Students, staff being called up for military service

By Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff

he military build-up in the Middle East is requiring some members of the campus community who are in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or Air Force reserves or the Army National Guard or Air National Guard to be called to active duty. At least half a dozen staff members and 25 students have been pulled from their University routine to suit up for active service. And more could soon follow.

     "Primarily it's a National Guard population here at UMass - not reserve," said Lt. Col. Bernd Schliemann, head of Military Science.

     For a number of months, employees in the reserves have been called to active duty for brief periods and then have returned to campus, according to Beth Ives, clerk III in Human Resources, but the speed of their return has become less certain recently, she said.

     "Now they're getting called for longer periods," she said. "They don't [always] know when they're coming back."

     Assistant dean of students Eileen Stewart said there are a number of regulations for Massachusetts public colleges and universities in the handling of students called to military service. The campus is required to help these students with paperwork for external agencies, to refund unused residence hall time, and to either refund or credit fees and tuition. Affected students must be given the option of non-punitive withdrawal if they will be unable to complete a course and given priority in enrolling for the first two semesters of their return to the University. Affected students who are receiving financial aid must contact the Financial Aid Office to "make appropriate arrangements" and all students called to active duty also must provide the Registrar, through the Dean of Students Office, with verification of their order to report for duty.

     "I want the campus to be aware that some students are being called up and that those students should come to the Dean of Students Office," she said. "On this campus, the Dean of Students Office is the central point to come to in the withdrawal process."

     Stewart said most of the students who have withdrawn have orders for a year.
"But they're saying, 'It could be longer; it could be shorter,'" she said.

     As many as 200 students are eligible to be called to active service, she said, so it is important for faculty to be aware of the withdrawal policies and the need to direct students to her office.