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FSEC gets Dalai Lama update
By MARY COCHRANE
Contributing Editor
The last public meeting this academic year of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee yesterday looked forward to a major event planned for the 2006-07 academic year.
Stephen C. Dunnett, vice provost for international education and co-chair of the committee planning the visit, discussed events related to the visit to UB on Sept. 18-20 by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Events confirmed to date are available on the Web site at http://www.buffalo.edu/dalai_lama/.
Beginning at 9 a.m. on May 8, UB faculty and staff will have a two-week opportunity to purchase tickets for the program in UB Stadium that will begin at 1 p.m. on Sept. 19. At approximately 3 p.m., the Dalai Lama will present the first lecture in UB's 2006-07 Distinguished Speakers Series. At the end of the two-week period, tickets will go on sale to the public. See the Web site for details.
During the discussion of events, Samuel D. Schack, Martin Professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics, said he is "really disturbed" by the canceling of all classes so that students and faculty can participate in events on Sept. 19, designated a "special day of learning" at UB. Schack said UB, a public university, should not be closed because of a visit by a religious leader.
"We did manage to host the recent visit of a former president of the United States without shutting down," Schack said.
Dunnett and Michael Ryan, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, said they had recommended suspending classes for several reasons, including anticipation of "significant logistical problems" that would arise in trying to accommodate all students, faculty and visitors that day. The Dalai Lama also is a head of state, Ryan pointed out, and the expectation of the number of people visiting UB that day to see him is expected to be "substantial."
Dunnett added that UB anticipates more than 30,000 persons in attendance at the Dalai Lama's public lecture on that day.
In other business, Terry L. Mangione, senior associate vice provost for student academic records and financial services, outlined undergraduate financial aid at UB for the FSEC.
Mangione took the committee through the types of financial aid available, including merit-based aid, need-based state and federal grants, student work programs, federal loans for students and other loan options, including federal PLUS loans (awarded to parents) and alternative loans (privately funded, usually at higher interest rates).
Merit-based aid at UB includes funds awarded under the distinguished honors, honors, UB Scholars and the Daniel Acker Scholarship programs. Of these, most undergraduate students—nearly 2,400—had scholarships through the UB Scholars program during 2005-06, when they received a total of approximately $4.5 million.
In the need-based grants category, grants through the New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) award from $500 to $4,375 per year to students in their first eight semesters. Nearly 10,000 UB undergraduates received a total of almost $20 million in TAP grants in 2005-06.
During the same year, a little more than 5,000 UB undergraduates had federal Pell grants, which award between $400 and $4,050 per year for students earning their first undergraduate degrees. Total Pell dollars awarded at UB in 2005-06 reached nearly $15 million. Another need-based grant is the federal Supplementary Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), which awarded less than $500,000 to fewer than 2,000 UB students in 2005-06.
During a discussion following Mangione's presentation, H. William Coles, assistant vice provost for the Educational Opportunity Program, noted that low-income students who qualify for the full amount awarded by all of these grants and loans—and have jobs through the work study program—still fall short in covering all the costs of attending UB, sometimes by as much as $3,000.
Cemal Basaran, professor and director of graduate studies in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, asked if Mangione's office holds workshops for students to help them understand the benefits of financial aid. She said it gives presentations at student orientations, but "doesn't have a financial aid course or workshop."
Basaran said such workshops would be "an excellent idea" and could show students that "borrowing (can be) much cheaper than not borrowing" if it means completing their college educations. Many of his students resist taking out loans, choosing instead to work full-time jobs at low wages and often dropping out because they can't pay their bills.
"Most of them have a car loan, but they don't have a school loan," he said.