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SOURCE: The Herald Sun
02.07.07
No tuition for UNC workers gets boost
By: Jamie Schuman
CHAPEL HILL -- UNC faculty and staff who have worked at Carolina for at least 10 years could get their children's undergraduate tuition waived at any UNC system school or any North Carolina community college under a resolution the university's Employee Forum passed Wednesday.
The forum's resolution calls for the Carolina First Campaign, UNC's fundraising drive, to raise $40 million to support the tuition waivers.
The idea for free tuition came from an ad hoc committee, composed of administrators, employees and faculty members, that is studying employee benefits, UNC Employee Forum Chairman Ernie Patterson said.
In its report, the committee lists faculty retention, a commitment to accessibility and a chance to show appreciation for employees as reasons for the tuition program. Faculty and staff have been "largely unacknowledged" by the Carolina First Campaign so far, the report says.
Under the proposal, only children of permanent faculty and employees would be eligible. The voucher would be for eight semesters of undergraduate study, and would not cover student fees.
"This will be the first part, to me, of the Carolina First Campaign that truly addresses staff," Patterson said. "It's an important first step."
Patterson said the program could be a good way to increase enrollment at community colleges and UNC campuses aside from Carolina. It's likely that many children of employees would attend one of those institutions instead of UNC Chapel Hill, he said.
Carolina already has a program called "The Family Scholarship Fund," started a few years ago, through which children of some low-income employees can get help paying for any public university or community college in North Carolina.
Duke University already has a more extensive tuition-assistance program for children of employees who have worked there for at least five years. The university pays 75 percent of tuition for children of eligible employees, after the family pays a deductible of $1,800 per semester.
The Duke award can be used at any university, though the tuition at North Carolina colleges and universities is less than the deductible so the award cannot be used there.
