By Sonja Klotz (The Cascade) – Email
Students returning to UFV after more than one year of not taking classes, as well as students switching program paths, will now be required to pay a $20 reapplication fee.
While there has always been a readmission fee to compensate for the work to review entrance requirements, the new fee is now extended to students enrolling in different programs, even if the programs are in the same faculty, and will be applied to students who are returning after not taking any classes after one year, rather than the previous limit of two years.
Because the application process requires the same amount of work from the Office of the Registrar for every student, regardless of whether or not they already attend UFV, Delinah Marples, the admissions coordinator in that office, says the change was made because UFV felt that it wasn’t fair to only charge a portion of applicants.
“Entrance requirements have to be reviewed, regardless of what type of student you are,” Marples says. “If you’re wanting to be considered into a program, you’d have to meet the entrance requirements … it takes the same type of review from admissions whether you’re a brand new student, a current student laddering into a new program, or a transfer student.”
Due to these changes in the admissions policy, some current and returning students have been surprised by the fee itself.
“It’s been a bit of a challenge as far as making sure we’ve communicated the new policy,” Marples says.
In an effort to prevent confusion among students, the Office of the Registrar is working to make students aware of the fee before the time comes for them to pay it.
“We decided to put out some communication to the general UFV community, in hopes that when people show some interest with an advisor, for example, they are educated,” Marples says. “When they get to the web app, they’d be forced to pay anyways, but it’d be nice to give them the heads up so they’re prepared for that, especially for students who have been here for some time and are used to the [old policy].”
