M E M O R A N D U M

								December 17, 2012

TO:		Members of the Board of Trustees

FROM:	Nancy L. Zimpher, Chancellor

SUBJECT:	Tuition Refunds for Students Affected by Hurricane Sandy 

Action Requested

	The proposed resolution authorizes campus presidents to waive tuition liability for the Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 terms of students who withdraw as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

Resolution

	I recommend that the Board of Trustees adopt the following resolution:

Whereas regulations of the State University (8 NYCRR §302.2(a)(6)) authorize each campus president to waive tuition liability for a student who has withdrawn because of circumstances beyond the student’s control, if the student has not received or will not receive academic credit for the term, and a request for refund is made within a year after the end of the term, but only if the student withdraws before completing more than one half of the term; and 

Whereas students have been adversely affected by Hurricane Sandy, which occurred after the first half of the Fall 2012 semester, an extraordinary event with devastating impacts; now, therefore, be it

Resolved that provisions of 8 NYCRR §302.2(a)(6) notwithstanding, each campus president be, and hereby is, authorized, in his or her discretion, to waive tuition liability of a student who has withdrawn from the Fall 2012 and/or Spring 2013 term as a result of Hurricane Sandy, under conditions in which the denial of tuition liability waiver would cause undue hardship, so long as the student has not received or will not receive academic credit for such term and the request for tuition refund is made within one year after the end of the respective term.   



Background

      The proposed resolution authorizes each campus president to waive tuition liability and to refund tuition of students who withdraw from the Fall 2012 and/or Spring 2013 terms because of the hardships caused by Hurricane Sandy.
      
      State University regulations, set forth as 8 NYCRR §302.2(a)(6),  provide for “hardship” withdrawals and the refund of tuition, in the discretion of each campus president, but only in the event a student withdraws before the mid-point of an academic term.  Hurricane Sandy occurred after the Fall 2012 term midpoint.  
      
      The proposed resolution authorizes each campus to authorize discretion to allow for tuition waiver and refund for students who withdraw because of Hurricane Sandy under the same parameters set forth in 8 NYCRR §302.2(a)(6), despite the fact that Hurricane Sandy occurred after the Fall 2012 was half over. 
















Board Resolution				-2-			December 17, 2012