Today opens a new chapter in the world of graduate-student financing at UC Davis.

The campus this summer developed implementation procedures for a plan to cover the full cost of tuition for out-of-state graduate students who are graduate student researchers, or GSRs, joining other UC campuses already doing so.

The new policy, known as "nonresident tuition remission," was first announced in June 2003 and will take effect today.

Under the guidelines, the funding source -- typically a federal grant or contract -- that provides student stipends will also provide nonresident tuition as a benefit of their appointment.

"The recruitment of the best graduate students is a priority issue for UC Davis, for Graduate Studies and for the many faculty members whose research depends on graduate student researchers," said Jeffery Gibeling, dean of Graduate Studies.

"The tuition remission policy is just one way that UC Davis is investing in graduate student support to ensure that the campus improves its competitiveness."

He added, "It's important to remember that non-resident tuition is not a new cost, although it is a new charge to research funds. In the past, it has been paid by students, from graduate block grants or, in limited cases, from research grants."

Seen as an investment

In fall 2003, UC Davis enrolled 315 domestic students from out of state and 955 students from other countries. Together, nonresidents amount to about 30 percent of the total graduate student body of about 4,000, according to the Graduate Studies Web site.

About 400 non-resident graduate students in any given year would be GSRs and likely eligible for the remission, according to Ian Blake, a budget analyst in the Office of Resource Management and Planning. That number fluctuates, of course, every year.

The idea behind the plan emerged about three years ago. Since then, the administration surveyed different models, crunched the numbers and sought input from faculty members who would be affected.

In formulating the plan, the campus also sought input from the Joint Academic Senate/Administration Nonresident Tuition Remission Implementation Committee, and standing committees of the Academic Senate, including the Graduate Council and the Committee on Academic Planning and Budget Review.

Gibeling pointed out that the policy affects only GSRs. Programs can continue to allocate block grant funds as nonresident tuition fellowships for teaching assistants and other students.

Significantly, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw will provide a $600,000 investment specifically coupled to the tuition remission program. For the current year, that money has been allocated to graduate programs in proportion to the number of students they are supporting as GSRs. The campus continues to invest significant additional funds in the graduate program block grants as well.

Hinshaw said, "Having a policy on non-resident tuition is really necessary to provide support for our students and ensure appropriate, consistent charges to all funding sources. Now our campus, like all other UC campuses, has a policy in place, along with financial assistance for the transition."

The change comes at a good time for students, but at a very challenging time for faculty research funds.

This year, the UC system increased non-resident tuition by 20 percent ($2,449 for graduate students) per year beginning in fall 2004. Out-of-state students also pay regular student fees, bringing total average non-resident tuition and fees at UC to $22,832 for graduate students.

How it works

To receive the tuition remission, a graduate student must be:

• A Graduate Student Researcher (GSR), title code 3282, for a minimum of 25 percent FTE from all funding sources for the full quarter.
• A non-resident student for tuition purposes.

If a non-resident student is employed 25 percent time as a research assistant and 25 percent time as a teaching assistant, they are still eligible -- the 25 percent time as a researcher is the trigger point for receipt of this benefit.

In offering the tuition remissions, UC Davis has adopted what is called the "cost-by-residency model." Effective today, the new policy requires a budget line item in all new proposals for non-resident tuition for each nonresident student expected to be hired.

Previously, UC Davis was the only UC general campus without a policy regarding non-resident tuition remission for graduate student researchers.

"The fundamental reason for this policy is to allow the university and its eligible graduate students to take full advantage of the financial support offered by the federal government," said Gibeling. "We expect that this will bring in more funds from the federal government to the campus in support of graduate students."

In fact, the new policy would bring in about $4 million for remission purposes from the "extramural" or grant sources, mainly the federal government, he said. Because it's believed that about $2 million for tuition remission for non-resident students was already being drawn from block grants at UC Davis, the new approach would additionally make available that money for other graduate support.

Transition period

Several faculty concerns were addressed in developing the final plan.

One issue raised was whether this policy would impose a short-term hardship for principal investigators who employ non-resident graduate student researchers on grants funded before the policy was in place. In response, the campus decided to roll out the program over a three-year transition period.

During this time, block grant funds can be used to substitute for non-resident tuition remission from the hiring fund source if a principal investigator currently employs nonresident graduate student researchers on a continuing grant that cannot be changed, or on a grant that does not allow the funding of non-resident tuition remission.

Also, if sufficient grant funds or graduate block grant funds are not available, the principal investigators may apply for support from an emergency fund that Hinshaw has established for this purpose.

Some faculty also wondered if this policy would impose a short-term hardship for principal investigators who employ non-resident graduate student researchers on state-funded research projects, such as the Agricultural Experiment Station. To meet this need, substitution from block grants or the emergency fund will again be permitted during the transition period.

Gibeling noted, "After the campus has a full year of experience with this policy, we will evaluate both the policy and our procedures to determine whether any revisions are necessary."

Over the summer, Gibeling and staff from Graduate Studies and Student Accounting met with assistant deans, management service officers and graduate program staff from across the campus to describe the policy implementation details. The information is available at http://gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/nrt3/nrtintro.htm.