2008 Woodie Awards
Delayed refund checks force hard times on students
Falon Yates
Issue date: 8/28/08 Section: News
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An e-mail distributed several times this summer warns that the delays could last up to two weeks.
"We encourage you to make plans now for other expenses not related to your student account (e.g. books, apartment rent)," the e-mail reads.
But for many students, that's not an option.
"All the books are like a hundred dollars apiece," says Brandon White, a junior. "You can't afford to do it without that loan. You've got other bills and stuff to take care of."
The guidelines for estimating
students' tuition, as printed in the current UNA catalog, budget $500 for books and supplies, though the actual cost can vary depending on the type and number of classes taken.
Without that refund, many students are unable to purchase the materials they need.
Melissa Foster, store manager of the University Bookstore in the Guillot University Center, sees the effects of the delay firsthand.
She said she hasn't necessarily
seen a decrease in textbook sales this fall-"but I have seen students with their backs up against the wall because they don't have the money to buy books." And with the semester
already underway, some "are worried about getting behind."
One student with that concern is Bobby Jones, who's enrolled in the graduate
program in finance. "I already have assignments due," he says, "and I don't have the money to buy the books."
He's found some of his professors unsympathetic to his situation: "It's your responsibility," he says is their response.
Though the notification of a possible delay was also posted on UNAPortal, the university communication system, it's unknown how many faculty members read a bulletin that might have appeared to be aimed at students.
Some professors are trying
to cope with the situation by encouraging students to share books in class, or by tracking down copies they can use in the university library.
As for the cause of the delay, the e-mail points to "a Fall 2008 change in procedure,"
which according to Ben Baker, director of student
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