Rutgers Helps NJ Students Displaced by Hurricane Katrina

September 1, 2005

To the Rutgers Community:

Below is a news release announcing Rutgers' offer of "visiting student" enrollment to New Jersey residents who attend colleges and universities in the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. My thanks to those at Rutgers who helped put this plan in place. I am confident that all who pursue this option will find our university a welcoming environment during their time here.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

RUTGERS OFFERS 'VISITING STUDENT' STATUS TO NEW JERSEY COLLEGIANS DISPLACED BY KATRINA

NEW BRUNSWICK/PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Students from New Jersey who attend colleges and universities in the region devastated by Hurricane Katrina are welcome to enroll as visiting students at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, to take courses for transfer back to their home institutions, President Richard L. McCormick announced today.

McCormick said the students would be visiting students, not regular students, and would return to their Gulf Coast schools as soon those institutions can be safely re-opened.

"Like everyone else, we at Rutgers are stunned by the magnitude of the disaster that has struck the Gulf Coast, and our hearts go out to all the people there," McCormick said. "I know that many of us will be contributing to relief efforts in the days ahead. Helping students at Gulf Coast universities continue their education is something practical that Rutgers can do immediately as an institution."

New Jersey students whose educations have been disrupted by Katrina should contact any of the following Rutgers officials by Sept. 15:
* Deborah Bowles, (856) 225-2898, email (for courses in Camden)
* Joseph Walsh, (732) 625-7012, email (for courses in New Brunswick/Piscataway)
* The Admissions Office, (973) 353-5205, email (for courses in Newark)

Visiting students will be responsible for in-state tuition and fees, but Rutgers will consider delaying payment in individual cases.

"The usual requirements for registration involving considerable documentation from one's home institution will be waived for students displaced by Hurricane Katrina," McCormick said.

"Every institution of higher education faces great challenges these days, but most of our problems seem less important when we think of the great institutions - Tulane, Loyola of New Orleans, Xavier, the University of New Orleans, to name just a few - that have been severely damaged by Katrina," McCormick said. "Whatever costs or inconveniences we may incur at Rutgers are nothing compared to the costs being borne by those institutions, their students and faculty, and their communities."

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey