Reports

Joint Report of the Council and the General Board on changes to Statute B I on non‑payment of University Composition Fees and resignation of membership of the University

The Council and the General Board beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. This Report presents proposed changes to Statute B I and to Ordinances to standardise the arrangements for dealing with students who have not paid the fees for their courses, so that all admitting bodies manage the process in a legally compliant, fair and consistent manner. It also proposes an additional amendment to Statute B I concerning requests to resign membership of the University (see paragraph 6 below).

2. At present, there is no central policy governing the non‑payment of tuition fees nor the scheduling of payments, which has led to the development of local arrangements. There are also limited actions available in cases of payment default. In Lent Term 2022, the Fees and Funding Sub-committee of the Planning and Resources Committee started work on devising a new policy to ensure fairness and consistency and to address gaps in the current arrangements. Fee arrangements bridge student, College and central University offices and therefore have been considered by various bodies across the collegiate University. The General Board’s Education Committee and its Postgraduate Committee, the Senior Tutors’ Committee and the Postgraduate Tutors’ Committee, and the Planning and Resources Committee and the Bursars’ Fees and Student Finance Committee have been consulted during the development of a draft policy to govern the non‑payment of tuition fees.

3. The Council and the General Board believe that having clear information on how cases of non‑payment of tuition fees should be managed will provide greater transparency to both students and those advising and supporting them, and lead to more consistent practice. Should this Report’s recommendations be approved, the Council and the General Board have approved a new Policy for the Non-payment of Tuition Fees, and guidance developed jointly with the Colleges. These are attached in Annexes A and B. The General Board has agreed to delegate decision-making under the Policy to a new Non‑payment of Fees Panel, comprising three members of the Planning and Resources Committee’s Fees and Funding Sub-committee appointed by that Sub‑committee, and two members appointed by the General Board, one of whom shall be a Senior Tutor and the other a Postgraduate Tutor.

4. The introduction of the new Policy is expected to encourage early intervention in cases where non‑payment of fees is the result of hardship or other matters beyond the control of the student concerned. The Policy is also designed to interlink with any subsequent developments of the student record system (CamSIS) that permit incidence of non‑payment to be identified, reducing the chance of a non‑payer being admitted onto a subsequent course of study.

5. The new Policy is also clearer about the consequences of non‑payment. The Council and the General Board agree that, in cases where a student has failed to pay the full amount of tuition fees by the due date and there are no extenuating circumstances, the Board must be able to withdraw or suspend access to a course, withdraw membership of the University or withhold conferment of an award. They are therefore proposing that these powers are expressly set out in Ordinance.

6. The Council and the General Board are also proposing changes to Statute B I in relation to removal of membership of the University and related consequential changes to Statute. They are of the view that it should be possible for a person to resign University membership without having to renounce any degrees held. They also wish to make clear that removal of membership of the University under the University’s disciplinary procedures or for non‑payment of fees will not result in the removal of any degree or other academic award. The Council and the Board acknowledge that this change would sever the link between membership of the University and the holding of degrees from the University. However, they believe that it is important that a person should be able to resign membership of the University as an act of protest without also having to forfeit any degrees held and bear the associated potential damage to their current employment or future career prospects. They also note that automatically removing any degrees held when membership of the University is removed as a disciplinary sanction may be unfair, may lead to unintended consequences, and could be open to legal challenge. As an example, the removal of degrees held may be disproportionate for a disciplinary matter, yet the removal of University membership be appropriate and necessary. The removal of a first degree for academic misconduct that took place during study for a second degree would likewise be undesirable.

7. Changes to Statute A I 7 are also proposed to confirm that those who renounce degrees entitling them to membership of the Senate or resign membership of the University shall not be members of the Senate whilst that renunciation or resignation is in effect.

8. The Council and the General Board recommend:

I.That the Statutes of the University be amended as follows, and that these amendments be submitted to His Majesty in Council for approval.

(a)Statute A I (Statutes and Ordinances, 2022, p. 3): In Section 7, by amending paragraph (ii) and inserting new paragraph (iii) to read as follows:

(ii)any person who suffers suspension or deprivation of a degree or who renounces a degree entitling them to membership of the Senate shall not be a member of the Senate during the continuance of such suspension or deprivation or renunciation;

(iii)any person who suffers suspension or deprivation of membership of the University or who resigns from membership shall not be a member of the Senate during the continuance of any such suspension or deprivation or resignation.

(b)Statute B I (Statutes and Ordinances, 2022, p. 15): By amending Section 2 to read as follows (retaining existing footnotes):

2. (a) Membership of the University is for life, or until resignation, or until deprivation by decision of a University court, disciplinary panel or any body granted authority in Ordinance to assess capability to study, or for non‑payment of fees as set out in Ordinance. Detailed provision for resignation of membership shall be made by Ordinance. Provision for reinstatement after resignation may be made by Ordinance.

(b) Detailed provision for renunciation of degrees shall be made by Ordinance. Renunciation of a degree entails resignation of membership of the University. Provision for reinstatement after renunciation may be made by Ordinance.

(c) Unless it is otherwise expressly provided by Statute or Ordinance, a person who suffers suspension or deprivation of membership of the University or resigns from membership shall not enjoy or exercise any entitlement within the University that would otherwise be accorded to them by virtue of any degree or degrees of the University which they may continue to hold during such suspension or deprivation or resignation from membership.

(c)Statute D II (Statutes and Ordinances, 2022, p. 30): By amending the sentence at the end of Section 3 to read as follows:

or may, notwithstanding that a person charged has been found to have committed an offence, resolve not to impose any sentence.

II.That the following new Ordinance be approved:

Non‑payment of Fees

1. The General Board shall publish and keep under review a policy governing the management of cases of non‑payment of the fees listed in the Schedule to these regulations.

2. The General Board^[1] shall have power, for the non-payment of fees, in circumstances as set out in the policy under Regulation 1:

(a)to suspend a registered student’s access to course activities, resources, facilities and premises, and may ask the student’s College to take similar action;

(b)to withdraw a registered student from a course;

(c)to withhold admission to a degree or the award of a certificate or diploma;

(d)to remove a registered student’s membership of the University.

3. Where courses are for matriculated students, failure to matriculate shall not remove liability to pay fees for those courses.

SCHEDULE

University Composition Fees
Fees governed by the General Regulations for Certain Postgraduate Degrees and Other Qualifications

^[1] The General Board has delegated this responsibility to the Non-payment of Fees Panel (a sub-committee of the Planning and Resources Committee’s Fees and Funding Sub-committee), together with its authority to exercise the above powers, where relevant, in relation to students on non-credit-bearing courses that do not lead to the conferment of a University award.

III.That the Ordinance for Resignation of Membership of the University (Statutes and Ordinances, 2022, p. 171) be amended to read as follows:

RESIGNATION OF MEMBERSHIP OF THE UNIVERSITY AND RENUNCIATION OF DEGREES

1. If any matriculated person wishes to resign their membership of the University in accordance with Statute B I 2 and so informs the Registrary, and if the Council deems the reasons given sufficient and decides to allow such resignation, that person’s name shall be removed from the list of members of the University at the next publication of the list, and any name so removed shall be reinstated only in accordance with a subsequent decision of the Council which shall not be taken until a period of five years has elapsed from the date of removal.^[1] The name of any matriculated person which under this section is removed from the list of members of the University shall if such person is a member of the Senate be removed also from the register of the Senate in accordance with the provisions of Statute A I 7.

2. Unless a matriculated person specifically asks to renounce their degree or degrees, resignation of membership of the University shall not entail cancellation of any degree held.^[2]

3. Renunciation of a degree entails resignation of membership of the University. The procedure for renunciation of degrees and their reinstatement is the same as the procedure relating to resignation of membership as set out in Regulation 1.

^[1] The Council may, at its discretion, reinstate membership after a period of less than five years has elapsed if that membership was renounced prior to [the date that these changes are approved]. This discretion will cease on [a date five years after the changes are approved].

^[2] See also Statute B I 2(c), p. [15].

IV. That the first sentence of the General Regulations for Discipline (Statutes and Ordinances, 2022, p. 195) be amended to read as follows (retaining the footnote):

In accordance with the University’s duty to maintain good order and discipline within the University, the following regulations shall apply only to members of the University and others within the jurisdiction of the University Tribunal under Statute D II 2:

10 January 2024

10 January 2024

Annex A

Policy for the Non‑payment of Tuition Fees

A. Policy statement

1. All fee-collecting bodies must act fairly and consistently when dealing with cases of non‑payment of tuition fees by students. They must follow the procedure set out in this policy so that the student has sufficient notice of proposed actions in response to non-payment, has appropriate support and advice from their College or other sources, and understands the consequences of not making payment by any deadline given.

B. Scope and application of the policy

2. The policy will be applicable to all University students (as defined below), and to all University institutions and Colleges responsible for collecting and administering the tuition fee (as defined below) and maintaining the student record.

C. Key roles and responsibilities

3. The General Board approves this policy and any changes made to it, after consultation with the Colleges and others with an interest in the policy.

4. The Planning and Resources Committee’s Fees and Funding Sub-committee is responsible for implementation of the policy. Offices across the wider University which are responsible for collecting and administering the tuition fee will be asked to report back to the Sub-committee on an annual basis to allow the Sub-committee to measure compliance with, and the effectiveness of, the policy. The Sub-committee will review the policy once every three years.1

D. Definitions

5. In this policy:

(a)‘Fee-collecting Body’ means the University institution or College that has been authorised by the General Board to collect either the University Composition Fee or the fee for the course for the student.

(b)‘Student’ covers both undergraduate and postgraduate students and includes any registered student as defined in Statute A X 2(c), i.e. any person who has matriculated as a student and is currently pursuing a course of study in the University, or any person pursuing a course of study leading to the award of a degree, certificate, or diploma of the University, as well as any student on a non‑credit‑bearing course. References to College support within the policy apply only to matriculated students.

(c)‘Tuition fee’ refers to the University Composition Fee, or the fee for the course in the case of non‑matriculated students.

(d)‘College Tutor’ includes the academic course team in cases where a student does not have a College Tutor, except where otherwise clear from the context.

E. Related documents and further guidance

6. Questions about this policy should be directed to the Fee Policy Manager in the first instance: feestatusandpolicy@admin.cam.ac.uk. The full policy, guidance document and template fee schedule referenced within the policy are available online (see https://www.cambridgestudents.cam.ac.uk/fees-and-funding/fees [documents to be added following approval]).

7. Questions from Students about tuition fees should be directed to the Fee-collecting Body that has contacted them about the non-payment of fees.

8. Questions about fee remission (waiver of fees) and how to apply for it should be directed to the Secretary of the Fee Remission Panel, feestatusandpolicy@admin.cam.ac.uk.

F. Conditions of payment of Tuition fees

9. The full amount of Tuition fees due must be paid on or before the date specified by the Fee‑collecting Body unless:

(a)either before or after that date, the Bursar of the Student’s College, or the University (in the case of courses where fees are usually paid directly to any other Fee-collecting Body), has entered into a written agreement in the prescribed form (see accompanying University Fee Payment Schedule [not attached]) with the Student that confirms that the Fee-collecting Body has approved the Student’s application to pay by instalments and sets out an agreed payment schedule; or

(b)the Student either:

(i)has applied for and successfully received a full contribution to the Student’s fees from the Student Loans Company or other fee-paying body (including internal and external funders); or

(ii)is eligible for a contribution to their fees from a fee-paying body (including internal and external funders), has evidence that they have applied for this, and the Student’s Fee-collecting Body is of the opinion that no contribution will be required from the Student.

10. In the case of paragraph 9(b)(ii), the Student must keep the Fee-collecting Body informed of the progress of the application and will be liable for any fees not met by the body contributing to the Student’s fees.

11. Where a payment schedule is agreed under paragraph 9(a)

(a)a copy will be kept by both the College and the University and any changes to it or any breach of it will be notified to both the College and the University; and

(b)no further action may be taken under this policy unless an agreed instalment date is missed and any action already commenced under this policy shall be suspended unless and until an agreed instalment date is missed.

G. Failure to pay

12. Any Student who is unable to pay their fees should direct their queries to their College Tutor or individual nominated by any other Fee-collecting Body in the first instance.

13. If the Student fails to pay the fees for which they are liable (including where a fee‑paying body has failed to meet or contribute to the fees under paragraph 9(b)(ii) above), or fails to pay an agreed instalment towards such fees, on the date payment is due, the Student may be suspended:

(a)Taking into account any relevant information or explanation provided by the Student or the Student’s College or Department/Faculty2, the Fee-collecting Body representative may notify the Student that the University will suspend the Student from all University activities, facilities and premises (including lecture rooms, research facilities, tutorial offices, online and in‑person IT, any virtual learning environment, library facilities, places of examination, placements, field trips, social activities, and University‑led activities taking place within Colleges) if payment of the fees due has not been received by the Fee-collecting Body within four weeks of the date of such notification.

(b)Such suspension will take immediate effect if payment of the fees due has not been received by the Fee-collecting Body within four weeks of the date of such notification.

(c)The Fee-collecting Body representative shall inform the Student Administration that the Student concerned has been suspended in accordance with paragraphs 13(a) and 13(b) and the appropriate note will be placed on the Student’s record. Any visa sponsorship for the Student will be withdrawn.

(d)The Student will continue to be entitled to have access to a College Tutor and welfare services for support during the suspension. If a Student does not have a College Tutor, the Student will continue to have access to the academic course team for support during the suspension and, for such a Student, except where otherwise clear from the context, any further references to College Tutor in this policy includes the academic course team.

(e)The Student’s suspension will remain in place until the date when the Fee-collecting Body receives payment of the full fees due, or the agreed instalment(s) due, at which point the Student may apply for reinstatement (see paragraph 16 below). The note on the Student’s record will be removed if such payment is received.

(f)If payment of the outstanding fees remains outstanding after two terms have elapsed since the date of suspension, or at the end of the academic year if earlier, the Fee-collecting Body may apply for the Student to be withdrawn and the Student’s membership of the University to be removed (see paragraph 15 below). Such application must be accompanied by a welfare statement from the Student’s College Tutor or a statement that the College Tutor is not aware of any welfare issues relevant to the Student. The note on the Student’s record will be retained.

(g)In deciding how to proceed under paragraph 13(f) above, the Fee-collecting Body will take into account any explanation for non-payment and/or any evidence of mitigating circumstances put forward by the Student and/or in the statement from the Student’s College Tutor. Any decision made by the Fee-collecting Body other than withdrawal and removal of University membership must be accompanied by a review date.

14. Non-payment of Tuition fees will result in a Student not being admitted onto any future course at the University until payment of the outstanding fees is received in full. The note on the Student’s record will be removed if the Student’s fees are subsequently paid.

15. Applications to have a Student withdrawn and the Student’s membership of the University to be removed should be submitted by the Fee‑collecting Body to the General Board or other body duly nominated by the General Board.3 In deciding how to proceed, the General Board or nominated body will take into account the information provided by the Fee‑collecting Body and any further explanation for non‑payment and/or any evidence of mitigating circumstances put forward by the student. The General Board or nominated body will issue a completion of procedures letter confirming its decision. A record of the decision will be communicated to the Student’s College or Fee‑collecting Body and the Student Administration.

H. Applications for reinstatement

16. Any application for reinstatement will be subject to the reinstatement policy and process appropriate to the individual’s student group (see https://www.cambridgestudents.cam.ac.uk/your-course/postgraduate-study/your-student-status/reinstatement and the relevant College reinstatement policies). Reinstatement is not automatic and will be conditional upon payment of all outstanding fees.

Annex B

Non‑payment of Fees Guidance

These guidance notes are intended to support offices within the University and its Colleges in interpreting and implementing the University-wide policy for the non-payment of the tuition fee. The University’s Policy for the non‑payment of tuition fees can be found here [link to be added] and in Statutes and Ordinances, [cross-reference to be added].

1. Introduction

The University has introduced a single central policy to address non‑payment of the tuition fee, which is applicable to all University students and to all University institutions and Colleges responsible for collecting and administering the tuition fee and maintaining the student record. Definitions of these terms are included in the policy document.

The policy has the following overarching aims:

•To endeavour to ensure fairness, and consistency of treatment between students who share similar circumstances, whilst recognising that each case is individual.

•To ensure that a student is neither advantaged nor disadvantaged in comparison with other students.

2. Eligibility

Please refer to the policy document for definitions of which offices, students, types of fee and University / College representatives are covered by the policy.

In the event of variations between local guidelines and/or policy and University policy, the University policy will take precedence.

3. Management of a student case

It is important that the policy and procedure for managing non‑payment of fees is both transparent and easy to understand for all offices and students. The policy is therefore laid out as a step‑by‑step process to allow offices and affected students to clearly navigate and understand the process, and the timelines and actions associated with each stage.

Variations in individual students’ circumstances and their welfare may merit an adaptive approach at different stages of the process, for example, if an office requires more time to obtain a better understanding of the student’s situation and provide appropriate support. Conditional wording has therefore been incorporated into the policy wherever possible to allow the office concerned to determine exactly how they wish to manage an individual student case. A template Fee Payment Schedule is also provided to make it easier for the student and College to work together on agreeing an appropriate fee payment plan.

Communication of a student’s change in status (suspension or withdrawal) will take place by email to ensure that there is a clear record trail. This process may be reviewed in the future, subject to appropriate developments being made to the University’s student record systems.

Students should feel reassured by the policy’s emphasis on communication and recognition that their College will take their specific circumstances into account when managing their case. For both offices and students, it is expected that the effective resolution of a non-payment situation at an early stage will always be the most desirable outcome. The latter stages of the policy – suspension and subsequently withdrawal – should only be enacted if all previous attempts to work with the student have proved unsuccessful.

In circumstances where all attempts to contact students have failed and the College feels it is appropriate to pursue the payment of fees, the Colleges should engage the services of external debt collectors to aid the recovery of the debt unless one of the exemptions below apply.

4. Exemptions

Exceptionally, in a limited number of circumstances the University may not deem it appropriate to enforce the non‑payment of fees policy. Examples of such circumstances are listed below; however, this list should not be considered conclusive. In line with the overarching aims of the policy, it should therefore not be inferred that the University will automatically reach the same decision in all such cases.

(i)the student’s funds have been temporarily delayed rather than simply not existing;

(ii)where the student experiences personal issues such as bereavement, injury or critical illness, which mean the University does not consider it appropriate to enforce the policy;

(iii)circumstances entirely outside the student’s control such as a war or natural disaster in their home country which means their funds are no longer accessible.

5. Applications for a withdrawal

If the student’s tuition fee remains unpaid after the College or academic course team have followed the stages and process laid out in the policy, the student’s Tutor, Senior Tutor or academic course team (as appropriate) may submit an application for the student to be withdrawn from the University. The following information and documents should be submitted in support of this request:

•A covering email confirming the student’s name, USN and course.

•Amount of tuition fees paid and the amount that is outstanding, along with a record of the corresponding term(s) and the date(s) that payments were due.

•Steps that have been taken to solicit payment, any response from the student, and any agreed payment terms.

•Confirmation that all of the policy steps have been taken, including the start and end date of the student’s period of suspension.

•A welfare statement written by the student’s College Tutor or their Senior Tutor.

•Any mitigating circumstances.

6. Impact on course of study

For postgraduate research students, a period of suspension ‘stops the clock’ on all aspects of their degree course, including their residency. The suspension period therefore does not count towards the overall duration of their course and number of terms kept, requiring a corresponding adjustment to be made to the end date of the student’s course of study. Students undertaking a taught course may need to re‑start their course in a subsequent academic year, depending on the duration and timing of their suspension. Before resuming or restarting their course, students will need to ensure that appropriate financial arrangements are in place to enable them to enable them to complete their course of study.

7. Key contacts

Students who are unable to pay their fees should contact their College Tutor or office responsible for collecting their course fee as soon as they are aware of the issue.

Copies of the signed fee payment schedule and the annual non‑payment of fees report should be submitted to Central and Research Accounting, Finance Division via centralandresearchaccounting@admin.cam.ac.uk.

Queries regarding the administration of the non‑payment policy and applications to withdraw a student for non‑payment of fees should be directed to the Fee Policy Manager in the first instance at feestatusandpolicy@admin.cam.ac.uk.

Student suspension notifications should be submitted to the Student Administration office: RecordsandExams@offices.admin.cam.ac.uk.

Annex C

Changes to General Board procedures and regulations

If the recommendations of this Report are approved, the General Board has agreed to make the following changes.

(a)Student Disciplinary Procedure (reproduced in Statutes and Ordinances, 2022, p. 198): By amending paragraph 7.12(c) to read as follows:

(c)Temporary or permanent exclusion from membership of the University;

(b)General Regulations for Certain Postgraduate Degrees and Other Qualifications (Statutes and Ordinances, 2022, p. 450): By adding a footnote to Regulation 12(b) concerning the circumstances in which the General Board has power to withdraw a student to read as follows:

The General Board may also take additional actions in cases of failure to pay the fees due, as set out in Regulation 2 of the Ordinance for the Non-payment of Fees [cross-reference to be added].