From Voice ~ Topics: education, evacuation/disaster
Katrina Disaster Relief and Design Education
The following report is comprised of various email and web posts by concerned designer citizens.
1. What to do if you are a displaced student?
Act quickly
Many campuses are accommodating displaced students, but most have established tight deadlines, so you will need to act very quickly. Many schools are establishing their own policies on how to treat students displaced by this disaster. We have heard of some schools that are waiving student tuition for a semester or two (ask your administrators). Some schools will accept students, with the approval of deans, on a case-by-case basis. They will not pay tuition to the visiting institution, but will be asked to pay tuition to their home institutions. In many cases, it is understood that they will transfer back to their home institution in due time. Regarding housing, some institutions are discussing ways to accommodate students by asking members of the campus community to offer home hospitality or help find other housing options. If you are displaced from an affected college or university and you live in Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama, begin by contacting your school to learn if they are even going to attempt to open school this semester. Perhaps they will be adjusting their academic calendar and starting later. If you are from (or in) Louisiana, contact Louisiana State University: they are admitting all displaced students. Contact your state university campus If you are displaced from an affected college or university, and you live in another state, contact the local state university near you. Many state universities around the country have established policies to accommodate displaced students. For example, University of California San Diego has made various provisions that could serve as a model. State-funded schools may be focusing efforts on helping those who have pre-existing ties to the state (i.e., helping members of the local community who planned to attend hurricane-affected schools) and may need to relocate to continue their education. Some state schools may be offering free tuition and books to students from hurricane-affected universities. Here are some examples:
This is obviously a much more difficult situation given that students are more flexible and able to continue their studies at a different school or even "back home" for a semester or two if necessary. First, contact the AIGA Relief Effort to determine if there is anything there for you. Posting your situation or concerns to the AIGA Design Education Yahoo! Group is recommended. In this way, you inform other educators that you have been affected, that you are out there and that you are willing to become temporarily involved in another school. This decision to hire new faculty, however, may be made at a state-policy level when tax dollars are at stake. You must determine whether the institution already responding. Does the institution have a policy in place? How flexible is the institution for taking on a new salary, as most budgets are fixed and most schools are already running on razor-thin budgets? It is recommended that you identify your skill set and match the skills of faculty searching with needs of adopting programs. Success here may depend on quality of relationships and real understanding of real issues.
3. What to do if your school wants to take in a displaced teacher?
Contact AIGA Relief at relief@aiga.org and post a comment to the AIGA Design Education Yahoo! Group.
4. What to do as a class project?
Members of the AIGA Design Education Community of Interest Steering Committee have been discussing this very thing. Feel free to contact a member of the steering committeefor details and any progress that might come out of these discussions To start, you may need to decide if you want to focus on:
1. What to do if you are a displaced student?
Act quickly
Many campuses are accommodating displaced students, but most have established tight deadlines, so you will need to act very quickly. Many schools are establishing their own policies on how to treat students displaced by this disaster. We have heard of some schools that are waiving student tuition for a semester or two (ask your administrators). Some schools will accept students, with the approval of deans, on a case-by-case basis. They will not pay tuition to the visiting institution, but will be asked to pay tuition to their home institutions. In many cases, it is understood that they will transfer back to their home institution in due time. Regarding housing, some institutions are discussing ways to accommodate students by asking members of the campus community to offer home hospitality or help find other housing options. If you are displaced from an affected college or university and you live in Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama, begin by contacting your school to learn if they are even going to attempt to open school this semester. Perhaps they will be adjusting their academic calendar and starting later. If you are from (or in) Louisiana, contact Louisiana State University: they are admitting all displaced students. Contact your state university campus If you are displaced from an affected college or university, and you live in another state, contact the local state university near you. Many state universities around the country have established policies to accommodate displaced students. For example, University of California San Diego has made various provisions that could serve as a model. State-funded schools may be focusing efforts on helping those who have pre-existing ties to the state (i.e., helping members of the local community who planned to attend hurricane-affected schools) and may need to relocate to continue their education. Some state schools may be offering free tuition and books to students from hurricane-affected universities. Here are some examples:
- Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is offering free tuition and books to students from hurricane-affected universities.
- IUPI will offer free tuition and books for a semester to as many as 40 Indianapolis-area students who were set to attend Louisiana colleges and universities hit by Hurricane Katrina. More....
- IUPUI offers to admit students from campuses hit by Hurricane Katrina. In response to inquiries from two local families, IUPUI is offering admission to students who were set to attend Louisiana colleges and universities hit by Hurricane Katrina. More...
- Another example from Bard College, from the message board: Bard College in Annandale, New York, and its affiliates, Simon's Rock College in Great Barrington, Mass., and Bard High School Early College in New York, will offer assistance to students whose academic programs have been disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. Students will be accepted on a visiting status and arrangements will be reviewed on a term-by-term basis with the expectation that students will return to their home institutions once that is possible. Tuition fees will be waived for the fall semester. Campus housing is limited, but appropriate accommodations in the community will be arranged. Students should understand that classes are already in session at both Bard and Simon's Rock and will begin this week at Bard High School Early College. For further information contact: admission@bard.edu.
This is obviously a much more difficult situation given that students are more flexible and able to continue their studies at a different school or even "back home" for a semester or two if necessary. First, contact the AIGA Relief Effort to determine if there is anything there for you. Posting your situation or concerns to the AIGA Design Education Yahoo! Group is recommended. In this way, you inform other educators that you have been affected, that you are out there and that you are willing to become temporarily involved in another school. This decision to hire new faculty, however, may be made at a state-policy level when tax dollars are at stake. You must determine whether the institution already responding. Does the institution have a policy in place? How flexible is the institution for taking on a new salary, as most budgets are fixed and most schools are already running on razor-thin budgets? It is recommended that you identify your skill set and match the skills of faculty searching with needs of adopting programs. Success here may depend on quality of relationships and real understanding of real issues.
3. What to do if your school wants to take in a displaced teacher?
Contact AIGA Relief at relief@aiga.org and post a comment to the AIGA Design Education Yahoo! Group.
4. What to do as a class project?
Members of the AIGA Design Education Community of Interest Steering Committee have been discussing this very thing. Feel free to contact a member of the steering committeefor details and any progress that might come out of these discussions To start, you may need to decide if you want to focus on:
- Projects with an objective of raising money
- Projects with an objective of offering hope
- Projects with an objective of making meaningful change, taking action on a larger, longer-term scale
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