Instructional Resilience and Enhancement Fee

The Instructional Resilience and Enhancement Fee (IREF) is a course materials and services fee that supports tools, infrastructure and staff to support in-person and remote instruction. The cost to students is $117.50 per semester or $235 for academic year 2023-24. The IREF addresses the changing requirements and expectations of instructors and students regarding software and classroom-related technology to increasingly have consistent and easily accessible remote instruction tools.

IREF also provides access to additional software, technologies and services that enhance student learning and provide a foundation for instructional resilience. In addition to software licensing Microsoft Office, Zoom Pro and the Adobe Suite, the fee provides funding for the Student Technology Equity Program (STEP), which supplies laptops and other hardware to students in need. IREF is included in your cost of attendance for financial aid purposes.

The IREF is in line with several other UC campuses (UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside, and UC Irvine), which have already instituted a course materials fee that funds a wide variety of instructional technology. Those fees vary from $324/year (UCLA) to $112.50/year (UC Santa Barbara) for the 2021-2022 academic year.

What is the full list of software this supports?
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IREF includes: Zoom Pro for Students, Microsoft, Adobe, funding for the Student Help Desk, funding for the Student Technology Equity Program (STEP), Kaltura, bCourses, Canvas, GradesScope, Turnitin, AWS infrastructure, Ally, SensusAccess, Alt Media, Poll Everywhere, iClickers, funding for classroom tech support, funding for instructional computing labs, Zoom webinar licensing for large course, and Hypothesis.

What is STEP?
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The Student Technology Equity Program (STEP) began during COVID-19 but has continued, and is a program that provides laptops and other hardware devices to students in need.

Does financial aid cover the fee?
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For certain students, financial aid will cover IREF.

What happened to the previous Student Technology Fee?
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The previous ($51 per-semester) Student Technology Fee expired in Spring 2021. While the majority of voting students voted to approve the fee, the minimum vote threshold required for a student referendum was not met.

How much will it cost?
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The cost to students is $135.50 per semester or $271 per academic year.

Does anyone else have this fee?
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UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara all have course materials and services fees that fund similar software and support services.

Is there any oversight on this fee?
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An IREF Advisory Committee composed of campus leadership, students and staff experts meets on a regular schedule.

Can campus absorb the cost rather than charge additional costs to students?
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Many of these costs have long been shared between students and the campus via the long-standing Student Technology Fee. When the Student Technology Fee expired in Spring 2021, the campus found and implemented a more stable means to continue this cost-sharing tradition via the IREF.

I’m an undergraduate student. What options do I have to cover the cost of this fee?
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Starting in Fall 2023 and going forward, undergraduate students who are employed by the University as an Academic Student Employee (ASE) have two options for having the cost of the fee covered. ASEs who have an employment appointment of 25% or higher will have the full fee covered by the hiring department or Principal Investigator (PI) per semester of employment. ASEs who have an employment appointment under 25% will have $35 of the total fee covered by the hiring department or Principal Investigator (PI) per semester of employment. The student is responsible for paying the remaining amount. Students without those options will need to cover the cost of this fee.

I’m a graduate student. What options do I have to cover the cost of this fee?
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If your funding package from your academic department includes tuition and fees, contact your home department. Departments that cover fee balances not covered by a partial fee remission will pay this additional charge.

Students who have applied for and are receiving financial aid will have this included in their Cost of Attendance and aid packages. Starting in Fall 2023 and going forward, graduate students who are employed by the University as a Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) or in similar Academic Student Employee (ASE) positions have two options for having the cost of the fee covered. GSRs or ASEs who have an employment appointment of 25% or higher will have the full fee covered by the hiring department or Principal Investigator (PI) per semester of employment. GSRs or ASEs who have an employment appointment under 25% will have $35 of the total fee covered by the hiring department or Principal Investigator (PI) per semester of employment. The student is responsible for paying the remaining amount. Graduate students without those options will need to cover the cost of this fee.

I’m a staff member and I have questions.
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You can direct questions to iref@berkeley.edu.

Are Concurrent Enrollment students assessed the IREF?
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No. Concurrent Enrollment students (students from other universities who are enrolled via UC Extension and take courses at UC Berkeley) are not assessed this fee.