The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors approved Monday a mandatory $3,500 fee for its Master of Business Administration students.

The fee will help defray extra costs associated with the MBA program, university spokesman Larry Hincker said.

Some students in the architecture and engineering programs already pay an extra fee, as do MBA students at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, Hincker said.

Such fees are typically levied on students in departments and programs that require specialized attention for students or additional supplies and equipment, and that ensure the costs of specialized degrees don't burden the entire student body, Hincker said.

In other action, the board approved a resolution modifying the employee severance policy to allow a lump-sum payment. Before the change, employees remained on the payroll during the severance period and kept group health benefits during that time. Under the new policy, the value of health benefits are included in the payout and the group health coverage canceled.

The board also approved a resolution honoring U.S. Marine Capt. David Seth Mitchell, a 2001 Tech graduate who died Oct. 26 in a helicopter crash in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Mitchell is the fourth member of the Corps of Cadet Class of 2001 to die, according to the resolution.