Small stipends cause students to stretch funds
Task force finds more funds, aid needed for graduate students

By Emily Ward
staff reporter

According to the Graduate Education Task Force, TCU graduate stipends are currently 25 to 40 percent below market value, and students and faculty both say financial aid for graduate students is less than satisfactory.

TCU awarded $4.3 million in tuition scholarships, grants and stipends to 1,100 graduate students this year, said Larry Adams, associate provost for academic affairs. Of that figure, only $1.5 million was allocated for graduate stipends, he said.

In the final report summary for the Commission on the Future of TCU’s Graduate Education Task Force, recommendations were made for increasing the monetary value and number of graduate stipends in selected master’s and doctoral programs.

“I definitely did not choose TCU for the financial aid because we are not given a whole lot of money,” said Sylvia Zuber, a second-year biology graduate student. “It is just enough to make ends meet.”

Zuber, who is a lab instructor for two sections of honors biology, said her stipend amounts to about $3,600 each year. Divided into paychecks, this gives her about $400 every two weeks, she said. As a full-time student, Zuber must have at least a nine-hour class load, something she says is a lot more time-consuming than most people think. Besides taking classes and being a lab instructor, Zuber must also attend meetings for her lab instruction.

“There is really no way to have an outside job on top of all this,” Zuber said.

The TCU budget, which consists of tuition and fees, endowment income and outside gifts, is now being reviewed for modifications, Adams said.

“It is a priority for us to increase graduate stipends, and we are hoping to increase them when making changes to the budget,” he said.

Financial aid for graduate students basically comes in the form of a tuition award or graduate stipend.

uition awards, which don’t include university fees, function as scholarships where no pay-back from the recipient is needed. Graduate stipends usually come in the form of a monthly paycheck given to the student in return for specific work duties performed.

In the College of Fine Arts, most students who accept awards receive full tuition and about $2,500 a year in graduate stipends, said H. Joseph Butler, interim associate dean for the College of Fine Arts.

“My understanding is that we are low in stipends, and this fact was stated strongly in the Commission (on the future of TCU),” Butler said.

For Carter Davis, a second-year MBA student, stipend duties include working in the MBA office 10 hours a week. Other MBA students who receive stipends may work as classroom assistants or help individual professors with things like research, he said.

Many full-time graduate students receive some kind of tuition award or graduate stipend, though exact amounts vary between individual students and their corresponding departments.

Davis said part of his $4,500 goes toward his tuition, and the rest is given to him in bi-weekly paychecks.
“I do not know each student’s individual stipend numbers, but (their checks) are about the same around the board,” Davis said.

David Puente, a first-year mathematics graduate student, received full tuition and about $7,000 in graduate stipends this year.

“TCU has done quite well (with me), because I got full tuition in undergraduate and graduate (education),” Puente said.

However, this is the first year to offer his mathematics degree, Puente said. So the department had a lot of financial aid available and only a few students in the program, he said.

In the speech communication department, second-year student Micah Johnson said graduate assistants usually receive full tuition and a break-out stipend of $750 a semester. The break-out stipend is given to help students pay for university fees and book costs, she said.

“Usually if you get into the program, there is some kind of money they have to offer you,” Johnson said.

Last year, Johnson said she received an additional graduate stipend of $1,825 on top of the department’s tuition coverage and break-out stipend. However, she said she was not given that money this year.

Emily E. Ward
e.e.ward@student.tcu.edu

Students voice UCR concerns
Suggestions given to Curriculum Outcome Committee for evaluation

By Kristina Iodice
staff reporter

Students who attended the University Curriculum Requirements forum Thursday agreed the core curriculum should be relevant to their careers.

“As a senior, the UCR changes will not affect me directly, but it does affect the prestige of the university, which will affect my ability to get a job,” said Jeremy Moore, a senior sociology and religion major.

About 60 students, faculty and administration attended the forum, sponsored by the Faculty Senate and the Student Government Association.

David Dunai/CO-PHOTO EDITOR Andrew Smith, a freshman e-business major; Nick Harrel, a junior neuroscience major; and Kaylan Minor, a sophomore environmental science major, were among about 30 students who voiced their comments and concerns about changing the core curriculum at the UCR forum Thursday night in the Student Center Ballroom.

“The purpose of (the forum) is to explore what might be missing from the core or what you would like from the core,” said Nowell Donovan, chairman of the Faculty Senate and a professor of geology.

Donovan said the changes in the core curriculum were the second item Chancellor Michael Ferrari mentioned in the state of the university address at Fall Convocation Sept. 2. By the end of the academic year, he wants a plan to change the UCR, he said.

By Nov. 17 the Curriculum Outcome Committee is expected to have the outcomes of what the core should give students. Donovan said the committee has been holding hearings from different groups on campus and from alumni concerning the core curriculum.

A list of suggestions will be used to develop a series of recommendations concerning the UCR, he said.

he next of three committees will take over the design and execution of the changes.

“Maybe the core should be changing and evolving,” said Chris Daugherty, a junior finance major. “We should look at what other schools like us are doing.”

Daugherty also said there should be opportunities to take classes associated with majors that satisfy UCR, and one aspect of the new core should be to extend the TCU education beyond the campus, possibly through service projects.

Robert Doran, chairman of the mathematics department, said ultimately the university should make improvements to the old core. He said the ideas and concerns voiced by the students were not new and most arose several times over the past two years.

“This is a very difficult thing,” Doran said. “We will have a new core as a result of what we’re talking about now and not everyone will like it.”

Participating in a forum shows faculty and administration that students are concerned about the curriculum, said Amanda Emerson, a sophomore English and Spanish major.

Mandi McReynolds, a sophomore religion major, didn’t attend the forum, which she said was held to placate the students.

“I don’t think the students are going to have any affect on it,” she said.

Students had a lot to say, and they said it well, Donovan said. The faculty, administration and committee members who attended did listen to the students’ concerns, he said.

Following the forum, all the cards with suggestions and ideas will be added to the database of feedback collected by the Curriculum Outcome Committee.

“We are actually very interested in what students have to say,” Donovan said. “If they are having a bad experience, we need to know about it.”

Professors might not agree with what students say but appreciate a different vantage point, Donovan said.

“Students and professors are all in the business of acquiring knowledge,” he said. “We are all in the same community.”

Although he had hoped more students would come, Donovan said he didn’t expect a very large turnout.
“It’s not a subject that appeals to everybody,” he said.

Students don’t feel empowered and don’t see the forum as a chance to make a difference and have a voice, said Brian Casebolt, the Academic Affairs Committee chairman from the House of Student Representatives. He and Donovan both said the weather might also have deterred students from coming.

Currently, faculty can post their thoughts and ideas about the UCR on the Internet, Donovan said. He is working with Casebolt to set up a student electronic forum.

Kristina Iodice
k.k.iodice@student.tcu.edu

Frog-Filled Future
TCU graduate to become certified campus officer

By Matt Jones
staff reporter

TCU alumnus Aaron Cisar said he’s wanted to be a policeman since age 5. It’s only natural, since he comes from a family of four officers, he said.

“I grew up hearing all of the stories from my father and uncles,” Cisar said.

Cisar, who graduated from TCU in May, graduates today from the North Central Texas Police Academy in Arlington.

He said he is expecting to join the TCU Police Department as a certified officer following the completion of his studies at the academy.

J.C. Williams, assistant chief of police, said Cisar has worked with the department since his freshman year at TCU.

“He’s a great guy,” Williams said. “We are looking forward to having him as an officer.”

Williams said Cisar will fill a vacancy on the force as soon as his paperwork is finished and exams are complete. Qualifications for new officers are state mandated and include drug screening, physical and psychological exams and completion of an accredited police academy, he said.

Williams said Cisar could be an official member of the TCU police as early as next week.

Cisar said working for TCU as an officer will allow him to continue his education. He plans to obtain his master’s degree in English over the next few years.

“I won’t be staying here forever,” Cisar said. “But it is a great place to start.”

Cisar said he is unsure whether he will teach later in life, but he said he feels the education will benefit him regardless.

“No matter what I end up doing, I will work with people,” Cisar said. “The education will only help along the way.”

Sarah Kirschberg/CO-PHOTO EDITOR TCU alumnus Aaron Cisar will make the jump from campus security guard, a position he has held since his freshman year at TCU, to officer of the TCU police as early as next week, said J.C. Williams, assistant chief of police. Cisar will fill a vacancy on the force as soon as his paperwork is finished and his exams are complete.

Sgt. Ramiro Abad, one of Cisar’s supervisor, said Cisar has spent the last year working the midnight shift as a security guard for TCU.

“He would often work until 4 a.m. and then go to his classes the next day,” Abad said. “I used to see him studying during his downtime.”

Abad said he looks forward to working with Cisar in a new capacity.

“We’re getting a well-rounded kid,” Abad said. “He’s very personable and is willing to help anyone.”
Cisar said preparation is essential to being a good officer.

“You have to be prepared for anything,” Cisar said. “The academy taught us a little bit of everything. From emergency child birth to state laws, they cover all of the bases.”

The four-month intensive program is designed to educate and certify future officers for the workplace. However, Cisar said policing at TCU is different from policing a city.

“We don’t really deal with the blood and gore,” he said.

Cisar said his father taught him the importance of treating people with respect.

“It is important that I treat everyone fairly,” Cisar said. “I plan to give everyone the respect that they deserve.”

Matt Jones
matthewsjones@hotmail.com

Residents often ignore visitation policy in dorm rooms, RAs say
Next to noise problems, visitation is the most common rule violated

By Wendy Meyer
staff reporter

Students have called it everything from outdated to an outright infringement on their rights. Whatever the residence hall visitation policy is, students and resident assistants say it is often ignored.

Russell Elleven, the associate director of Residence Life, said 130 visitation violations were issued to students in the 1999-2000 school year.

A student reported to Campus Police on Oct. 17 that she was sexually assaulted in her Jarvis Hall room. The woman told police she allowed the man to sleep in her roommate’s bed on Sept. 23 when he told her he didn’t have a place to stay that night.

James Mick, a junior music education major and RA in Milton Daniel Hall, said the only violations he has written this year have been for breaking the visitation policy. He said the number of visitation violations last year is consistent with the rate students are receiving violations this year.

“The students are being more careful to not get caught,” Mick said. “They aren’t being as flamboyant about breaking the rules by letting girls just walk right out the front door. I think that’s good because it shows that they are at least thinking about the policy.”

Visitation hours are Sunday through Thursday from noon to 12 a.m. On Fridays and Saturdays the hours are extended from noon to 2 a.m.

Elleven estimated a total of seven or eight violations are written for all the halls on an average weekend. The number varies because weekends like Homecoming weekend bring in more violations than others, he said.
Mick said next to noise rules, the visitation policy is most often broken. He said in Milton Daniel, however, the RAs have enforced the rules a little more firmly.

Elleven said students in some halls receive more violations than students in other halls. For example, Colby Hall has more violations than Clark Hall, he said.

The staff has to be notified either through a roommate, noise or some other violation that the visitation policy is being violated to write a student up, Elleven said.

“We don’t go knocking from door to door to do bed checks,” he said.

Mick said he will often hear a high-pitched laugh at 2 a.m. and will know that there is a woman on the floor.

A document distributed to students by residential services states TCU’s visitation policy: “You may have members of the opposite gender visit you in your residence hall room during certain hours of the day. All guests are expected to be escorted by their hosts.”

“It seems like a 1950’s policy but bad situations can arise,” said Shannon Knipp, a sophomore theater major and Sherley Hall office worker. “A lot of girls don’t understand what could happen.”

The document published by residential services also says, “Violations of the visitation policy will result in disciplinary action, which may include removal from the hall or suspension of visitation privileges. Non-residents who violate visitation may be prohibited from returning to the hall.”

Knipp said it is good to have a visitation policy in women’s residence halls so students don’t have to ask their roommates’ boyfriends to leave.

Students being disrespectful of their roommates by allowing their boyfriends or girlfriends to stay the night is one of the worst problems in the dorms, Mick said.

Knipp said every male visitor needs an escort.

“That is one of the best rules we have on campus,” she said. “I’m not as concerned for my safety as for the safety of those people in situations like having an overzealous ex-boyfriend or dangerous family members. It’s dumb to assume that everyone is innocent.”

Wendy Meyer
wendy037@hotmail.com

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