Snags in Billing System Force Halt in Late-Registration Fees

The office of Fiscal Services has stopped charging late registration fees this semester because of foul-ups in its new billing system that made it impossible for some students to register on time.

No Bills

Under the new system, students could not register last week unless they had already paid their fall term bills--but about 100 students did not receive bills before registration and therefore could not have paid, R. Jerrold Gibson, director of Fiscal Services, said yesterday.

Gibson said the people who did not receive bills in the mail had "a legitimate reason" for not having paid their fees by registration day because the office of Fiscal Services had sent their bills to incorrect addresses.

"We are trying to update our address file," he said. "It was clear that we had some poor addresses."

The suspension of late registration fees will probably last at least two weeks and will apply to all students who did not register on time because it is "impossible to draw the line" between those who have legitimate reasons for registering late and those who do not, Gibson said.

Cycle Change

The new billing system, which requires students to pay either all or one installment of their fall term fees by August 20, went into effect late last May, when Dean Whitlock sent all students a letter notifying them of the change in billing cycle.

Gibson said in May that the reason for changing the billing date was that it would relieve overcrowding in the Houses.

"The new plan is going to give us some idea of who exactly is going to be here during the fall term," he said.