University's plan to help refugees becomes clearer

SIUC is making progress in accepting students from the Gulf Coast:

University's plan to help refugees becomes clearer

Jim Carl spent hours on the phone Friday.
SIUC's assistant director of admissions fielded calls from Gulf Coast region students trying to salvage a semester devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
"I've literally had the phone down not five minutes since this morning," Carl said Friday, one day after Chancellor Walter Wendler announced that the University would assist displaced students.
Carl's phone conversations dealt mostly with Illinois students who went away to college in Louisiana and Mississippi. These people returned home, regrouped and figured out their next move, he said.
Three displaced students entered classes last week and 16 more expressed interest in the University's offer.
Registration fees will be waived to make it easier on them. Transcripts will be an issue only if a student intends to graduate from the University, officials said.
"We'll worry about that when things settle down," Carl said.