The Engineering Differential Fees funds were used primarily in the form of expanded student’s scholarships and support services, support for senior students’ capstone (senior) design projects and student junior design competitions, undergraute student research, graduate student travel, student clubs, and capital projects to renovate student-centered spaces and acquire lab equipment. Services made possible by the Differential Fees returned include the Engineering Tutoring Center, scholarships, and career/internship services. These services helped the College to better serve its 3100+ students purusing their undergraduate and graduate degrees, and improve its six-year graduation rate. In academic year 2021/2022, our engineering and computer science programs reported a combined 29.5% of FYFC graduation rate, in par with the 2020/2021 academic year, up from 22% just two year ago.
Personnel The Differential Fees supported various initiatives within the Engineering and Computer Science departments. The funds were allocated towards the Engineering Career Services (ECS), including the director's salary and benefits totaling $99,011, and one student worker position. Additionally, eight undergraduate engineering tutors (junior and senior students) were hired in the Fall of 2021, followed by 11 tutors in the Spring of 2022 and three in the Summer of 2022. These tutors covered a range of engineering and computer science courses, as well as some math and physics courses, working 10-12 hours per week at a rate of $18/hour.
The Computer Science department hired nine undergraduate students between the fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters to teach/tutor select computer science courses. Additionally, one graduate student was hired in the fall 2021 and spring 2022 semesters to teach/tutor engineering physics courses. The Engineering Advising Center also hired one student worker in the spring semester to provide support. In the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022, one mechanical engineering graduate student was hired to teach and monitor their labs in TBE-A. Lastly, several seasonal student workers were hired to help maintain and update the Differential Fee website, facilitate communication between the Differential Fee committee and students, and provide other student services.
Financial Aid.The College of Engineering awards scholarships each spring semester for the upcoming academic year. In FY2022, the college received $139,905 for undergraduate scholarships. The college eventually disbursed $147,250 in scholarships in FY22 to the junior and senior students within the College of Engineering. This account has a healthy reserve by the end of June 2022, with a balance of $185,133. Much of the money has already been encumbered to support eligible engineering and computer science students as scholarships and to be disbursed in September 2022 and January 2023.
In spring 2022, the college selected nine graduate students from all four departments within the college, and these students received their summer progress or program completion scholarships in summer 2022. As a result, the account for graduate students’ scholarships, after spending $50,000 throughout the fiscal year, has a balance of $63 by the end of FY22.
Student Activities, Events, Awards.The differential fee committee started ramping up its support for student clubs after a nearly complete halt during the Corvid-19 pandemic in previous fiscal years. Altogether, three student clubs received support for a total of $6,000. Support for 12 graduate students and one undergraduate student to travel to various conferences to present their research work was approved by the Differential Fees committee. Some of the expenditures would show in the FY23 report due to the delay in reimbursement processes. Another graduate student received funds to cover her travel and acquisition of material to conduct research.
Each semester, the College of Engineering sees tens of student teams enrolling in the senior design (capstone) course and participating in a College-wide competition upon completion of their work. In Fall 2021 and Spring 2022, the college gave out $80,723 to the senior engineering and computer science students in support of their senior designs. Students used the funds to purchase materials and/or cover a portion of the manufacturing cost of their prototypes.
Equipment and Hardware requisition. The Differential Fees partially funded a couple of initiatives by the engineering and computer science departments to acquire much-needed lab equipment/hardware/Software for their 300/400 level labs and courses. The actual costs were typically split 50/50 between the Differential Fees and the departments’ funds, and the total expenditures were valued at $70,288. The Differential Fees supported a project to renovate a space that can be used to test and fly UAVs for the UAS minor (as part of the UAS courses offered in the college) and other programs. The Differential Fees contributed to covering half of the cost of the student bench and table project in TBE A and B building (students and faculty the spaces for the faculty office hours, student group studies, etc.) for $55,349.
Table 1 below shows the expenditures by typical budget category for FY22
Table 1. FY22 Engineering Differential Fees Expenditures
| FY22 - ENGINEERING DIFFERENTIAL FEES | |
| FY22 REVENUE | Amount |
|---|---|
| Financial Aid - Scholarship Undergraduate Students | 139,905 |
| Financial Aid - Scholarship Graduate Students | 9,727 |
| Diff Fees - Program Related Expenses | 542,860 |
| FY22 TOTAL REVENUE | 692,492 |
| FY22 EXPENDITURES | |
| Scholarship Undergraduate | 147,250 |
| Scholarship Graduate | 50,000 |
| Director Career Services / Salary + fringe benefits | 99,011 |
| Tutoring Center / Hourly wages + fringe benefits | 80,784 |
| Student Organizations: Sponsorships | 6,000 |
| Graduate Students: Travel Sponsorships | 0 |
| Junior Design Projects | 0 |
| Student Reimbursement and Awards: Senior Design Projects | 80,723 |
| Materials Labs Support | 55,349 |
| Equipment and Hardware Support | 70,288 |
| Hosting | 0 |
| Administrative Overhead 3.5% | 20,629 |
| FY22 TOTAL EXPENDITURES | 610,035 |
| DIFF | 82,458 |
| BEGINNING BALANCE | 365,992 |
| BUDGET ADJ | 64 |
| ENDING BALANCE | 448,514 |