Tuition waivers finally become a reality
By Holli L. Rapp
Athletic coaches were given the right to offer 50 tuition waivers to next year’s athletes by the Board of Trustees at their April 19 meeting. An additional 10 waivers will be awarded to students in journalism, theater, art, music, and the Student Government Association.
The breakdown of waivers approved for each sport is:
8 total for tennis - 4 for men and 4 for women
14 total for basketball - 7 for men and 7 for women
5 for volleyball
9 for softball
5 for golf
9 for baseball
Non-athletic tuition waivers will be as follows:
1 for journalism - for the editor of the newspaper
2 for theater
2 for art
2 for music
3 for the SGA – for the President, Vice President and Student Trustee.
The college is able to offer tuition waivers to athletes due
to the switch from Division III to Division II which will be
instituted in the fall. IVCC will not be waiving fees or book
costs, which are also allowed at Division II schools.
Dr. Robert Marshall, Vice President of Student Services, said the
number of waivers was based upon research regarding the number
and structure of tuition waivers that were found throughout the
state and in IVCCs new conference, the Arrowhead Athletic
Conference.
He said ideas for the awards also came from a proposal by the 1997-98 Student Government Association.
Marshall added that the waivers will serve as an incentive for talented students to choose IVCC.
"I’m pleased that the program was instituted," said Marshall.
The waivers for athletes, journalism, theater, art and music were approved as Trustee Talent Waivers. The SGA waivers are Trustee Leadership Waivers.
Recipients of either waiver have to complete a minimum of 12 semester hours each term and earn a minimum 2.0 gpa. If the student quits the activity for which they are receiving the waiver, they lose the waiver and must pay tuition. The waivers will cover up to 18 hours per semester and a total of 64 hours over a two-year period.
College Board President Kristine Paul said she wished the minimum gpa were about 3.0, to show the importance of academics.
Marshall said that an athlete with a 3.0 gpa would be an Academic All-American, and that the college shouldn’t expect every athlete to be an All-American.
Board Member Dr. Merle Piacenti, also disagreed with Paul, stating that a 2.0 is respectable for an athlete who spends four to five hours a day on the sport.
Paul also said she would have liked to seen the newspaper receive two waivers instead of one.
Board Members Bill Franklin and Harry Debo, both responded that the 60 waivers being awarded this year are a starting point and that next year the number will be up to 120.
"It’s a beginning," said Debo.
Paul agreed to, "try it for the first year, and increase next year." She added, "We will watch what happens."
The guidelines for athletic waivers require two-thirds of the waivers to be given to in-district athletes. Graduates of out-of-district high schools can qualify for the in-district waivers after they have been legal residents of the IVCC district for one year before enrolling at IVCC.
The guidelines do allow coaches to divide full waivers into half waivers to attract and reward additional athletes, and coaches can give any unused tuition waivers to another sport if they wish.
The estimated total hours waived over the first year would be 1,800 which would equal out to $86,400 in waived tuition. The college will receive state apportionment for those hours of about $53,000.
The number of waivers in the second year would be doubled with the tuition waivers going to 120, and total hours waived to 3,600, amounting to about $175,000. The state will pay about $106,000 for those hours.
Among the athletes who have voiced their opinions about the waivers is sophomore baseball player Charlie Riva who said: "It is difficult to be involved in an activity, take a full load of classes, and find the money to pay for college, without the waivers. This will also keep some more kids in the area and involved in activities."
Fellow baseball player and sophomore Jesse Arjes agreed saying that it would be beneficial to all sports programs.
IVCC switched to Division II and to the Arrowhead Conference in January, with hopes of being able to attract more athletes on the teams. Many Apache teams have had a hard time fielding complete teams recently. The baseball team has had the highest numbers with 25 players.
Other teams have struggled to get in the range of 10-14, and two teams, women’s tennis and women’s basketball, have been canceled this year.
The Apache April 29, 1999