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January 8, 2018
Tuition Increase Proposed Plan comes after a dramatic decrease in state funding STORY BY: CINDY FOLEFACK | NEWS EDITOR GRAPHICS BY: MATT STRACK | GRAPHICS EDITOR Incoming UTD students may have a higher tuition rate this fall if the school’s proposal is approved in February. The move comes after a sharp decrease in state funding. The budget for the Texas Research Incentive Program was cut from $138 million for 20162017 to $35 million for 2018-2019. TRIP is a program that began in 2009 and incentivizes people to make philanthropic contributions to research, which are then matched by the state. The school held forums on Dec. 1 and Dec. 4 to allow students and faculty to learn more about the plan. The decrease in TRIP funding means that UTD will receive $150,000, despite being eligible for $22.6 million. In addition, the school will receive $4.71 million less from the state for 2018-2019, despite a 9 percent enrollment increase from fall 2015 to fall 2016. “TRIP helped us receive grants and gifts that we otherwise wouldn’t have gotten, but it’s a firstin first-out system,” said President Richard Benson. “At some point, all of the existing funds were depleted, so the hope was the last state legislative session would replenish the fund. They didn’t fully replenish the fund, and a lot of UTD’s funding was at the back end, meaning we weren’t the first, we were a little bit later.” The proposal would provide two options: the traditional fixed tuition plan, with an 8 percent increase from the current price that would remain valid for 12 consecutive semesters, and a variable-tuition plan, which is already offered by other UT schools. The variable plan would have an immediate 4.5 percent increase from the current price, then increase by a variable rate annually. The Board previously approved a UTD
Counseling Center waitlist eliminated Revised procedure emphasizes group sessions, lowers number of individal appointments
tuition increase proposal which affected new students in 2016 and 2017. The previous proposal included a 2.9 percent increase for undergraduate students, a 4.5 percent increase for non-resident undergraduates and a 3.9 percent increase for resident undergraduates. Other UT schools, including UT Tyler and UT El Paso, are also using tuition increases to make up for a loss in state funding. The tuition increase is not finalized yet, because the Board of Regents will hold a vote on the tuition proposals in February. Benson said the increase is necessary because of numerous cuts to funding. “With every passing year, we want to make sure that we have at least as much funding per student as the year before,” Benson said. “The fact is, we’ve not been successful in that regard. In fact, it’s been trending down and this particular year, we took a very steep drop from state funding. Consequently, and reluctantly, we felt that we had to compensate by increasing tuition more than we otherwise would’ve wanted to.” Existing merit-based aid programs such as the Academic Excellence Scholarship will remain in place and the value of these programs will increase along with tuition. Comet Connection, a program allowing transfer students to adopt the tuition rate in place at the time of their transfer, will also be unaffected whether or not the Board approves the proposal, and new transfer students will be offered both plans. “We’re going to give each student the option to pick the plan that they want, so it will be up to the student to pick whichever plan they think works best for them,” Benson said. The new tuition plans won’t be available to current students, and incoming students will have
ANUPAM GUPTA | MERCURY STAFF
Computer science freshman Alexis Vu and business analytics graduate Prakhar Sharma wait for an appointment in the Student Counseling Center’s lobby. ANNA SCHAEFFER Mercury Staff
→ SEE TUITION, PAGE 10
ANTHONY MCNAIR | MERCURY STAFF
Student launches business by scaling down Dallas UTD junior, co-founder of Metro Blocks wants to help build city pride through 3-D printed skyline BHARGAV ARIMILLI Life & Arts Editor
A UTD student co-launched a 3-D printed landscape product in an effort to foster city pride. Gabe Villani, an information technology and systems junior, is one of two founders of Metro Block, which began operating in November. The Metro Block is a miniature skyline, designed to represent the essence of Dallas. “Dallas is a very business-oriented city,” Villani said. “We wanted to encapsulate that in the product. It’s also a great conversation piece.” Villani and his business partner, Demont Campbell, met at a photoshoot for one of Campbell’s other projects. “(We) were just talking and he was telling me about his other businesses,” Campbell said. “We kind of just clicked from there.” The concept for Metro Block came about when Villani and Campbell were discussing ideas for how to enter the 3-D printing market. “It’s kind of like a portfolio starter, essentially,” Villani said. “There are other business solutions that we can do through 3-D printing. It’s limitless. You can print almost anything as long as you
WILLIAM LEGRONE | PHOTO EDITOR
→ SEE METRO, PAGE 10
Gabe Villiani, information technology and systems junior and co-founder of Metro Blocks, studies a 3-D printed skyline of Dallas that his company created.
The Student Counseling Center’s new scheduling system has eliminated the need for a waitlist. The revised procedure was implemented during the fall 2017 semester and includes a variety of treatment options. Resources such as group counseling and community referrals allow the Counseling Center to treat patients in less time than in previous years. In fall 2016, there were 368 students on the waitlist, which is less than the 428-person waitlist of spring 2017. In fall 2017, after the schedule system changes, there were none. Jim Cannici, director and psychologist at the Student Counseling Center, said he considers the change to be highly positive. “Up until this fall, what we provided was primarily individual counseling to students,” Cannici said. “Although we had other resources, they were limited. What happened as a result of that system was long waits to get in.” In the past, waitlists could stretch to include hundreds of students who had to wait for weeks or months for appointments, according to Counseling Center records. Cannici said the Counseling Center realized this had to change. “It’s a system we weren’t happy with,” he said. “Of course, I would be frustrated if I was a student who couldn’t get in, if I had an issue or concern or problem. It takes a while to even get up the courage to come here.” Cannici said the Counseling Center is below the national average for the number of staff at a college counseling center, but more staff wouldn’t address the problem of a long waitlist. “The bottom line is that the downside of our system was a lot of students not being served,” he said. “Regardless of our resources, we felt we could make a better system to address the needs of more students.” The redesigned scheduling system begins with an initial evaluation, followed by a prescribed treatment plan for the student. A treatment plan may include group counseling, workshops, referral to the campus and community resources, psychiatric treatment at UTD or individual counseling. Although 12 individual sessions were available to students in years past, the new plan lowers the number to six per year. Cannici said the group program, including options for healthy relationships, women of color, international and graduate students, has skyrocketed.
→ SEE COUNSELING, PAGE 10