Criminal Drug Offenses Effect Finanacial Aid

With the economy still in shambles, most college students are dependent upon some form of financial aid in order to continue their education. Most scholarships are tied to maintaining academic and/or sports performance while other forms of financial aid are linked solely to financial need. What most students fail to realize is that drug and alcohol problems can result in the loss of that vital financial aid. In those cases, the only remedy may be successful completion of an addiction recovery program .

A significant portion of the college population is receiving some form of financial aid. Statistics for the ten years ending in 2005 show growth in almost every form of financial aid, many exceeding 100% growth.

According to the Higher Education Act, students who are convicted of any drug offense, including possession or sale, can be stripped of any Title IV federal financial aid. This affects Pell Grants, PLUS loans (including Graduate PLUS loans), Federal Direct Loans, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, SMART Grants, Perkins Loans, ACG Grants, TEACH Grants, and Federal Work Study funds. Students may also be asked to repay funds already dispensed.

The actual effect on financial aid depends on the number and type of offenses. For possession, the first offense makes a student ineligible for aid for one year and the second offensive for two years. Three or more offenses results in indefinite ineligibility. For selling drugs, the first offense carries two years of ineligibility while two or more offenses leads to indefinite ineligibility. All periods are counted from the date of conviction for the offense.

State financial aid programs carry their own penalties for drug or alcohol convictions as do institutional and outside scholarship and loan programs. Schools will also have their own penalty systems and may come down harder on those who sell drugs to those under 21 or 18 or to pregnant women. Other factors that can increase the penalties include the amount and scale of trafficking or the manufacturing of drugs on campus.

In many cases, the penalties may be lessened or even lifted if the student seeks treatment from approved drug rehab centers . To restore federal student aid, the program must be recognized as a federal, state, or local government agency program and must include at least two unannounced drug tests during treatment. Eligibility is restored on the date that the student completes the rehab program. Those that abandon treatment or are discharged before successfully completing treatment will not be eligible for restored financial aid.

Treatment of Drug Abuse in College Students

It is irresponsible to deny that drugs have an impact on any college environment. While users would like you to believe that that affect is positive, the fact is that drug abuse presents many physical and psychological hazards to those taking them and has emotional and financial repercussions on the entire community.

It is extremely important for any college campus to be aware of the extent of its own drug environment and to take steps to minimize the effects. This includes directing those with serious drug problems to seek drug rehab. Treatment programs are available for any type of addiction and many programs specialize in the special needs of young adults such as college students.

With prescription drug abuse as well as marijuana use increasing on college campuses, it is extremely important that students, faculty and staff are educated on the

Physical Signs of Addiction. They also need to be aware of behavioral and emotional signals that someone may need to seek treatment.

A good addiction treatment center that treats college students and other young adults is going to be aware of the specific pressures and situations that lead to college drug use. Many college students begin abusing prescription drugs in order to enhance their performance on tests, in sporting events, or to be able to stay awake to complete class work. Other abuse street drugs in order to escape from the pressures of college life or due to specific family and personal problems.

Treatment will be most effective if it supplements traditional rehab and recovery tools with life skills, personal development, and emotional coping skills while allowing patients to continue with their educational pursuits. Continuing coursework, after the initial period of detox and treatment is completed, can provide a structure and stability to the rehab process. Learning life skills and working on personal and emotional development will better equip students to sustain their recovery once they are back in the real world and exposed to the temptations and stress points that led to their original problems.

Colleges can significantly reduce their campus drug problem by combining a sensible yet visible campaign of prevention and education with a compassionate emphasis on treatment and rehabilitation. However, they also need to realize that when the problems become untenable, they will need to take more direct steps to protect their student body -- up to and including expelling students and/or turning them over to criminal authorities.

Sustaining a Sustainable System

The UNM-Taos Report

By Bill Knief

Last week we got a pleasant surprise. Kristine Rippel, our account representative at the Taos News, called up to say she was coming over with a check for $500 to present to The Literacy Center. It was the proceeds from the holiday Festival of Trees and Wreaths event, and since The Literacy Center is supported by UNM-Taos and housed in our administration building but is not directly funded by the community college, it was greatly appreciated.

It was also a reminder of how important the linkage is in Taos between its various institutions and the community at large. This money, which will help support the GED, adult literacy and English as a second language programs so vital to our economic and social health, came from generous individuals who took part in a fundraising event for nonprofits sponsored every year by a for profit company. That kind of collaboration, which ultimately benefits citizens striving to improve their lives, is the connective tissue that holds us all together.

What we have in our midst is a truly sustainable system. The programs offered by UNM-Taos that are funded through the legislature by taxation and other revenue streams, and by grants, and through the generosity of citizens, produce the talent pool and the expertise that help us hold our own in a difficult economy.

According to Jim Gilroy, Dean of Instruction, “I think that a role we play that is not so often seen nor is it measured by traditional academic standards is that of meeting the needs of businesses and municipal entities throughout the region. We have many needs presented to us from the town, the county, Holy Cross Hospital, the Department of Labor, the Chamber of Commerce and others on a monthly basis. And to be able to have the resources---the personnel as well as the infrastructure---in place to address those needs is critical.

“We provide the services that public and private entities need to better serve the community, to allow the advancement of their own employees, and to improve their computer and technological skills that are so badly needed today. And I feel that the money that we get from the state to carry out our mission is well matched by other resources that are attracted by a community college. For example, our students brought in 2.6 million dollars in Pell Grants alone last year, and those dollars have a multiplier effect as they circulate through our community that produces a very positive effect.

“Currently there is some conversation around eliminating some of the community colleges in our state, and honestly I think it is the wrong path to take. To eliminate rural community colleges would have a tremendous impact on the economy of the region, would produce an ill prepared workforce that has no hope of providing for improvement of that economy, and honestly lead to a certain amount of loss of morale in those rural regions. We motivate our students to do well, we tell them there are opportunities out there, we educate them and provide real opportunities for work within that community.

“Without community colleges our students will migrate not only from rural to urban areas, but out of the state completely. And I think what that does for potential long term economic development would be devastating.”

We have an extraordinary resource in our community college. If you would like to take advantage of it, there are only a few more days to sign up for spring classes  It looks like we are once again going to see record numbers of enrollees, so the sooner you get started with the registration process, the better. Instruction begins January 18 and registration for 16 weeks courses ends January 28.         

"Untold Stories" Tour

Enjoy a priceless peek into the work spaces, libraries
and lives of influential and creative Taoseños on this
unique guided tour.

Saturday, February 12th, 2011
Tour 1 departs at 10am please arrive 30 min early
Tour 2 departs at 2pm please arrive 30 min early

Tour includes Alyce Frank sharing her special
space, Steve Parks opening the Melissa Zink
studio, and Mirabai Starr with her creative friends at the
rarely seen El Monte Sagrado library. Along the way,
historian Nita Murphy will offer her insight into the
people, places and events that illuminate Taos.

Tours meet at the UNM-Taos Library,
located at 115 Civic Plaza Drive, Taos
Tickets are $25 Space is limited - please RSVP
To reserve tickets or for more info. call (575) 737-6242

BIOS AND INFO
Alyce Frank paints the landscape of Taos New Mexico in vibrant hues against a red ground. Within her paintings the mesas, gorges, and mountain ridges take on an emotional quality that goes beyond a direct rendering. The fields, streams and canyons are familiar but the shapes and colors feel animated and fresh.

Melissa Zink’s work has progressed from sculpture to painting and into a mix of language, collage and printmaking. Her work is often inspired by her passionate experience with books and the almost trance like state of reading. Steve Parks of Parks Gallery will guide us through her studio.

Mirabai Starr is a translator, author and educator concerned with the spiritual pathways expressed in each of the world’s faith traditions. She speaks nationally and internationally on the teachings of the mystics and the contemplative process.

Nita Murphy is the director of the Center for Southwest Research, an archive of local history. She has deep knowledge of the stories and people of Taos.

• Alyce Frank Portfolio 
• Alyce Frank Biography 
• Melissa Zink Retrospective 
• Mirabai Starr