Stone Center Documents

STONE CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES
GRADUATE STUDENT INFORMATION SURVEY

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT

The Stone Center Administration directly responsible for the graduate program has been in communication and has been discussing all the issues relevant to your status as a Tulane University Graduate Student. We are very much aware of the need to resolve some of the more pressing issues facing you: registration and enrollment in other institutions, financial considerations (stipends, fellowships), and contact information.

We want to assure you that we are doing our very best to clarify all of these issues. In the meantime, we need to centralize our efforts and begin to compile some centralized data on the Tulane LAST Graduate Student diaspora. The following survey is an effort to begin this process. Even if you have already made contact with us, we are asking you to please take the time to complete the following survey.

For the moment, we would like to make a couple of clarifying points:

1. We want to assure you that we will make every accommodation with regard to credit transfers and other academic program issues. We do not suspect that there will be any problems in this regard as long as we are kept abreast and informed of your plans and can give you guidance accordingly.

2. There are many questions that remain with regard to the Graduate School’s policies in these circumstances, especially regarding financial matters. Please read the following items carefully:

A. TUITION COSTS / PROGRAM FEES: Since tuition is generally waived for graduate students on fellowship, we imagine that the University will NOT reimburse students for the costs of tuition at other institutions since they do not have to pay tuition at Tulane. However, given the extraordinary circumstances, we are not exactly sure what the policy is with regard to this matter and whether the University will reimburse you, or will pay other institutions directly, for any tuition costs or fees that you may be assessed, or loans that you may obtain to pay for such tuition costs/fees. Please take this under consideration as you make your plans. Until we receive specific information from the University regarding this matter, the Stone Center cannot guarantee you that your tuition outlays will be reimbursed.

B. STIPENDS: It is my understanding that the University will continue to disburse stipend to graduate students (see http://tulane.edu/paystatus.html); however, the details of such disbursements remain unclear. Until we receive further clarification, we would assume that only students who are enrolled in courses at another institution whose credits can be transferred to Tulane will be allowed to receive the stipend. Any student who collects a stipend intended to support continued graduate study but who does not study during the stipend period will likely not be issued a stipend or, if stipends are disbursed, may be required to refund the university for these payments.

C. FLAS FELLOWSHIPS: The Tulane University Graduate School waives tuition costs for its FLAS fellows, and so its FLAS fellowship grants are used exclusively to fund stipends. Therefore, any Tulane University FLAS fellows should not assume that their FLAS fellowships will cover the costs of tuition and fees at other institutions. FLAS fellows should inform their host institutions of this situation and should make sure that your contact person at the host institution be in direct contact with Jimmy Huck (rtsclasblog@hotmail.com) for clarification as soon as possible.

3. The Stone Center is ultimately committed to doing everything in its power and within its means to make sure that its graduate students work through this uncertain and difficult process so that your graduate experience is as smooth and as problem free as possible. To that end, we will promise to work hard on your behalf and to negotiate all details with other institutions and with the relevant units of the Tulane University administration to the best of our abilities. We ask that you be in constant communication with us. Every question or concern that you have, no matter how insignificant you think it may seem, is vitally important to us. We want to hear from you and to ensure that you are doing well and are secure in your decisions. We also ask that you be patient and understanding as we work through these issues.



SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS
Please complete the following survey and send it to Jimmy Huck (rtsclasblog@hotmail.com), Tom Reese (treese@majordojo.com), and Valerie McGinley Marshall (valeriemcginley@gmail.com) as soon as possible. NOTE: Please make sure to send it to all three of us.


NAME:
CURRENT MAILING ADDRESS:
LANDLINE PHONE #:
CELLPHONE #:
EMAIL ADDRESS:

Please answer the following questions:

1.Do you intend to enroll in another University for the Fall Semester? If so, please provide the following information on the University:

A. Name of University/College
B. Name of School/Department/Program
C. Name, Title, and Contact Info. of Person with whom you are working at this University
D. What is this University/College’s policy towards Tulane transfer students?

1. What are the tuition fees/costs, if any, being assessed to you?
2. Are you being provided a tuition waiver/stipend?
3. Are you already enrolled and taking classes? If so, what are the specific details of the classes you are taking (Title, Instructor’s Name, Level, etc.)
4. What is your enrollment status at this University/College
5. What other accommodations are being made for you by this University/College with regard to registration, enrollment, financing, and housing.

2. What is your graduate fellowship status? i.e. FLAS, Graduate Fellowship, TA, Monroe Fellow, etc.

3. Were you registered for classes at Tulane before the Hurricane hit?

4. Did you complete the necessary paperwork for payroll in order to receive your stipend? If so, did you provide direct deposit information? Also, please report any stipend disbursements for this Academic Year that you have already received from Tulane.

5. Please report any other stipulations or arrangements you are making for your continuing education this Fall Semester.

6. If you are not planning to study this Fall Semester, what are your plans for this semester? Also, do you intend to continue with your graduate education once Tulane is again operational?

7. FOREIGN STUDENTS: Please advise as to your immigration/visa status and any particular circumstances that you are dealing with or will need assistance with.

8. Please add any additional comments or questions here: