Media Advisory - Regents' Finance Committee, Full Board Meetings Postponed

November 17, 2000

Regents' Finance Committee Reschedules Session on Residency Policy to Nov. 20; Full Board Meeting Also Postponed

With a new draft of the University System of Maryland (USM) residency policy still under consideration, special meetings of the USM Board of Regents' Committee on Finance and the full Board of Regents have been postponed. The delay will allow additional time for the Regents to consider the proposed policy.

The Finance Committee, which was to have met in public session on Sunday, November 19, has postponed its meeting until Monday, November 20. The meeting will be conducted via teleconference beginning at 10 a.m. in the Chancellor's Conference Room in the USM Office, 3300 Metzerott Road in Adelphi, MD.

The meeting of the full board, which was to have taken place on November 20, has been postponed until further notice. Details on a new date for that meeting are expected soon.

As originally intended, the Finance Committee will review a proposed revision of the USM Policy for Student Residency Classification for Admission, Tuition, and Charge-Differential Purposes. The Maryland Court of Appeals recently declared a part of the current policy to be in violation of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. The Committee will consider a draft of the policy that determines a USM student's residency status, and thus whether he or she will receive an in-state tuition rate, on the basis of nine criteria. The Committee then will make a recommendation to the full Board.

The Board intends to consider this matter expeditiously because this is the time of year that the USM institutions are determining residency status for students applying for the Spring and Fall 2001 semesters.