Let me begin by expressing my appreciation to many of you for the positive feedback and support of the many initiatives undertaken by Admissions and Enrollment during the past three years since I joined the Rensselaer community. Your support has been very helpful in our work of presenting Rensselaer to prospective students and their families.
The intent of this article is to discuss and clarify initiatives undertaken by the Financial Aid Office, which is also part of the Enrollment Division. Our mission in garnering and allocating financial resources is twofold: to provide financial resources to those students and families who need it most, and to use our resources to maximize the educational experience of students receiving the aid.
Since 2005, we have successfully implemented the following:
• Increasing the overall financial aid budget by $20 million to $81 million to more fully meet the financial need of our students.
• Creating a $2 million supplemental aid fund to assist current students who encounter financial hardships. This year, we were able to help more than 400 students through difficult times in their lives.
• Raising the minimum work-study wage rate to $8.50 per hour, and adding a $10.00 per hour scale for researchers.
• Creating room and board grants so that students with higher fiscal need can choose to live on campus if that is their preference, and can have access to a range of Institute housing options.
• Allocating an additional $100,000 per year in work-study funds to allow students with financial need to have a research experience.
• Expanding the number of majors who are eligible for $4000 National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grants.
As part of this continuing process to ensure that our neediest students are able to attend Rensselaer and participate in any program here without an undue burden, we recently examined our fiscal support structure for our Resident Assistants and Directors. Here again, our goal was to ensure equality of opportunity, to see that any student who wanted to participate in these programs could afford to do so, and to ensure that we are using our fiscal resources to help our students who have the greatest needs. The policy is as follows:
The Financial Aid Office will provide a minimum $5,000 room and board grant to students who take RA or RD positions. This $5,000 is provided regardless of their financial status.
Any current RA or RD may petition the financial aid office for additional grants if he or she feels this change causes financial hardship. The Acting Director of Financial Aid would meet with any current RA or RD who felt he or she might qualify for these additional funds.
Prior to the arrival of the Board of Trustees last week, only two current students had requested to meet or had already met with the Financial Aid Office to request additional funds under this new policy, and we were able to meet their full need.
I had personally met with student leaders to explain the policy, and the fact that it would allow us to reallocate an additional $350,000 from students with no financial need to our neediest students. I therefore was truly disappointed to see a protest on this topic led by those same student leaders.
The students who work in the Division of Student Life are diligent, and they provide an important service to the university. That is not the issue. The real issues, from my perspective, are helping our neediest students, providing fair compensation for all student employment at Rensselaer, and enabling an equality of opportunity for student experiences.
James Nondorf
Vice President for Enrollment
and Dean of Admissions
