Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1994 [PAGE 521]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

1996]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

509

100a Henry Administration Building (MC-332) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Office of Admissions and Records 506 South Wright Street Urbana, IL 61801 2300 Alumni Hall (MC 018) Student Services Building (MC-018) University of Illinois at Chicago Office of Admissions and Records P.O. Box 5220 Chicago, IL 60680 Office of Enrollment Services University of Illinois at Springfield Building F-20 Springfield, IL 62794-9243

Proposed Amendments to The General Rules Concerning University Organization and Procedure and to Board of Trustees Policy Regarding Tuition Waiver Authority for Graduate Students

(5) The General Rules Concerning University Organization and Procedure currently states that "For graduate students, waiver of tuition is granted for ail University graduate assistants on appointment for at least 25 percent but not more than 67 percent of full-time service" (Article IV, Section 5). At the time this rule was written there was only one graduate tuition rate and therefore it was not necessary to define "tuition." Since then, we have evolved tuition rate differentials for certain professional graduate programs as well as out-of-State students, with the result that the value of a tuition waiver varies depending upon a student's program and residency status. Some professional students now seek teaching assistantship or research assistantship appointments in areas unrelated to their professional studies for the primary purpose of gaining a tuition waiver. These tuition waivers granted by the General Rules are granted as a matter of entitlement, in consequence of appointment as a graduate assistant. In addition, the Board of Trustees' action permits each campus to offer a limited number of tuition waivers to graduate students who are not so appointed but whom the campus wishes to recruit (often in conjunction with a fellowship). It will be helpful to distinguish, therefore, between assistantship-related tuition waivers and non-assistantship related tuition waivers. The campuses seek to meet the following goals: (1) to limit tuition waivers in the form of assistantship-related entitlements and replace them as needed to fulfill academic goals with tuition waivers granted to students selected by their programs. (2) to reduce the incentive for professional program graduate students to seek appointment as teaching assistants or research assistants for the principal purpose of gaining tuition waivers. (3) to maintain the campuses' ability to continue the practice of full tuition waivers as needed to remain competitive with other high quality graduate programs. These goals may be met through an approach with two components: (1) Change the "waiver of tuition" granted by virtue of appointment as a graduate assistant to "waiver of base-rate tuition," i.e., the in-State graduate (not professional) tuition rate.