The expectation at the University of Idaho is that students will learn from professors who have academic and real world knowledge of their field. It is the responsibility of university faculty and staff to provide students with the best education possible — and it is UI’s responsibility to provide its employees with incentives and benefits to ensure the retention of that quality.
UI recently approved a benefit for dependents of university employees that waived 50 percent of the student’s tuition. But by accepting the tuition waiver, dependents forfeit thousands of dollars they earned in institutional aid.
In-state tuition at UI is about $4,230 per year without additional fees. The tuition waiver saves UI employee dependents $2,115. Dependents could also be eligible for anywhere from $1,000 to $4,500 in institutional scholarships, not including other university scholarships.
Between scholarships and the tuition waiver, dependents’ tuition would be entirely, or almost, paid for. However, they would still have to pay for other university expenditures such as textbooks and housing. But university officials say dependents cannot have institutional aid and the tuition waiver because it would result in a decrease of revenue for UI.
Keith Ickes, UI executive director of planning and budget, estimates that about 93 students were eligible for institutional aid and the tuition waiver, which he expects to result in a loss of about $150,000 to the university — a miniscule amount in comparison to the more than $400 million annual university budget.
UI’s concerns are based on the financial implications of the policy, but the greater issue is the impact on faculty, staff and students.
The tuition waiver was supposed to be an incentive for UI employees, to recruit and maintain valuable staff — who received a 2 percent Change in Employee Compensation in March. While the 2 percent raise and 50 percent tuition reduction are a step in the right direction, it doesn’t compensate for the six years university employees went without pay raises.
Not only that, but UI employees and dependents were not made aware of the new stipulation until an email was sent out on Aug. 12, the week before classes started.
UI uses scholarship programs such as Go Idaho to keep the “best and brightest” students in Idaho. It is based on students’ GPAs and test scores, a testament to their hard work in high school. The tuition waiver is based on providing an incentive for UI employees who haven’t received a raise in years to make the university competitive with other employers.
Forcing UI employees to choose between their incentive and their student’s hard-earned scholarships is unfair. It could deter students and employees from UI when they could move to other higher education institutions that provide a greater employee incentive for dependents and don’t require students to forfeit their scholarships — Boise State University is one of those institutions.
The struggle to fund higher education across the country especially affects those who make higher education possible. Without the faculty and staff who run every aspect of UI — from janitors to Ph.D. professors — the university would not exist.
The high quality of UI faculty and staff who have a genuine desire to educate is an incentive for many students to choose UI over its peer institutions, but university employees need incentives too.
— EE and KK