MSC Meeting 11 21 2013
Financial Aid
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Cuts to financial aid for students from several schools
An email was sent out about the cuts
MSC sent out a survey to the student body twice (8/18 and 9/28), with over 300 responses
o 99.5% stated that they learned about the disbursement change in August (not months before)
o Many students accept outside income and take fewer loans as a result
o 67% of students felt that the disbursement given this year was not adequate to cover their cost of living
Colorado’s allotment is on the low end of cost of living compared to schools nationwide
Speakers:
Lisa Douglas: Associate Vice-Chancellor for Campus. Also contributing Dee Dee Couloussy. James: Director of Financial
Aid. Karl Davis. Raoul: Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
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Apology for Communication Issue – no intention to exclude or not be thoughtful
It has been discussed and decided that they will plan better and try to incorporate medical students into
feedback process
They understand that making ends meet is difficult, and they want to move forward in a productive way
Any changes must be approved by Colorado Dept. of Education. At this time, it doesn’t look feasible to change
this for the spring term, but after that it could be doable
Plan to use data similar to that we collected, do a thorough assessment and see if we can compromise in Fall of
2014
Appeals process: not a lot of latitude, but there are some students who have a special situation or higher cost.
James: Director of Financial Aid
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Will be digging into the data to get everyone on the same page and will sit down with Christie and MSC.
Will give them a framework for the future for doing this fairly
After the appeal, they want to be as helpful as possible. It has to be on an individual basis for this year so they
can find a way to help.
Colorado Department of Higher Education publishes standards for every year, and the office for Financial Aid
cannot bypass these regulations without
Effect of being “lumped in” with Denver campus?
o Not much change, but the guidelines do come out for the state in general, no breakdown. They do their
own data analysis and publish standards for Colorado schools. Individual schools have the ability to look
at that data and “do something about it.” Not being a consolidated campus would probably not have
changed this.
Appeals Process:
o Not possible to accommodate all students, but it takes a long time to compile all the data. Is there a
particular number for rent, etc. that would qualify someone for an appeal
 There are also concerns for older students, etc. If you don’t have a roommate you can’t qualify
for the appeal.
 Trying to be conscientious about who gets approved
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Many students living on their own are approved, or rent and utilities greater than $769. Go
through the worksheet, calculate your budget over months to see. Dee Dee is looking over your
budget and helping you appeal for car repair, health care, large repair, etc. No one is being ruled
out for a particular reason.
Please talk to Class of 2018 about living with a roommate since that influences how they calculate your cost of
living. It should be clear to them that’s the case, far before second look day.
o Could come back in a larger forum to get the word out to new students.
A concern of students is that the money comes from somewhere: 6.9% loans. Credit card debt is much higher:
hurting credit score etc. Students about to purchase houses, residencies, in 4th year and this could be
detrimental to their future. Timeline to get the appeals process done, these students are in a bind? Could it be
faster or more lenient?
o Average would require 3 months, sometimes not easy to figure out what is actually going on.
o Requirements are listed as a checklist on the appeals form
o If a student presents a case to Financial Aid they will look at it and see what they can do. Shared vs.
single situation was a deterrent but they still encourage that people fill out the appeal. There is some
latitude on this, and they will be as liberal as possible.
Future directions:
o Would it make sense to make a separate process for the graduate schools as opposed to the undergrads
o Several budget categories: grad/professional students are already separate from others, but
streamlining helps save time for students.
 Will look at it, maybe professional students vs. grad students
Are there other places in the budget to look to help get help outside the Financial Aid: make similar decisions
about tuition, fees, etc.
MSC is happy to work with Financial Aid moving forward and volunteer students to help with data. As for the
process, students would be more willing to go through the process if the office was open during hours when
they can make it to campus. This is different than some other programs and the office not being open is a
primary concern.
o Financial Aid thinks it might be helpful to get a specific time that works for (for example) 70%. It would
be easier for them to consider.
o Financial Aid is also able to schedule something in advance outside their normal hours, especially early
in the morning, Karl is here late. Maybe even skype connections.
Students living alone are covered by other schools, and they are in a different stage of life.
Prospective students are aware that we are financially at the bottom, it is not necessarily this issue it may be
affecting their choice in medical schools – losing competitive students who have heard that our financial aid
situation isn’t as positive as other places.
o Change would have to be on a much larger scale, at this point all we have is the appeals process.
Making the school more competitive in this way is more of a state issue.
o One of the reasons we are in this situation for increasing tuition, relying on tuition is because the state
does not contribute much money to higher ed. People fight it at the legislation every year.
Effective use of time: guidelines or restrictions that the Board of Education has to follow: what goes into their
decision making?
o Two issues: state support issue
o Reduction in loans of money we are paying back, this is federal, not state. It is money for which we are
responsible , why can’t we decide to take more?
 Much of this has to do with audit rules.
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Input is very critical to this process and they want to hear from students about this and how we can make it
work for students.
MSC would like to get student input on future communications. Christie will assemble a group of students to work
on this going forward.
Matt Shirazi
Professionalism:
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During a recent meeting, student drinking culture was brought up several times. During the most recent
Powderpuff game, students were recognized by members of the community as being rowdy or rambunctious
and they feel this warrants discussion.
Purpose of the committee is for rewarding professional behavior, sometimes they have to publish.
Concerns and thoughts: many students assumed that there would be kegs. A few students pushed to bring
alcohol to the field despite.
Class leadership did warn students about being professional, we didn’t notice anything. People went out
afterwards and there was a realization by management that these were medical students.
One thing we can control about this situation is that if there are events where we are using a space we should
emphasize to our class that we are representing the school of medicine at that event. It is not a “college rager”
party. Drinking culture is harder to address, but any time we are coming in mass or stating who we are we
should be having this discussion before the event. “CU Associated, not sponsored.”
Younger classes haven’t seen unprofessional behavior as much as older classes, could benefit from educated.
Terri Blevins found it more risky not to have the kegs on campus. Next year we should decide on a date sooner
and start the process sooner so people are on campus and better behave.
A reminder or disclaimer that events are held in a public place and that we are representing our school.
A lot of medical students in 2017 feel that the school is constantly on them about being professional. Many
students do know how to be professional – The incident was a small group of individuals and it was not the
entire class. Could be an individual responsibility issue – we try to reinforce behavior but sometimes go
overboard.
Many of us feel this way, it doesn’t really stop. People’s actions affect other people. This could be the time for a
nerdy acronym.
o A word or acronym that we can use just to tell everyone to “cool it?” Brittany suggests “you are highly
recognizable.”
o Regina moves that we adopt this as official an encourage presidents, social chairs to push this for their
class.
Sometimes people feel so taxed that they forget about professionalism. Can reflect on the campus and
reminders could be could.
Not even just a class issue, it is a school of medicine issue
The incident is a closed case as far as the Professionalism committee is concerned.
Office Hours:
1st years: everyone had an issue with Molecules to Medicine. Said it was poorly organized, many questions thrown out,
biostats just thrown in, with preceptorship on top – people are frustrated and angry.
M2M reps and ECBD reps can be utilized. M2M Reps have done a great job, but most of the time they will say “That’s a
good point, but…”ECBD reps may be the answer since these are not new complaints.
Some feel this is not as a big deal. Many of the professors donate their time – make sure it doesn’t come off as whining
for this reason.
Committee Updates
Exec: Senior Faculty Academic Search Committee: Tim wants to know what we are looking for in Dean Kaye’s
replacement. Will also be the dean that starts the campus in Colorado Springs. Associate Dean for Branch Campus is also
being selected. Email Tim Ung at tim.ung@ucdenver.edu with questions, interest.
Dec. 4th meeting will address Physician as Leader elective to give “credit” for MSC. For party on the 11th, paper plate
awards and nominations. Draft of bylaws for when we come back together.
Finance: tons of travel funding: a small number of people have applied so make a note for your classmates. You can turn
in receipts.
Communications: Alyssa on website now, yay!
Innovations: Deadline is Friday and there are no applications yet. Considering pushing back the deadline.
Events:
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Winter Gala:
o 3rd and 4th years only can buy tickets for the gala online – can also buy for guests. 1st and 2nd years
cannot. Those can be sold any time. 15 tickets so far.
o Will be sending out two things:
 Personal invitations to faculty instead of blast email. List so we can get a list for those
invitations.
 Make sure everyone feels included.
 We will be asking faculty for donations to the SOS – even if they can’t attend they might be able
to donate.
 Photo Booth
 As members of MSC, we are encouraged to help out. Incentive to do so. If you work ½ a shift,
you can have a half price ticket.