From: "Sharp, Leslie N" <leslie.sharp@gatech.edu>
Subject: RE: Proposed Tax on Tuition waivers/tuition remission...?
Date: November 9, 2017 at 9:26:08 AM EST
Dear Colleagues:
Like you, I am concerned about how proposals before Congress to change our tax code could adversely impact our students, Georgia Tech, and other institutions across the country. Below is an email message from the Council of Graduate Schools with good advice on how we has individuals can respond.
Faculty, staff, and graduate students should feel free to contact their elected officials to weigh in on how this would impact their work if our students had to count waived tuition toward their taxable income. This would significantly affect our 3500 plus Graduate Research and Graduate Teaching Assistants. As a reference, the value of the in-state waiver is $6,869 per semester and the out-of-state waiver is $14,259 per semester. Personal (and respectful/professional) stories are important to help understand the detrimental effects of the proposed change.
Our Georgia Senators can be contacted here:
You may find the contact information for your representative at the top right corner here: https://www.house.gov/
We are closely coordinating our efforts with our Office of Government and Community Relations and encourage you to direct any questions to Robert Knotts atknotts@gatech.edu. If you have stories or information you would like to share to help with our advocacy efforts, please do not hesitate to send it our way.
Sincerely,
Leslie Sharp
Leslie N. Sharp, PhD
Associate Vice Provost
Graduate Education and Faculty Development
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0740
404-385-7590; Leslie.Sharp@gatech.edu
From: Suzanne T. Ortega [mailto:president@cgs.nche.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, November 8, 2017 3:21 PM
To: Sharp, Leslie N <leslie.sharp@gatech.edu>
Subject: Tax reform: Five things you can do
Sent: Wednesday, November 8, 2017 3:21 PM
To: Sharp, Leslie N <leslie.sharp@gatech.edu>
Subject: Tax reform: Five things you can do
Dear Colleague,
As many of you are aware, the Council of Graduate Schools has been working closely with other higher education associations to advocate for our students and universities in the wake of proposed tax reform legislation. The proposed changes in the tax code would negatively impact the accessibility and affordability of graduate education, and as a result, the health of our nation’s workforce and economy.
I am writing to suggest five things that you can do now and urge you to use the resources listed below in your advocacy efforts on behalf of your students and institutions. Congress plans to move tax reform quickly, so we encourage you to act immediately.
- Educate your colleagues, and your federal and state policymakers, about the broad impacts of the proposed tax reforms on students and universities. CGS has collaborated with ACE and other higher education associations on this succinct information page on Tax Reform and Higher Education.
- Make these impacts more concrete by sharing CGS’s resource on Tax Reform Examples, which describes how tax liabilities would impact individual students in a variety of situations.
- Encourage graduate students to join you in your advocacy efforts. Support them as they explain in their own words how changes in the tax code would affect them and their families.
- Consider using examples from CGS’s GradImpact Gallery to explain how graduate education improves the lives of all Americans, not just graduate degree holders. Consider submitting your own story to CGS if you have not already done so.
- Work with your government relations representative so that they have the information they need to make the case for graduate students and graduate education. If your institution is compiling infographics and/or resources, please send them to us to use through the CGS social media channels. (Example)
Please continue to follow CGS’s updates on the proposed legislation on the CGS website and in the Government Affairs Weekly Update. We are looking forward to continuing to work with you on this critically important advocacy effort. If you have any questions about the proposed legislation, please contact Beth Buehlmann at bbuehlmann@cgs.nche.edu or Kenneth Polishchuk at kpolishchuk@cgs.nche.edu.
Sincerely,
Suzanne T. Ortega
President
Council of Graduate Schools
President
Council of Graduate Schools
One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 230
Washington, DC 20036
United States
Washington, DC 20036
United States
