U. has no plans to end tuition perks for staff

Despite a growing trend among American colleges to decrease benefits given to employees, the University will not revise the policy which grants tuition benefits to faculty and staff members and their dependents, officials said. Vice President for Human Resources William Holland said the benefits are not threatened by recent budget cuts and growing financial strain at the University. "I have not heard any discussion around that at all," Holland said. Holland also said the current system attracts quality staff and faculty members to the University. "Clearly, a leading institution must have this kind of program, though I wouldn't say it's common," Holland said. "It's highly valued and a major magnet for attracting faculty and staff." According to Holland, the University's present policy, most recently revised in 1983, offers all University employees and their dependents the opportunity to attend the University with a 75-percent tuition discount. The program partially subsidizes dependents or employees who choose to attend another institution. In both cases, the University does not allocate benefits for housing or other costs. Dennis Mahoney, University benefits manager, estimated the tuition benefits program affects about 1,500 people. The University currently subsidizes tuition for approximately 1,000 people -- about 625 staff and faculty members, 325 offspring, and 50 spouses -- who attend the University as either graduate or undergraduate students, Mahoney said. Mahoney estimated that about 500 staff and faculty offspring take advantage of the program to attend other colleges and universities. College senior Tanya Adler, daughter of former Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences Norman Adler, said the University's tuition benefits program played a major role in her decision to attend the University. "I wanted to go to an Ivy League college and there was no way I could have afforded it," Adler said. "I also wanted the Jewish community that's here." While Adler's benefits will cover her senior year despite her father's resignation last semester, she said her brother, Wharton sophomore Ari Adler, will have to apply for financial aid to pay for the second half of his education. Both Adlers have been granted full funding under the former policy because their father came to the University before 1983. According to Holland, the University's former program offered employees who were hired before 1983 the option of allowing dependents or employees to attend the University tuition-free. Drexel University is the latest in a series of institutions to eliminate all or part of its faculty and staff benefit programs. Drexel, which is developing a five-year plan of cuts and reorganizations, announced last month that it will no longer support dependents of university employees who attend other institutions. Elimination of this program is expected to save Drexel $400,000 a year, school officials told the Philadelphia Inquirer last week.