Tech Squares Weekend Financial Aid Policy

History

In 2003 the Tech Squares officers formed a sub-committee which looked into Tech Squares running a scholarship program. After much discussion, the committee concluded that it would be better if the "Weekend" ran its own financial aid program. Starting with the 2004 weekend, I offer the following program:

In 2008, based on an idea proposed by Sola, the MIT undergraduate discount is also being thrown into the finincial aid request pool. This allows us to remove that cost from the dance fee, and not raise the rates as much as we might for the move to East Hill Farm.

General

• Organized and administered by Clark Baker
• Funds may only be used to attend the March Tech Squares Weekend. The extra day and caller school also count.
• Financial aid is available only to voting members of Tech Squares who would be unable to attend the weekend without such assistance
• Decisions will be based on need and not on dance ability or level
• Priority given to
  1. MIT undergraduate students
  2. MIT graduate students
  3. Everyone else
• Within a priority, awards will be ordered from the smallest to largest request
• Requests of the same amount will be ordered by date received
• Each award will be for the total amount requested, or nothing
• The aid available depends on contributions and therefore varies from year to year. A request should be for the minimum amount necessary.
• Those receiving aid pledge to contribute back to the program in the future as able
  • You received help when you were in need
  • You should help others when you can afford to do so
• No funds are retained from year to year

For those generous folks who contribute financial aid

• Initially you will be asked to contribute 1/N of the amount needed
• If this is too much, you can e-mail me with a maximum pledge amount
• If the total amount pledged is less than the amount needed, I will try to raise the difference
• If there is still a shortfall, not everyone will receive financial aid
• I will e-mail you your final contribution amount
• You will remit the funds to me
• Your contribution is not tax-deductible
• While I won't publish a list of people who contribute, your participation may become public knowledge when I post a list of who owes money. For example, if the amount is 12.50 then everyone who owes an amount ending in 50, or who owes 12.50 is likely to be a financial aid contributor.
• Any overage will go to the calling staff. This can happen when people want to contribute after the initial division is made, or by people who round up their contribution (e.g., give $20 instead of $17.61).

For those folks who request financial aid

• I will keep your participation in this program private and confidential
• You must fill out a Financial Aid Application and give it to me
• The application deadline is the same as for the application to the weekend
• If you can't afford the $50 weekend deposit, this is ok
• You should receive a decision 3 weeks before the weekend

Finally

Year	Amount	# requesting aid	# providing aid
2004	$337.00	4	20
2005	$232.60	2	32
2006	$133.00	2	41
2007	$0.00	0
2008	$255.00	9	52

I would like to thank the original sub-committee for their efforts. This final result was only possible because they debated the issues and created the initial structure.

Revised: $Date: 2008/03/05 15:34:48 $