A RESOLUTION
URGING THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN ADMINSTRATION AND OTHERS TO CONSIDER THE FINANCIAL WELL-BEING OF GRADUATE STUDENTS

A.R. 3

WHEREAS the Seventy Eighth Legislature of the State of Texas passed H.B. 3015 which deregulated undergraduate and graduate tuition at all public universities within the state of Texas;

WHEREAS the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) currently enrolls over 13,000 graduate students. The enrollment of graduate students continues to increase (the 2002-2003 increase was over 3%). Over half (approximately 52%) are out-of-state students including international students. Approximately 65% of all UT out-of-state students are graduate students. Approximately 71% of all international students are graduate students. Graduate students represent about 25% of the student population [1]. Roughly one third of out-of-state graduate students pay nonresident tuition rates [2];

WHEREAS UT Austin to address an $85 million shortfall due to cuts by the state legislature, increases in operating costs, and past deferment of facility maintenance has joined with UT student representatives to form a Tuition Policy Advisory Committee to consider tuition increases as partial solution to the shortfall. The UT Austin Tuition Policy Advisory Committee, based on considerations of sustaining the current UT quality of education, the additional financial burden on students and the availability of student aid and assistance for those most in need, has recommended tuition and fee increases, to apply equally to full time graduate and undergraduate students, to cover only 60 percent of that shortfall [4] and expects the remaining short fall to be met through cost saving methods, such as reengineering, to make radical changes in how we manage our processes [5];

WHEREAS graduate student retention and recruitment is wholly different than that of undergraduates. In order to sustain the quality of programs and remain competitive nationally and internationally for top students, the University must commit to offering competitive packages of employment, benefits, stipends, tuition waivers, and financial aid. Many graduate students are self-supporting and have come to UT Austin with the expectation that their tuition, fees, and support will continue to be reasonable and stable until they receive their degrees. Increases in tuition and fees and reduction of benefits in years beyond the 2004-2005 year may cause particularly severe financial hardships for these individual graduate students; and

WHEREAS graduate student aid increases from the Office of Student Financial Services are clearly defined in the Tuition Committee's proposal but other scholarships and fellowship, such as those from the departments and office of graduate studies, are not;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Graduate Student Assembly strongly urges the administration of the University of Texas System and the Regents of the University of Texas to take into account the special needs of graduate students into consideration when setting tuition fees and benefits for future years;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies should establish a committee with graduate student representation to address the need for increases in scholarships, fellowships, assistantships, grants, and waivers in order to reduce student debt and ensure that current and future graduate students can adequately fund their education at The University of Texas at Austin;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Graduate Student Assembly, supports the UT Austin Tuition Policy Advisory Committee’s specific recommendation to sustain the quality of education at University of Texas at Austin and strongly urges the University of Texas Regents not to increase tuition or fees beyond the recommendations of the committee;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Graduate Student Assembly strongly urges members of the University of Texas Regents and the Administration of the University of Texas at Austin to seriously pursue process reengineering or similar approaches for major reductions in the cost of operating the university to reduce the tuition and fee burden on UT students.

Authored by: Don Drumtra (Co-chair)

Sponsored by: Don Drumtra (Co-chair)

Approved: November 3, 2003

[1] 2002-03 Statistical Handbook (2003). Retrieved October 29, 2003 from http://www.utexas.edu/academic/oir/statistical_handbook/02-03/students/ adjusted for preliminary estimates of enrollment for 2003.
[2] Based on historical data from the Office of Graduate Studies.
[3] Tuition Policy Advisory Committee (2003) Retrieved October 29, 2003 from http://www.utexas.edu/news/tuition/
[4] Ibid. Specific details are provided in the presentations on this Website.
[5] Reengineering is "the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost quality, service, and speed" (Hammer and Champy, 1993, p. 32). Dramatic and radical includes cost cutting like 80 percent and more. Typical savings in industry include increases in productivity on the order of 100 times--not percent, reduction of process time by 90 percent, (both from IBM), reduction in functional staff from 500 to 125 (Ford), and 50 percent reduction in product development (Kodak) (ibid. pp. 36-47).