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LAWRENCE -- When students in the military reserves are called to active service, they usually are given only 24 to 48 hours to report and ship out. To assist students in this stressful time, the University of Kansas is instituting procedures to make withdrawing from the university as quick and easy as possible.
The Office for Student Support and the university registrar have developed a "one-stop exit" plan for the students being called to the military. So that they don't have to contact their instructors and stop at the several different and dispersed offices to withdraw from the university, students now can make one stop and be ready to go in about 20 minutes.
"Students who are called up generally want to spend that time with their friends and family, not criss-crossing the university to tie up loose ends," said University Registrar Richard C. Morrell. "This one-stop program makes it easy for them to leave and easy for them to return and resume their education once their service is completed."
Students who are ordered to active military service usually need to arrange for refunds in tuition, parking or bus passes, and various fees, as well as to withdraw from classes, make adjustments to financial aid and arrange to move out of university housing.
Under KU's "one-stop exit," the university registrar's veterans services division will facilitate making the contacts for the students so they don't have to do it themselves.
In some cases, such as a call to military duty late in the semester, students may want to request incompletes or grades in some courses. The Student Development Center will assist students with those requests by informing instructors of the student's situation and providing students with the instructors' phone numbers or e-mail addresses as necessary. The university registrar and the Office of New Student Orientation will help students arrange to be readmitted, including a waiver of admission application fees.
Students who are called up and contact the university registrar will receive a full refund of their tuition and fees if they withdraw from all their classes. An information sheet outlining the "one-stop exit" procedures is available in the registrar's office.
An information sheet also is available online at www.registrar.ku.edu/pdf/onestopexit.pdf
According to a survey last fall, there were 10 students in the active reserves, 15 in the inactive reserves and 33 in the National Guard. The university believes more than 20 students already have been ordered to report to active duty in the past few months, Morrell said.
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