Program faces change
Recipients can now seek financial aid
December 6, 2006
Alison Fraser
A new employee benefit program will be put into effect next semester, replacing the current Torch Award Scholarship program for students who are children of Trinity Western University employees.
The change came at the recommendation of a task force chaired by Corwin Koch, Enrolment Management coordinator, who worked with various representatives from TWU’s Faculty and Staff Associations. It was determined by the committee that changes should be made in response to tax revisions and recent interpretations by the Canada Revenue Agency.
Changes were explained to TWU staff last Thursday and Friday, in information sessions held by Executive Assistant to the President, Glen Forrester.
According to Forrester, the new Torch Benefit, effective Jan. 1, 2007, will be considered taxable income to the parent. TWU will charge the student “employee pricing,” tuition at approximately a third of undergraduate fees, which will be covered by the Benefit. All other charges, including application fees and housing costs, will still be charged to students at full price, and are not covered under the program.
Students of employees, however, are now encouraged to seek financial aid from TWU. Previously, a recipient of the Torch Award Scholarship was not eligible to receive any financial aid, but Forrester said financial aid budgets will be increased correspondingly. As well, children of retired employees, who were not included in the program previously, will now be eligible for the Torch Benefit.
Some faculty present at the meeting were concerned about aspects of the new program, particularly in regards to the summer classes their children are able to take. According to the new benefit policy, only those summer classes that are not offered during the regular school year and that directly apply to students’ majors will be payable by the Torch Benefit program.
“We will really need to look at all of these scenarios from a case by case basis,” Forrester said at the Thursday information session.
Concerns were also raised as to why courses such as private music lessons are not covered under the new program if they are a requirement for a music major, or why programs such as Freshman Academy are not seen as applicable under the new program.
“Courses with significantly different cost structures are excluded from Torch,” Forrester responded. “These courses were not included under the old program either.”
At the meeting, the faculty expressed their appreciation for the hard work that had been put in to bring about these changes.
“I think everybody is pleased,” said Lloyd Arnett, who has worked in the Theatre department for 15 years and has a daughter in her first year at TWU. “Faculty salaries are much lower here, and the university seems to be doing the best it can to provide for their employees.”
Holly Davis, who works in Enrolment Services, was appreciative of the information session and of the new benefit policies.
“It was good to have a meeting today,” she said. “The new discounted rate seems to be the best scenario.”
Information about the new benefit program hasn’t found its way to everyone involved just yet, however. Student Chris Brown, who is currently the recipient of a Torch Award Scholarship, is unsure about how the changes will affect him and his family.
“It hasn’t all really been communicated to me yet,” said Brown. “I’ll need to see how it exactly plays out.”
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