BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer
WEST LONG BRANCH — Although Hurricane Katrina has left untold numbers of students attending Gulf Coast colleges without a campus to go to this fall, Monmouth University is trying to ensure that as many as 20 of those undergraduates stay on course toward earning their degrees.
Like many other New Jersey colleges and universities, Monmouth is offering 20 slots on a one-time-only emergency basis to local students who have been displaced by the late summer storm and floods that have left parts of Louisiana and Mississippi devastated.
To date, five undergraduates from Monmouth County, most of whom are enrolled for the fall semester at Tulane University in New Orleans, have taken the university up on its offer and registered for classes at the West Long Branch campus, according to Claire Alasio, associate vice president for enrollment management.
Though the undergraduate enrollment is filled to capacity for the term that began Sept. 6, university officials will allow any student whose home college, like Tulane, has canceled the fall semester as a result of the hurricane to take credit classes to be applied toward a degree, Alasio said.
“We are full, but we have 20 emergency spots we can use to accommodate those students,” Alasio said last week.
No on-campus housing is available, but because all five students live locally that has not been an issue.
“None of the students asked for housing,” Alasio said.
Any displaced student who had officially registered for the fall term at a college or university in the areas impacted by Katrina can still register for classes at Monmouth until Monday, Alasio noted.
For those students, the university will waive application and enrollment deposit fees for the current semester only, she pointed out.
Interested students can contact Lauren Vento Cifelli, the university’s director of undergraduate admissions, for more information.
“We’ve expedited their applications as best as we can, usually with a same-day turnaround,” Alasio said.
As much as possible, the university is attempting to place the emergency enrollees in credit courses equivalent to those they would have taken at their home college, Alasio explained.
“We don’t want to see [students] wasting a semester,” she said. “We’re trying to re-create the schedule of classes they would have had.”
One of the displaced students is a Tulane freshman who graduated in June from Ocean Township High School; the others are upperclassmen, Alasio said.
Officials at that school provided the affected student’s transcripts immediately and assisted in setting up a course schedule, she noted.
“We have a good working relationship with [Ocean Township High School],” Alasio said.
Tulane, like other Gulf States colleges, is closed — a situation that has slowed down the process of obtaining transcripts for the upperclassmen, Alasio admitted.
However, most of those students know what courses they need to complete their degrees and are expected to take identical or similar classes at Monmouth, she added.
As of last week, Tulane’s Web site indicates that the New Orleans campus is closed for the balance of the fall semester. The 171-year-old institution has set up temporary headquarters for its information technology and communications functions in Houston, Texas, according to a message posted by Scott Bowen, the university’s president.
Any tuition, fees, and room and board that a Tulane student has paid for the fall can be applied to the spring semester, the Web site states.
Meanwhile, Monmouth, a private university, is accepting any state or federal financial aid that the students have received for their home college. The details for paying any remaining tuition are under review by university officials, Alasio said.
“We’re working with the students,” Alasio said. “We’re willing to offer aid packages toward tuition and fees.”
Professional counseling and other resources will be available to help the displaced students acclimate to a different campus. Many professors have also expressed willingness to help those undergraduates catch up with assignments should they join a class up to two weeks late, Alasio added.
Come spring, should any of those students choose to stay at Monmouth to earn a degree, they are welcome to matriculate for that semester, Alasio said.
For now, the university will do whatever it takes to help the students cope and thrive at their temporary academic home.
“By all means, we do hope that the students have a positive experience at Monmouth University,” Alasio said.
To assist those victims of Hurricane Katrina still residing in the devastated areas, university students are expected to organize a series of fundraisers over the next few weeks, according to campus officials. Those events, to be coordinated by the Student Government Association, will be announced at a later date.

