Updated 2:50 p.m. April 24, 2020:
The Summer Relief Package deadline has been extended to May 29, according to a UTRGV twitter post.
“The extension was made to provide students with additional time to register for summer,” said Griselda Castilla, associate vice president for Strategic Enrollment, in an email sent to The Rider Thursday. “This allows students to focus on finals, and also provides additional time for those students needing to apply for undergraduate or graduate admission.”
The package that was announced April 10 includes tuition relief, free Zone 2 parking for the 2020-21 academic year, $100 in VBucks, UTRGV swag and job opportunities on campus during the summer sessions for students who enroll in summer classes before May 29.
UTRGV School of Medicine students do not qualify for the Summer Relief Package, according to Castilla.
For more information about the Summer Relief Package, call UCentral at (888) 882-4026 or email Ucentral@utrgv.edu.
With the current status of the pandemic, UTRGV announced last Friday the Summer Relief Package that offers incentives for students who enroll in summer sessions.
“This package is available for ALL students—undergrad, graduate, transfer, and transient (non-UTRGV students) who have already enrolled or who enroll for summer classes by May 15th,” according to an email sent to the campus community last Friday from the Office of the President.
The package includes tuition relief, free Zone 2 parking for the 2020-21 academic year, $100 VBucks, UTRGV swag and job opportunities on campus during the summer sessions.
“So, the intent of the entire package is to one, be supportive of our students,” said Griselda Castilla, associate vice president for Strategic Enrollment. “We totally understand that all of our lives, but especially our students, have really been impacted by COVID-19. So, our institution came up with different incentives to kind of alleviate some of the stress that students are currently feeling.”
All summer student employees will be required to complete at least six hours in one or over both summer sessions. Student Employment Services will notify all students interested in Summer 2020 Employment, according to the UTRGV website.
Students who enroll in six hours in one or over both summer sessions are eligible for up to $1,000 for any tuition not covered by federal and state aid, scholarships and other gift aid.
“So, the $1,000 summer award amount is going to be available to all students,” Castilla said. “So, this includes our undergraduate students, graduate students, our transfer students and even transient students. We have some students that do come back home and take some courses with UTRGV. There are some students that also take the opportunity to take some summer classes before they depart to their institution of choice. So, this package is to help our current students, but it’s also to provide support to [the] entire university student community.”
UTRGV School of Medicine students do not qualify for the Summer Relief Package, according to Castilla.
Health care administration graduate student Glenda Loza said it is a great opportunity for everyone who wants to start on their education or continue.
“I think the fact that the [$1,000] tuition relief is going to help many students in the case of their grants not covering everything,” Loza said. “So, it’s an opportunity for them to save money and actually continue school since I know that is a big issue that people do not want to take summer classes because they can’t afford it and I think this is, like, a great help.”
Castilla said students do not need to apply and the university will identify them through a program that it is developing.
“We are still trying to finalize that programming,” Castilla said. “But once that’s finalized, we will send out communications to the students and instructions on how they can opt in to use these a thousand dollars toward their student bill if that’s what they need assistance with. So, we’re trying to get this finalized by the end of next week because we do know that tuition for our first online module is [due] the week after.”
As of Thursday morning, more than 12,000 students have enrolled for the Summer I session, which is 4.57% higher than at the same time last year, according to Castilla.
“So, we can already see that our students are definitely paying attention and taking advantage of this program,” she said.
For more information about the Summer Relief Package, call UCentral at (888) 882-4026 or email Ucentral@utrgv.edu.
