SAMRU Fees

Students’ Association Fees 2011-2012

All students Association Fees are collected by Mount Royal University on behalf of the Students’ Association of Mount Royal University (SAMRU). Any questions on any of these fees should be directed to the SAMRU in the Wyckham House student centre located in Z222.

General and Operating Fee
($88.69 full-time, $42.41 part-time):
The SAMRU has the authority to increase the General and Operating fee each year by the rate of inflation, but choose to freeze the fee for 2010-11. Normally, however, this fee is permitted to increase by the rate of inflation. This fee is supplemented by money earned from many of the businesses within Wyckham House. Some of the ways that this money is spent include: dozens of SAMRU’s services, staffing, administrative, Student Centre operating. SAMRU has a $7.0 million budget, runs a 70,000 square foot Student Centre, and employs lots of people to offer the hundreds of business and support services delivered to students.

Capital Campaign Fee
($36.79 full-time, $19.62 part-time):
This fee was first approved by students in a 1998 referendum, and modified by students at the 2000 general meeting. This fee can increase each year by the rate of inflation, but may not exceed a maximum of $40 for full-time students and $24 for part-time students. This fee is used to pay for costs of building and maintaining the Wyckham House Student Centre, which is operated by SAMRU. Currently SAMRU has a $13 million mortgage to fund the 2008 building expansion. This fee is used to make payments, both principal and interest, on this mortgage. Any money that’s leftover from these payments is kept in a separate account and used for additional work on the Student Centre.

Scholarship Fee
($3 both full-time and part-time):
This fee was first approved by students in 1998 through a referendum. Approximately half of these fees are paid out by SAMRU to students every year through scholarships (like E-Awards), co-curricular development funding (Membership Development Fund), and bursaries. The balance is saved in a special account to be used at a later date. The intent is to save $1 million in this account and then cancel the fee. Scholarships and bursaries could then be funded from interest earned on the account.

Health and Dental Fee
($112.50 full-time only):
In the 1990s, students introduced health and dental insurance plans through two separate referenda. These days, our insurance programs receive top grades among student plans. Our usage rate of the insurance programs is consistently excellent (80% to 100%). For the 2011-2012 year students will see a 18% increase in premiums resulting from students’ high useage of the plan. 

SAMRU’s finances are audited every year, and the financial statements are presented to students at the yearly general meeting.