For Students: Services: In-Room Network Connections: New Telecommunications Fee

As of August 20, 2005, the new Telecommunications Fee is in effect. Read below for more information on this new billing structure.

Frequently Asked Questions What's Changing and Why What's new with student network and telephone charges? How much is the new fee? How does the new fee compare to the old fees? Why the change? What are the benefits to students of the new fee structure? What are the benefits to the University of the new fee structure? Were students consulted in formulating this plan? The Costs Involved Why is the networking portion of the fee going up? What are the infrastructure costs? Why else is the networking portion of the fee going up? Why did the in-room network connection fee go up in 2004? Will the new fee continue to rise? Where does the money from the Telecom Fee go? Does the University make money from these charges? Why are these costs not being rolled into tuition or room & board? What do services like these cost off campus? Telephone Service What are the benefits of land-line telephones? How many students currently have land-line service, as opposed to cell phones? Will the University provide a physical telephone, along with the service? What if I don't want a University phone - can I opt out of this service and the Telecom Fee? Can I still get long distance service or additional phone lines? What if I'm in a two-room double, or an apartment, or a quad? Where can I get more information on phone service? Miscellaneous What if I live in Schwab? What if I live in a Fraternity, or a Sorority, or Chi Theta Chi? If I live in couples housing, will we both be charged? What about family housing? What if I move off campus during the quarter - will I get a refund? If I'm in housing continuously, is ther a Telecom Fee for intersession? How can I provide feedback about the Telecom Fee? What if I have other questions about my University Bill? What if I have problems with my land-line phone or service? What if I have problems with my networking service? What's Changing and Why Q. What's new with student network and telephone charges? A. In the past, in-room network connections and wired "land-line" telephone service were available to on-campus students who wanted them, and those who signed up were charged accordingly on the monthly telecom bill from ITSS. Beginning in 2005-06, all students who live in on-campus housing (except Schwab) will be able to sign up for in-room network connections "for free," and rooms will come standard with land-line phones. To fund these services, all residents will automatically be assessed a new Telecommunications Fee on the quarterly University Bill, alongside room & board, house dues, etc. Residential Computing and Information Technology Systems and Services (ITSS), along with other University departments including Student Housing Services and Student Accounting/Controller's Office, have collaborated on this plan to better serve students and the University. Return to top Q. How much is the new fee? A. In 2007-08 the fee is $52/quarter or (for Law School students) $78/semester. Roughly $5/quarter supports land-line phones and $47/quarter supports network connections. Return to top Q. How does the new fee compare to the old fees? A. In 2004-05 students paid $12/month (or $36/quarter) per in-room network connection, so the network fee for most students increased about $2/month. Since the new fee covers multiple computers, however, students with more than one in-room network connection save money with the new fee. The small percentage of students with no network connection will obviously pay more. In 2004-05 students paid $13.95/month (or $41.85/quarter) for land-line telephone service, plus a one-time activation charge of $33. With the new fee, they paid about $1.67/month ($5/quarter) with no activation charge. Some examples: Frosh with one network connection, phone shared with roommate, three quarters Sophomore with one network connection, three quarters Senior with two network connections, three quarters Grad student with one network connection, phone, four quarters Grad student with one network connection, phone shared with roommate, four quarters Student with no network connection and no phone, three quarters '04-05 cost $187.28 $108 $216 $344.40 $244.20 $0 '05-06 cost $144 $144 $144 $192 $192 $144 Return to top Q. Why the change? A. In the 1990s, departments often needed to fund the services they provided, a "fee-for-service" model, rather than being centrally funded to provide those services. Since then, the in-room network connection has become ubiquitous, and ResComp has been working for years to stop charging for it explicitly. Subscription rates for land-line telephones, on the other hand, have been dropping, depriving ITSS of revenue required to provide both data and phone services. Both groups would like to stop "nickel-and-diming" students for what are essential and standard services. Return to top Q. What are the benefits to students of the new fee structure? A. First, as said before, students won't be nickel-and-dimed for essential and standard services. The ubiquity of services will actually make them cheaper. In addition, the required Telecom Fee appearing on the student bill can be paid directly by financial aid funds, unlike the old monthly bill. Those students needing more than one network connection will enjoy substantial cost savings. Finally, there are several benefits of universal land-lines, notably reliable emergency 911 service. Other benefits of land-lines on campus are detailed below. Return to top Q. What are the benefits to the University of the new fee structure? A. First, tracking and policing of network connections for billing purposes will be greatly simplified, resulting in administrative costs savings. Second, increased revenue from the networking portion of the fee will address, over a period of several years, the necessary revenue to cover the infrastructure cost of providing network service. Lastly, universal land-line service helps the University fulfill its responsibility to provide students a safe environment in campus residences, in particular a level of safety not yet available with cell phone technology. Return to top Q. Were students consulted in formulating this plan? A. The details of the plan were formulated by administrators in ResComp and ITSS, and presentations were made to the ASSU Senate and the Graduate Student Council to enlist student support. Following the Provost's approval of the new fee structure, we have continued working with ASSU leaders to get the word out, to address student concerns, and to form the new Student Technology Assessment Committee for evaluating the new arrangement along with other student technology concerns. In the longer term, ResComp has been getting feedback on the in-room network connection fee for years. This feedback has come from students, from parents, from the RCCs (themselves students), and through the RCCs from all of you as well as they could represent your opinions. There has been widespread agreement for years about the virtue of a universal charge for network service. Return to top The Costs Involved Q. Why is the networking portion of the fee going up? A. The biggest cause is that infrastructure costs (e.g. fiber-optic cable paths) that used to be subsidized by high subscription rates for telephone service will now be covered more directly. Costs for Residential Computing have also risen; see below. Historically ITSS collected funding for infrastructure reaching out to the residences via land-line phone subscriptions, as that was how they recouped residential costs under the fee-for-service model. With increasing student cell phone use and decreasing land-line subscription, ITSS has incurred a shortfall in those facility costs of about $280,000 per year. Although both services share some infrastructure, the infrastructure costs that are being incorporated in the data portion of the new fee have to do with data service, not telephone service. Return to top Q. What are the infrastructure costs? A. The networking and telephone infrastructure share some equipment like fiber-optic cable and the conduit inside which it travels. Conduit is a container tube for cables of any sort. Cables need conduit because they can't very well just lie in the ground or sit on the floors of the steam tunnels. Conduit keeps the cables protected, and makes it easy to thread new cables later. Cables and cable paths are upgraded from time to time, and new paths are laid for new construction, like the Studios in Escondido Village. Since expensive projects are typically amortized, i.e. gradually paid off over a long period of time, the University is still paying for network infrastructure projects completed long ago. This is pretty typical, and Student Housing does the same thing with its projects. Return to top Q. Why else is the networking portion of the fee going up? A. A secondary reason is that costs for Residential Computing have also risen in recent years. ResComp co-manages the student networks with ITSS and obtains about 30% of its funding from the old in-room network charge (most of the rest comes from Residential and Dining Enterprises, i.e. room rents). That funding helps pay staff salaries, RCC salaries, student software developers, etc. ResComp has only six central administrative staff positions, which are not fully funded by these sources, and an increasing need for professional systems administration now performed by student staff. Also, some costs have been transferred to Residential Computing from other departments of late, while funding from room rents has actually been reduced. To give one small example, ResComp has taken over the funding of the CS1c "Introduction to Computing" course from the Computer Science department. ResComp has also been working with ITSS to provide wireless networking in more of the residences. While the small increase in the networking fee will not fund a major wireless project in the residences, it will help us to continue supporting a gradual roll-out of wireless where we can. Return to top Q. Why did the in-room network connection fee go up in 2004? A. The fee increase in September 2004 was the first step in this cost restructuring. We had initially hoped that the universal Telecommunications Fee would be ready and approved by then, but alas, it was not. The fee increase covered what was immediately needed for 2004-2005, but that was only a portion of the costs involved. Return to top Q. Will the new fee continue to rise? A. The fee increased (as planned) $2/quarter in 2006-07 (to $50), and again in 2007-08 to $52. At this point we hope to have reached cost recovery for both the infrastructure costs and ResComp costs. Future increases, though difficult to predict exactly, should be only incremental. Return to top Q. Where does the money from the Telecom Fee go? A. The fee goes directly to support student network and phone connections, in three main categories: telephone and network infrastructure, network hardware and staff in ITSS Networking, and ResComp professional and student staff who administer and support the residential networks. Return to top Q. Does the University make money from these charges? A. No. Networking is heavily subsidized by the University, with over $400,000 per year in base funding (i.e. the main University budget controlled by the Provost's office) going to support the on-campus student network. The backbone network infrastructure that the residential networks depend on is funded entirely by the University, and so are the connections to the outside ("commodity") Internet and to Internet 2 (connections to other universities and research facilities). Return to top Q. Why are these costs not being rolled into tuition or room & board? A. Increasing either of those charges is...difficult. Tuition is not a good match for these costs anyway, as they apply exclusively to housed students. Adding costly services to room & board, like adding them to tuition, is politically sensitive because it makes the room rate spike. The Telecom Fee is a new fee, and as such it will be evaluated each year. Students will participate in this evaluation through a newly-formed Student Technology Assessment Committee (more on that soon). As technologies including cell phone technology evolve, and as the fee becomes stable, other funding models might be discussed. Return to top Q. What do services like these cost off campus? A. Typically high-speed Internet via DSL or Cable Modem costs about $50/month (for a connection much slower than on-campus), and basic telephone service costs about $15/month. Return to top Telephone Service Q. What are the benefits of land-line telephones? When a student calls 911 from a land-line, emergency personnel can see the student's location, which is essential if the student becomes incapacitated. Exact location cannot currently be traced from a cell phone, even with the use of global positioning (GPS). With a land-line students can use the "Door King" system to buzz visitors into the building. That functionality isn't currently available with cell phones. Issues of concern include the fact that the Door King system would need to make long distance calls, but more importantly there is no easy way for the Door King system to tell if the cell phone is physically nearby. Students should obviously not be able to buzz visitors in from back home or out of State. With all students having local phone numbers, none must pay for long distance calls to call others. Currently many students have cell phones from back home with strange and different area codes. If you don't yourself have a cell phone with a nationwide plan, calls to those students can be expensive. In the last earthquake, land-lines worked but cell phones didn't. Cell phone technology has come a long way since then, but it's still comparatively new and unreliable. Cell phone service systems are actually built on over-subscription, so when all users try to connect at once (e.g. in an emergency), not everyone can get through. Return to top Q. How many students currently have land-line service, as opposed to cell phones? A. In 2004-05, as of Winter quarter, 38% of undergraduate rooms and 60% of graduate rooms on campus had land-line service, or about 50% of all rooms on campus. Since a majority of students live in doubles, triples, or quads, the number of students, as opposed to the number of rooms, served by land-line telephones is higher than that. We estimate that 50% of undergraduates and 75% of graduate students on campus have land-lines in their rooms. In 2003-04, according to students' self-reporting, 77% of undergrads and 68% of grads had cell phones, proportions likely to rise when the results of the 2004-05 Residence Survey become available. Return to top Q. Will the University provide a physical telephone, along with the service? A. Yes. Return to top Q. What if I don't want a University phone - can I opt out of this service and the Telecom Fee? A. You cannot opt out. All student rooms will have land-lines and telephones available for safety and emergency use, even if you choose not to use your phone for local service. Not all students take equal advantage of all University services, but for the most part all pay for them through tuition, room & board, etc. That will now be the case with telephones. Return to top Q. Can I still get long distance service or additional phone lines? A. Yes. Long distance service will remain as before, available for any land-line phone, billed on students' monthly communications bill from ITSS (with cable TV service, if applicable). Students who want to will still be able to sign up and pay for additional phone lines, especially useful in two-room doubles and graduate housing. Return to top Q. What if I'm in a two-room double, or an apartment, or a quad? A. Doubles and triples, regardless of the number of rooms, will come with one phone. Apartments will come with one phone as well. Quads or larger rooms may come with two physical phones based on layout, but will still have only one phone line even if there is more than one physical phone. Return to top Q. Where can I get more information on phone service? A. For general information, see http://studentphones.stanford.edu/ . If you're around for the summer, there's information there specifically for you, as well as a Phone Installation FAQ. Return to top Miscellaneous Q. What if I live in Schwab? A. Most of this does not apply to you. Schwab is managed by the Graduate School of Business, and not Residential & Dining Enterprises. Schwab will, however, have local phones, as well as a small fee to fund phone service. Return to top Q. What if I live in a Fraternity, or a Sorority, or Chi Theta Chi? A. Greek houses and privately owned houses are billed en masse by the University based on the number of residents, and in turn collect room and board from those residents. As such, residents of these houses do not have charges for room or board on their quarterly University bills. To be consistent when it comes to the Telecom Fee, the houses will bill their residents for the normal fee amount along with room and board, and each house will pay the University in one lump sum. Return to top Q. If I live in couples housing, will we both be charged? What about family housing? A. Only students who pay room rent will be charged the Telecom Fee. In couples and family housing, one student is the contract holder (even with two-student couples), and that student will receive a single charge. Return to top Q. What if I move off campus during the quarter - will I get a refund? A. Refunds for the Telecom Fee will be handled the same way they are for house dues. The fee won't be prorated - rather, you will get a full credit if you move out before a certain point, and no credit after that. Currently, refunds are approved for housing contracts ending before the fifth Saturday of the quarter. The refund will happen automatically when you get refunded for room & board. Return to top Q. If I'm in housing continuously, is there a Telecom Fee for intersession? A. No. Room and board charges for Interim housing (e.g. the month between Summer and Autumn quarters) appear on your University Bill, but there won't be any associated Telecom Fee for that period. Return to top Q. How can I provide feedback about the Telecom Fee? A. Email telecomfee@rescomp.stanford.edu Return to top Q. What if I have other questions about my University Bill? A. Please submit a request under the appropriate category at HelpSU. Return to top Q. What if I have problems with my land-line phone or service? A. Please direct your questions about phone service to the ITSS Help Desk (you can also call 5-HELP). Return to top Q. What if I have problems with my networking service? A. For computer and network questions in the residences, please talk to your RCC Return to top

Quick links Begin the registration process Update/Reconnect your registration Disconnect your registration Student Services In-Room Network Connections Printing Clusters Student Resources Information for New Students ResComp News Frequently Asked Questions Questions? Problems? If you have any questions about the registration process, your in-room network connection, or other computer-related issues, please contact your Resident Computer Consultant (RCC).