Burnt Orange Report

UT to Admit Hurricane Students

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The following is a statement from Sheldon Ekland-Olson, Executive Vice President and Provost of UT, which contains condensed points from President Faulkner about who and how UT will admit students in Katrina affected areas to UT. Faulkner's letter is in the extended entry.

President Faulkner is about to issue a statement indicating how UT Austin will accommodate undergraduate, graduate, and professional students who are Texas residents or graduated from Texas high schools and are enrolled or enrolling in a college or university in the Katrina affected area that is likely to be closed for an extended period.

The basics are:

1. Students who had been previously admitted to any of our programs but elected to go elsewhere will be admitted on a regular basis.

2. Students who had no such prior admission will be admitted for the fall semester only.

3. We will accommodate exchange students from institutions with which we have exchange agreements. Exchange students who come to us for help and are not in that group will be assisted for placement in institutions that are partners with their home universities.

4. We are also indicating that we are offering to accommodate faculty with office space and access to libraries and other research facilities.

5. Finally, we will be reaching out individually to all of our current students from the affected area to see what special support they might need.

This is a very difficult moment for those impacted. We want to be responsive as possible.

Sheldon Ekland-Olson
Executive Vice President and Provost

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The University of Texas at Austin stands with the nation in expressing our sorrow in this time of terrible tragedy in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. We are committed to providing temporary help this fall to colleges and universities in the New Orleans area which are unable to operate while they are attempting to recover and rebuild. To assist university students and faculty who have been affected by the disaster of catastrophic proportions in our neighboring states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, The University of Texas at Austin is taking the following emergency steps, effective immediately.

The following policies apply to students who were enrolling or enrolled in colleges or universities in the area of greatest disaster impact and are likely to remain closed for an extended period.

• Undergraduate students who are Texas residents or graduates from Texas high schools will be eligible to take available undergraduate courses at the University for the fall 2005 semester.

• Graduate and professional students who are Texas residents or graduates of Texas colleges and universities will be eligible take available graduate courses at the University for the fall 2005 semester.

• Graduate students who have no need for coursework but who need to use libraries and research facilities will be eligible to use appropriate University facilities.

• Foreign exchange students will be eligible to take available courses at the University for the fall 2005 semester if the University has a formal exchange agreement with the students' home institutions.

The details of these policies can be found at the Web sites of the Office of Admissions and the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies.

In addition, faculty members of colleges and universities in the affected disaster areas will be offered the opportunity to work on our campus, with access to office space, libraries, research facilities, and the Internet.

These temporary measures are intended to help students and faculty colleagues in a time of unprecedented disaster. The University of Texas at Austin is firmly committed to aiding the affected higher education institutions in any way possible as they seek to recover from the devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina.

We are also concerned about University of Texas at Austin students who have been affected by this disaster. Those students who need assistance with University matters or matters of a more personal nature are urged to contact LaToya Hill, Emergency Services Coordinator, Office of the Dean of Students, at lchill@mail.utexas.edu. They may also visit the Dean of Students Web site at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/ and go to the "Spotlights and Events" link on that site.

Larry R. Faulkner
President
The University of Texas at Austin