Budgeting and Fees

Funding and Financial Administration of Distance Education Courses

Unless a specific exception has been made by the Academic Directorate, the development and delivery of distance education courses are expected to be funded on a self-supporting basis from course revenues or external sources.

Tuition & Fees for Distance Education Courses

All fees for distance education must be consistent with policies of the ICDE. As such, distance education course tuition is based upon the current Office of the Finance of ICDE published Tuition & Fees Schedule on behalf of the Director of ICDE. No additional fee will be added to the fees set by the ICDE and approved by the University Management for both undergraduate and postgraduate for each distance education programme.

Any fees to be charged in conjunction with web-based courses must be approved in advance as part of the budget planning process for each course and must be consistent with the University’s policies and procedures. The ICDE Director will review and coordinate all requests for special differential fees and/or supplementary fees and will notify and publish any future additional fees.

Contingency Plan for Smaller-than-Expected Enrollments

When a distance education course is funded on a self-supporting budget model and has little or no funding from external sources, a contingency plan should be developed during the budget approval process to address offer/don’t offer decisions in the event that course enrollments are smaller than anticipated.

If course enrollments are marginal and thus insufficient to cover program expenses outlined in the budget plan, a major effort will still be made by ICDE to avoid canceling the course or asking a faculty member to teach at a reduced pay rate (if taught by an adjunct/facilitator or full-time Lecturer). However, in cases where enrollments fall far short of expectations, or a pattern of marginal or low enrollments has developed over time, financial adjustments will have to be made by considering the average cost and average revenues to be borne and accrued by the entire academic year to determine if ICDE will break even or the course cancelled unless some form of external funding is available.

A final “offer/don’t offer” decision will be made by the director of ICDE in consultation with the Department and Faculty concerned and the Office of Academic Directorate.