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Like A Hurricane…

by Kyra Worrell

Like many people, I was shocked and horrified by the destruction left in the wake of hurricane Katrina and immediately wanted to do something to help. UW President Emmert felt the same way, and shortly after the disaster hit, sent out an email to the University community detailing how the UW could assist both the college students and educational institutions effected by the hurricane. As early as 09/01/05, the UW opened its doors to all students displaced by the hurricane and ended up admitting about 100 students. Most of the students were from Tulane, but we also had students from other area colleges and universities. In addition to admitting the students to UW to continue their education without interruption, UW will forward the tuition revenue back to the home school to assist in funding the rebuilding.

Once this initiative was established, Student Fiscal Services (SFS) found itself at the forefront of the effort to assist these students. Vice Provost Gus Kravas brought together the “Katrina Response Resource Group” to address the challenge of assisting college students displaced by hurricane Katrina. SFS was one of the offices serving students invited to join in these discussions. SFS faced several challenges specific to our office: Do we charge tuition or not, and if we don’t charge tuition, how do we code the student in the Student Data Base? Will the students receive a bill? Will they be charged for UPasses and student health insurance? If they are receiving financial aid and /or scholarships, how do they receive the money? SFS generally does not hand out actual checks to students – they have the option of having their money directly deposit into their bank account or having a check mailed to their home address. However, some of the displaced students did not have access to their bank accounts and had no place to send a check to – and they needed the money right away for immediate needs. We knew that our staff would have to be extra sensitive to the displaced student’s situation, but we didn’t know if the students would feel comfortable making their situation known to staff members. We had to have a way to identify and serve these students without making them uncomfortable.

Peggy Fitzwater and Ruth Johnston were selected as the right people to represent SFS in the Katrina Response Resource Group and to address these issues. I was able to attend one of these meeting and was amazed at the level of cooperation and concern between the many offices on campus participating in the group. Everyone wanted to help in any way they could!

It was decided that the best course of action was to give the displaced students “exchange student status”. The exchange student model would make the collection of tuition unnecessary. The program normally serves UW students seeking to study abroad and visiting international students. It is a way for students to experience another university while still remaining enrolled and paying tuition to their home institution. In the case of the students displaced by hurricane Katrina, it is up to Tulane – and the other universities and colleges – to negotiate the payment of tuition with their students.

All of the participants in the Katrina resource group wanted to make the transition to the UW easy and uncomplicated for these students whose lives were already complicated enough by Katrina. Transportation gave free UPasses to the students. The Student Activities Fee committee waived the Student Activities fee for the students. Since the dorms were full, Housing and Food Services used the space available in the Radford Court Family Housing units. Housing and Food Services also worked with a local Rotary chapter to locate offers for home stays from the community. Fraternities and sororities in the Greek community housed students from their respective chapters. Students wanting student insurance were able to contact the Insurance Office directly. With tuition being billed by the student’s home school, the UPass and Student Activities fees waived and the student insurance handled by the insurance office, SFS did not need to send these students a bill.

Students did still need to contact SFS to receive aid checks. Kay Lewis, Director of the Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA), personally handled all of the displaced student’s awards. In determining aid awards, our process partners in the Financial Aid office looked at book costs, transportation to get here, and transportation while they were here. All of the students displaced by Katrina were also eligible for short term loans. Financial Aid waived the service fee. If the students was already registered, they could go online and apply like any other UW student. If the student was not yet registered (for example, if they needed the money for transportation to get here), Financial Aid would work with Accounting Operations to get a check issued. Financial Aid is also in charge of awarding the funds for the recently created Katrina Scholarship Fund, which was created for students affected by hurricane Katrina. SFS disburses the funds for this scholarship. If you are interested in finding out more about this scholarship and/or contributing to this scholarship, or to help a displaced student directly with essentials such as clothing, go to: http://depts.washington.edu/uwassist/

The OSFA worked closely with SFS to insure that these students were able to get their checks in a timely manner. SFS printed the checks in the office and handed them to the students, thereby eliminating the need for direct deposit or mailing. Again, everyone worked together to make things as easy as possible.

The Gateway Center for Undergraduate Education was designated as” The Katrina Assistance Center”, in order to have a central place to get the displaced students orientated to the UW. Emergency Management Office formed the UW Assist website to shows ways that people can help and to answer questions concerning the University's response to the hurricane.

The UW – and the SFS’s – response to the students displaced by hurricane Katrina has been one of generosity, cooperation and teamwork. It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we work together for a common and worthwhile goal!