When Jared McCathren visited the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships to tie up any loose ends before he took off Spring Quarter, the information that greeted him was almost as jarring as the tumor that brought him there.
About two months after doctors found a small tumor in the upper lobe of his left lung, McCathren said he was told that his $2,969 per-quarter Gateway Excellence Scholarship would carry into his senior year, but there would be no compensation for the quarter he missed recovering from surgery.
He said there are also two other scholarships from this quarter totaling more than $600 that he will not be receiving later. McCathren, a junior studying French and French education, plans on coming back this summer and finishing his education Fall Quarter 2010-11, when he won't receive scholarship money.
The doctors who determined he needed a timely surgery to remove the tumor did not want him to put off the surgery until the spring, he said.
I don't think they even wanted me to really finish Winter Quarter
but it was my choice McCathren said, adding that he finished last quarter with a perfect GPA.
Toward finals week of Winter Quarter, McCathren said he decided to visit President Roderick McDavis during his office hours to ask why there is no policy in place to accommodate scholarship students on leave.
He said he was told that because the university offers so many different scholarships, it would be difficult to make a policy dictating how scholarship money is applied if students take time off.
Which may be true
but how many types of scholarships could there possibly be? And that doesn't explain why they don't have someone whose job it is to work with students [about things like this]
McCathren said.
Earlier this quarter, McCathren visited Athens and turned in a letter of complaint to McDavis, which proposed policy changes and outlined his circumstances. McDavis' office received the letter and forwarded it to the Office of Enrollment Management, where it is currently under review, said Becky Watts, chief of staff for McDavis.
We appreciate him turning in the letter because ... in those instances the university needs to have a plan to respond thoughtfully and give allowance to students who must leave for reasons beyond their control
she said.
Although declining to speak about McCathren's case because of privacy laws, Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships Sondra Williams said there is an appeals program for students who lose money for reasons beyond their control.
It's not that we're not tuned in. Obviously we have to be aware of the situation
but we welcome the students (to go through the appeals system) because we know some things are beyond their control
Williams said.
McCathren hasn't filed an appeal yet, saying when he was explained the terms of his scholarships, an appeal process was mentioned in passing and that he did not know the details of how to file one.
The tuition appeals committee meets near the end of July, Williams said.
For now, McCathren is waiting for a response to his letter and preparing for summer classes. Aside from the usual aches he said comes with recovery, he is doing well.
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