases, programs
or services approved by the administrative head of such
institution where such legal services are to be performed; and
(4) graduate center fees and branch college fees, or either, if
the establishment and operations of graduate centers or branch
colleges are otherwise authorized by law. All fees collected at
any graduate center or at any branch college shall be paid into
special funds and shall be used solely for the maintenance and
operation of the graduate center or branch college at which they
were collected: Provided, however, That the maximum fees to be
collected under this subsection for resident students shall not
exceed five hundred dollars per semester, and for nonresident
students, one thousand dollars per semester. The schedule of all
fees, and any changes therein, shall be entered in the minutes of
the meeting of the appropriate governing board, and the board
shall file with the legislative auditor a certified copy of such
schedule and changes.
(b) In addition to the fees mentioned in the preceding
subsection paragraph, each governing board may impose and collect
a student union building fee. All such building fees collected
at an institution shall be paid into a special student union
building fund for such institution, which is hereby created in
the state treasury, and shall be used only for the construction,
operation and maintenance of a student union building or acombination student union and dining hall building or for the
payment of the principal of and interest on any bond issued to
finance part or all of the construction of a student union
building or a combination student union and dining hall building
or the renovation of an existing structure for use as a student
union building or a combination student union and dining hall
building, all as more fully provided in section ten of this
article. Any moneys in such funds not immediately needed for
such purposes may be invested in any such bonds or other
securities as are now or hereafter authorized as proper
investments for state funds.
(c) In addition to the fees mentioned in the preceding
subsections, each governing board may impose, collect and
distribute a fee to be used to finance a non-profit,
student-controlled public interest research group: Provided,
That the students at such institution demonstrate support for the
increased fee.
(cd) Refund, as an erroneous payment, may be made of any
such fees upon the voluntary or involuntary withdrawal from
classes of any student until eight weeks of the school semester
or term have expired, but no refund may be made thereafter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow institutions of
higher education to impose, collect and distribute a fee for a
non-profit, student-controlled public interest research group
when the students at such institution demonstrate support for the
increased fee.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new languagethat would be added.