Spring Break
EDITORIAL: Study abroad reversal too slow
Feb. 15 deadline too early
Editorial | 2/24/09
Posted online at 3:34 AM EST on 2/24/09
Assistant Dean of Academic Services and Director of Study Abroad J. Scott Van Der Meid and Dean of Student Financial Services Peter Giumette sent an e-mail Feb. 10 to all first-year and sophomore students reversing the University's Jan. 16 announcement that prohibited portability of merit scholarships to study abroad programs. This e-mail came five days before the Feb. 15 deadline for submitting the Preliminary Study Abroad Application, which is mandatory for all students considering studying abroad during the 2009 to 2010 academic year. It took administrators too long to reverse their original decision, and it is disappointing that they didn't extend the preliminary application deadline in light of their major announcement Feb. 10.
Within days of the Jan. 16 announcement, Student Union President Jason Gray '10 informed senior administrators that letters sent to recipients of the Justice Brandeis Scholarship, Dean's Award and Presidential Scholarship stated that these merit scholarships could be applied to study abroad programs, according to a Jan. 22 Justice interview with Mr. Giumette.
It is unacceptable that administrators did not know that these letters contained this text until Mr. Gray made them aware of that information. Even though the administration eventually realized its decision to halt merit aid portability was a breach of trust with merit scholars, it chose not to reverse the decision officially for several weeks.
Unlike in previous years, when students had until early fall to decide whether to study abroad in the spring, current sophomores had only one month to do so as a result of Brandeis' earlier deadline. This brief period of time is not sufficient for many students to make such an important choice, but the University especially hurt merit scholars even as it reversed its decision. These students were given less than five days to determine whether studying abroad would be feasible for them due to the University's delay in making the reversal.
In order to give merit scholars more time to decide whether to study abroad, the University should have changed its decision shortly after being contacted by Mr. Gray. The administration evidently was not awaiting a viable alternative to barring merit aid portability, as the Advisory Committee to Study Abroad had not yet found one at the time of the Feb. 10 reversal.
So why the wait?
Mr. Gray told the Justice at the time of the administration's Feb. 10 announcement, "The decision needed to be made sooner. Timing is of the essence. There's a lot that needs to go in, and everything needs to happen very quickly. The deadline is soon. People need to have as much time as they can to get the information that they need and make their decision." The University should have extended the Feb. 15 deadline to accommodate those who were forced to make this decision under such stressful time constraints.
Within days of the Jan. 16 announcement, Student Union President Jason Gray '10 informed senior administrators that letters sent to recipients of the Justice Brandeis Scholarship, Dean's Award and Presidential Scholarship stated that these merit scholarships could be applied to study abroad programs, according to a Jan. 22 Justice interview with Mr. Giumette.
It is unacceptable that administrators did not know that these letters contained this text until Mr. Gray made them aware of that information. Even though the administration eventually realized its decision to halt merit aid portability was a breach of trust with merit scholars, it chose not to reverse the decision officially for several weeks.
Unlike in previous years, when students had until early fall to decide whether to study abroad in the spring, current sophomores had only one month to do so as a result of Brandeis' earlier deadline. This brief period of time is not sufficient for many students to make such an important choice, but the University especially hurt merit scholars even as it reversed its decision. These students were given less than five days to determine whether studying abroad would be feasible for them due to the University's delay in making the reversal.
In order to give merit scholars more time to decide whether to study abroad, the University should have changed its decision shortly after being contacted by Mr. Gray. The administration evidently was not awaiting a viable alternative to barring merit aid portability, as the Advisory Committee to Study Abroad had not yet found one at the time of the Feb. 10 reversal.
So why the wait?
Mr. Gray told the Justice at the time of the administration's Feb. 10 announcement, "The decision needed to be made sooner. Timing is of the essence. There's a lot that needs to go in, and everything needs to happen very quickly. The deadline is soon. People need to have as much time as they can to get the information that they need and make their decision." The University should have extended the Feb. 15 deadline to accommodate those who were forced to make this decision under such stressful time constraints.
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