With low tuition in Washington, WUE is not likely to return to UI
The University of Idaho discontinued the majority of its participation in the Western Undergraduate Exchange in 2011, and will not offer full WUE scholarships anytime soon, according to ASUI Director of Policy Nick Wren.
The WUE program offers out-of-state students from a select group of nearby states 150 percent of in-state tuition. For UI, Wren said that is about $10,500.
Since 2011, UI does not offer all students in qualifying states with at least a 3.5 GPA 150 percent of in-state tuition. It does offer some scholarships through WUE for specific categories of students, such as Diversity and National Merit Scholars.
Wren said UI stopped participating in the program because it was losing too much money.
Wren said he knew there are many UI deans who would like to see the program return. He said he also had a conversation with Dan Davenport, director of financial aid, who told him bringing the program back might be possible.
Alex Brizee | Argonaut
ASUI Sen. Zoe Ball listened to senators discuss diversity, WUE and intellectual property Wednesday night.
Wren said he pursued the possibility with the hope of helping address UI”s dropping enrollment, but conversations with Jean Kim, vice provost for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, revealed UI cannot afford to rejoin the WUE.
“Washington universities are cutting tuition enough that no Washington resident will be paying $10,000 for their in-state tuition,” Wren said. “Washington was a big pipeline for UI, but even if WUE returned, UI would not be able to compete.”
UI would need at least 115 students with the required 3.5 GPA to apply through WUE in order for the program to be affordable for the university, Wren said, but it is unlikely UI would be able to attract that many.
ASUI affirms its offices are welcome to all
ASUI Senate passed a resolution Wednesday to ensure ASUI is inclusive for all in response to concerns from former Black Student Union president and founder Chelsea Butler and current president Cynthia Ballesteros.
“We want to remind ASUI that ASUI offices are an inclusive space,” said ASUI Sen. Rachel Miller, who sponsored the bill. “I don”t think the incident Chelsea Butler told us about was intended, but we want to make sure.”
Miller said she and Sen. Cruz Botello are dedicated to addressing diversity issues, something that was part of their platform while running for senate.
“Diversity is important to us,” Miller said. “We are both Latino, and Botello is a diversity scholar.”
Pro Tempore Kate Ricart, Butler and Ballesteros will be attending ASUI pre-session meetings as of next week.
“We want to discuss how best to reach out and be inclusive,” she said.
Intellectual property and the state
ASUI President Max Cowan said he is having promising conversations that may lead to securing some rights over the intellectual property members of the university create.
Cowan said currently, state policy makes it so anything a student or faculty member produces becomes state property through the university.
He gave the example of Gatorade, which was originally owned by the University of Florida.
He said this is a standard policy across the country, and he would like to change the student version of the policy at UI.
Nishant Mohan can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NishantRMohan
Editors Note: This article has been updated to clarify UI does offer limited WUE scholarships.