Community service now required for some out-of-state tuition waivers

Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona Board of Regents member Kurt Davis initially opposed the change in requirements for out-of-state fee waivers but the addition of 20 hours community service was added to standardize the three state university's polices.

Graduate students have not been affected by the change in policy, according to Phyllis Bolt Bannister, director of financial aid, because of the large number of out-of state students that attend the graduate programs at the University of Arizona.

Arizona Board of Regents member Kurt Davis said changes in the requirements for out-of-state tuition waivers became official in January after the plan won the board's approval. It took affect this fall.

Students already receiving the waiver are exempt from the new regulations under a grandfather clause, Davis said.

Students affected by the policy change were sent a letter explaining the policy and new requirements.

However, students already receiving the waiver previous to the fall 1997 semester were sent the letter in error.

"We did not change the rules of the game for students already receiving a waiver," he said. "They accepted the waiver under those (the previous) conditions."

One change in the requirement changes waiver eligibility. Students can only receive the waiver when they begin their enrollment at the university, either as freshman or as transfer students.

Students must also maintain a 3.5 cumulative grade point average for an academic merit waiver, 3.0 GPA for special talent waivers and 3.25 GPA for international student waivers. The grade point averages now required are a change from previous requirements to ensure that a student receiving a waiver is achieving a high level of academic success, Davis said.

Bolt Bannister said the new program will require students to perform a minimum of 20 hours of community service per academic semester in order to renew the waiver.

Students will be required to provide a signed affidavit verifying 20 hours of community service has been performed. If the community service is not completed by the end of the semester, the students waiver will not be renewed.

Under the new requirement for community service students are permitted to perform any sort of community service either on or off campus.

Bolt Bannister said the community service can be done in many different ways and "is helping others accomplish things they want in their lives."

She said students would be able to use service conducted with campus organizations to count as their service requirement.

Davis, who originally proposed the change in policy at the November 1996 regent's meeting, said the changes were brought about, in part, to ensure a consistent implementation of the waiver program among all three state universities.

"The GPA requirements were different and the policies were fairly loose," Davis said.

Both Davis and Bolt Bannister feel as though the new requirement is a benefit to both the students and the community.

"The waivers are provided by tax payer money and it's a wonderful gift," Davis said. "It (the service requirement) is a good way for the students to give something back to the community that is providing the waiver."

Students seem to share that opinion.

"It's not asking too much to perform community service if they (the state and the university) are going to pay you to come to school," said Greg Evers, biochemistry junior and transfer student.

One student receiving the tuition waiver, molecular and cellular biology freshman Kimberly Keene, said that while she does not mind performing the community service, she was upset over the late notice she received concerning the waiver.

"I don't mind, I perform community service anyway," Keene said.

Bannister said she has no knowledge of any plans to create a similar requirement for in-state students receiving a tuition waiver.