Dear Ms. Ellis,

In response to the Hatchet’s article dated September 15, 2014, we are writing to formally voice our disappointment in The George Washington University (GW). As full-time employees, we work hard for GW and expect our university to respect its employees and their desire to further their own professional development, which in turn aids the work we can do for the university, and in our case, the profession of higher education.

As Master’s and Doctoral students in the Higher Education Administration program, we fully recognize that universities have been hit by hard financial times. We think, however, that the lack of notice or preparation of your decision has been appalling. If you have been speaking about this for the past two years, as the Hatchet quotes, then the students and faculty that this was affecting should have been notified. We joined our program under the impression that our tuition would be covered 96% and budgeted our finances accordingly. Additionally, the move from 21 to 18 credits mid-degree is outrageous. Many, if not all of us plan out our courses for the entire two years of the program. This is a necessity as we must adjust school around our work schedules. Again, the lack of foresight from your department to move ahead without at least notifying us that this was a possibility is shameful.

As graduate enrollment declines across the country, we hardly think your proposed plan of action to cut employee benefits aids your underlying problems and instead you are simply lowering staff morale.

We are appalled by this decision, the failure to manage expectations and the lack of basic respect shown for your most dedicated students, your employees. Additionally, the fact that we heard this news from the Hatchet instead of the administration is outrageous.

By way of this letter, we formally request that the decision to change tuition remission for employees be reversed or that we, the students who have already started our programs be “grand-fathered” in to what we had agreed to when starting our programs, 96% and 21 credit hours a year.

Sincerely,