Students, many apparently unaware of it, are paying more for technology this year, without a noticeable improvement in quality.

The technology fee doubled this year to $100 a semester for undergraduate day students. Increased paper use and more Internet connections were two reasons for the increase, administrators said.

Students have complained of slow log-in rates and slow Internet connections.

“Compared to last year, I haven’t seen a two-fold increase in technology use,” said junior Joe Olson. Olson, who was unaware of the increase, said he thinks more students this year have fewer computers to use. Another junior, Tom Fielder, said he hasn’t seen technology services double either.

Other students are concerned that the new, little-used kiosks are the reason for the technology fee increase.

Samuel Levy, dean of information resources and technology, said the labs have printed 40,000 pages since the start of classes this fall. Last week, Internet capacity was increased by 33 percent, from 9 megabytes per second to 12 Mbps, making the Internet faster, Levy said. He added that student residence halls consume nearly 60 percent of the total bandwidth available to both campuses.

Residents paid another unexpected fee this fall. Those who did not have a standard Ethernet cord, or needed a longer one, paid $6.99 or $9.99 depending on length to connect their computer to the Internet. In the past, St. Thomas has provided free cords.

Students were billed the fees on a second cycle, after some of them had paid their tuition. Levy said the fees were assessed after students dropped and added classes because the fees vary according to the number of credits a student takes.

Teresa Kohlbeck, business office manager, said some parents were confused when fees were added, dropped, then added again, so this year they decided to try a new approach to billing students.

The technology fee started three years ago for undergraduate students. The fee, Levy said, pays for updated computers and printers every three years, paper and ink cartridges for printers, use of e-mail systems and student services. The services include course registration on the Web, computer and database access from on and off campus, and increased bandwidth and infrastructure for residence hall Internet connections and for any student who logs on with a UST identification.

“St. Thomas is lower than other colleges,” said Laura Swenson, a first-year student who compared college fees before choosing to come to St. Thomas. Swenson said Bethel has a technology fee of $150 a semester, while students at Winona State do not pay a technology fee but must use the college’s computers, which cost $3,000.

This year graduate students and continuing studies students have paid a technology fee because they use some of the same services as undergraduate students. Graduate students enrolled in six or more credits pay $50 a semester and $25 a semester for three to five credits. Students in the Continuing Studies program taking four to seven credits pay $25 a semester, while students taking more than eight credits pay $50 a semester. Levy said they also are consumers of the services undergraduates use.

Bandwidth levels will increase yearly to accommodate the demand of music and video on the Internet, Levy said. Other new services in the future include wireless technology and more self-service options.

“Though some costs decrease on a per unit basis, we all seem to want more and more,” Levy said. Services such as voice over telephone service on the Internet, and other communication modes such as video, audio, animation, will continue to increase, Levy said.

Whether a technology fee will be assessed next year is uncertain. Levy said determining the fee is a part of the university’s budget process that includes the university Budget Advisory Committee, the strategic planning process, the executive vice president’s cabinet and the board of trustees.

Levy encouraged students to talk about the future of technology and suggested discussing it with the All College Council.