Hocking College trustees approve withdrawal policy, budget

by Kelly Durso
For The Post  

The Hocking College Board of Trustees made significant strides in passing four motions at yesterday’s meeting.

One of these motions passed by the 16-member board is a 5-percent increase in tuition for Summer Quarter. The other motions include a new withdrawal policy and a 5-percent increase in housing costs.

J. William Hill, vice president for physical development, presented the new withdrawal policy that includes a system of refunds for students.

“The new system is simpler, and the revised policy is basically more generous in the beginning and less generous in the end,” Hill said.

Students will have until the seventh week of classes either to withdraw from or drop a class. Refunds will be distributed differently based on time periods between the beginning of the quarter and the 15th day of class. Students can expect a full refund if they decide to drop courses or withdraw from the school completely.

The student also has until the 15th day to drop courses or withdraw and still receive a 100-percent tuition refund and a processing adjustment fee of 10 percent, Hill said. After the 15th day students still can withdraw, but they will not be compensated for their decision. The board voted unanimously to approve the new policy.

The board also approved the 2001-02 fiscal year budget. The revised budget examines all information collected by the board until March 2002. The board projected a 13.5-percent increase in total income and a 1.85-percent increase during the last year in revenues. The budget is final unless the state cuts more funding from education.

“What’s going on in the state can improve our competition, and we need to take advantage of it,” HC board member Jack Maurer said.

The board also approved a 5-percent tuition increase for the Summer Quarter and for housing. The increase will bring per credit fees to $74 from $70 and tuition for full-time students — those enrolled in nine to12 credit hours — to $888 from $840. Housing increases apply to double and triple rooms. The board opted to increase housing fees because of the new computers in each of the dorm rooms.

A fall tuition increase still is questionable, pending more budgets cuts from the state. The board is hoping the fall increase will be modest compared to other colleges and universities, Hill said.

The board also discussed the progress of changing transfer credit policies with other universities, including Ohio University. The board of trustees has been working with OU to make transfer credits count not only for credit hours but also as Tier I and Tier II requirements.