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May 18, 2007 > News > News in Brief

News in Brief

Work-study fundin completely distributed; Health insurance rates increase slightly; ENGL 103 to become COMM 103

By Stephanie Jennings | Thresher staff

Work-study funding completely distributed Rice will exhaust most of its federal work-study allocation for the 2006-’07 academic year. Work-study, part of the self-help portion of financial aid, allows students to work on campus and contribute their pay directly toward tuition and fees. Federal funds pay for 75 percent of work-study salary, while the hiring department pays the remaining 25 percent. Student Financial Services Assistant Director Yvette Scales said about 250 students participate in work-study, and each student can earn up to $1,800 annually. The federal government allocates funding based on student enrollment, and Student Financial Services is responsible for making sure a student does not exceed his award amount. Additionally, Scales said when students choose to decline a workstudy award, the money goes back into Rice’s federal work-study budget, but leftover money from the budget cannot be rolled over to the following year. Although work-study is available to both undergraduates and graduate students, the majority of participants are undergraduates, and most students exhaust their work-study funds during the year. “There are very few students who are enrolled in summer school sessions who are eligible for work-study,” Scales said. “There are lots of Rice work jobs available so there shouldn’t be a reason why students couldn’t find a job for the summer.” Lovett College junior Dora Mayfield, who had a work-study job at the Center of Education in the spring, said she wishes work-study would continue through the summer. “Work-study jobs are a nice way to have extra money to cover costs,” she said. “I think it would be beneficial to have work-study jobs available in the summer for students who are staying in Houston. It would be a nice benefit and would keep you from having to fi nd a job off-campus.” — Stephanie Jennings

Health insurance rates increase slightly Premiums for health insurance offered through Rice will increase slightly for the 2007-’08 school year, but students can expect more coverage from their provider when purchasing insurance through the university. The annual premium for students will increase from $2,150 to $2,193 with coverage spanning from August ’07 to August ’08. Rice requires all enrolled students to be covered by a health insurance policy. For students not covered under their parents’ plan, the university offers a plan through Aetna’s Chickering Group. The plan provides worldwide coverage to students throughout the year, even when they are not in Houston. Assistant Dean of Student Affairs for Health Programs Lindley Doran said approximately 1,200 students and an additional 100 dependents signed up for the Student Health Insurance Plan this past year. Doran said Aetna considers a wide range of factors when deciding whether to increase its annual premium. “The company looks at the loss ratio — how much money it lost on what it paid out in claims versus what it took in,” she said. “The company looks at market costs that drive up prices — hospitals and doctors charging more.” Doran said the Student Health Insurance Committee, made up of students, faculty and staff, reviews the plan each year and makes recommendations for changes. The committee decided to increase the aggregate maximum this year by $400,000 because a few students hit the $100,000 company limit due to cancer treatments or major and often multiple surgeries. Other changes to the 2007-’08 plan include increasing the percentage the insurance company pays from 70 percent to 80 percent and decreasing the dependent premiums. Doran said it is necessary to take Rice’s location in the U.S. into account when evaluating insurance rates. “One of the things I hear from students is that the costs seem high,” Doran said. “It is natural to compare plans and costs with students studying elsewhere in the U.S., but health insurance costs in general are often higher in the Houston area because medical costs in general are higher here than in many other U.S. cities.” Rice subsidizes the cost of the premium for graduate students by contributing $1,612 to the $2,193 yearly cost. Graduate students receive subsidies because most are financially independent, while most undergraduates are still covered by their parents’ plan. Electrical engineering graduate student Chinmay Hegde said the increase in insurance premium is trivial, but the overall cost of Rice offered insurance is too high. “I’ve never used the plan,” Hegde said. “Rice is paying for most of it so it is fine, but I have friends who think it is a little too high.” Although international students are eligible for the Rice plan, many choose an alternate plan through the Office of International Students and Scholars, a plan which meets US immigration requirements for their visas, Doran said. “To be very honest, we are not really aware of the benefits of the insurance because we have not actually used the health insurance here,” computer science graduate student Kaushik Kumar Ram said. The Chickering Group’s Rice plan does not cover preventative care. Students may use the Student Health Services for such care such as annual physical exams. SHS is open year-round and has expanded its summer hours over the last few years. Ram said the plan should cover preventative care because, in general, students rarely use the plan. Next year, the premium for a student’s spouse or domestic partner and children will decrease slightly from ’06-’07. For a spouse or domestic partner, the premium for next year is $3,013—down from $3,109. For a student’s child, the premium will be $2,217, down from $2,288. Rice provides a $500 per annum subsidy to the payment of the spouse, domestic partner and child premiums. — Gary Johnson

ENGL 103 to become COMM 103 Next semester, students who did not pass the English Composition Exam will be required to take Communication 103, instead of English 103. There are two distinct changes from ENGL 103 “Introduction to Argument Design and Academic Writing” to the new curriculum; the course will now be known as COMM 103 “Introduction to Academic Writing and Argumentation”, and it will be handled by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduates instead of by the English Department. The Office of the Dean also manages Leadership Rice classes. COMM 103 will not be a prerequisite for any class, but it will remain a graduation requirement for students who do not pass the English Composition exam. There will be no changes made to the exam. Communication professor Deborah Barrett said because the Office of the Dean handles the English Composition Exam, it also makes sense for the office to administrate the course. The decision to change ENGL 103 was made by the English Department and Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman. An annual survey showed that many degree candidates wished they had more opportunities to improve their communication skills. The name change to COMM 103 reflects faculty and administration’s desire to stress the importance of writing in all disciplines, not just in English. The curriculum of the course will not really change, Barrett said. In the future, Rice administrators hope to create other classes that will center on communication, primarily speaking. For example, two sections of the LEAD 321 “Leadership Communication” class will be offered the upcoming fall semester. “There is a university-wide, as well as worldwide, interest in improving communication,” Barrett said. “We want Rice to be in front of what other universities are doing by allowing students the opportunity to develop their communication capabilities.” COMM 103 is open to all students who wish to take it, not just students who did not pass the English Composition Exam. In the past, some students who wished to take ENGL 103 were turned away because they were not required to take it. Discussion about the change first began in fall 2006, but the final decision was not made until about a month ago. However, the decision was not made in time for the course to be listed on ESTHER; right now, it is still listed as ENGL 103. Students currently registered for ENGL 103 will be automatically transferred to COMM 103 in the fall when the change is made. The time slots will remain the same, and seven sections will be open. There should be enough space to accommodate students who need to take the class and those who want to take the class, Barrett said. On average, there will be 17 students in each class. The small class sizes are to ensure that each student receives individual attention. The faculty who will teach COMM 103 will for the most part be those who taught ENGL 103. Barrett, formerly Director of Managerial Communications, will take on the position of Composition Exam Director as well.

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