Fourth-year student says residency is his right

Senior Misha Tenenbaum has made three attempts to change his residency status for tuition purposes at Georgia College & State University, and three times he has failed.

According to Appeals Board Chair Dr. Bruce Harshbarger, the unanimous decision of the board concluded that Tenenbaum’s residency is education-related, which disqualifies him from gaining the change in status.

Tenenbaum, originally from Massachusetts, was offered an out-of-state residency waiver beginning his freshman year for cross country, granted by the athletic department at GC&SU. Since he will not be returning to the team next year, Tenenbaum will not be eligible to continue on scholarship.

Tenenbaum realized he wanted to stay in Georgia and began applying for a change in status with the university in 2003.

“The first time I applied was my sophomore year,” Tenenbaum said. “I thought it was going to be easy when I first started. I didn’t even realize there was a set of rules until after I had applied.”

Tenenbaum made the decision to contact the appeals board after his first two requests were denied in July 2003 and April 2004.

The board hears approximately six such appeals a year, and two-thirds of the cases do not see a reversal in decision, Harshbarger said.

However, Tenenbaum said he took extreme measures to meet status requirements. He moved off campus three years ago and obtained a summer job to prove to the board his intent to remain in the state after graduation.

“I really felt like they were digging for more of a reason why not to give it to me than a reason why I deserve it,” Tenenbaum said.

Tenenbaum presented letters of support from his boss Bill Wendt, Milledgeville Mayor Floyd Griffin and GC&SU Public Safety Director Ken Vance before the appeals board along with documented evidence he said proves the state recognizes him as a citizen of Georgia.

“When I applied before the appeals board, I really thought there was no way I wouldn’t get it,” Tenenbaum said. “Literally every piece of objective evidence that there could possibly be is done. I feel like I wasted my time switching so much over. Why ask for objective evidence if it means nothing?”

Since moving to Georgia, Tenenbaum has obtained a Georgia driver’s license, pays taxes in Milledgeville, bought a car which he registered in Baldwin County and registered to vote in Baldwin. He said this should be more than enough to prove his intent to stay in the state after graduation.

Although he did not originally move to Georgia with the intent to become a resident, Tenenbaum said he has made job connections in the community and said he feels he deserves to gain residency status with the university. Tenenbaum said he is concerned about his financial situation.

“Without a change of residency status, my last semester costing so much would put me in debt when I leave college, as opposed to now, where I can afford to pay tuition,” Tenenbaum said. “I’m going to owe about $5,000 from whatever student loan I have to take out to be able to pay for it, and I don’t think that’s fair because other residents of Georgia don’t have to do that. I feel like I’m within my right to get those kinds of things.”

Tenenbaum is a resident of the state of Georgia in “every sense of the word,” Vance said.

“He’s registered to vote here, and I think that’s paramount,” Vance said. “He lives here and pays taxes here. Why not let him have in-state residency?”

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia provides a manual which outlines the policy of interpretation for residency and waivers of out-of-state fees.

Tenenbaum said a flaw of the policies is their basis on interpretation instead of set laws.

“The test of someone moving to the state is if they came here more than 12 months before starting school,” Harshbarger said. “To be considered for in-state tuition a student needs to not only have lived in the state for at least 12 months, but also may not have attended school within those 12 months.”

Tenenbaum has not fulfilled this requirement as interpreted by Harshbarger, as he has been in school for the duration of his residency in Georgia.

Tenenbaum said he argued this interpretation because there is no direct statement in the residency manual pertaining to immediate disqualification based on continuing his education.

Another complication he has encountered has stemmed from his financial assistance from out of the state. Tenenbaum said he disagrees with this counting against him because it is unrealistic to expect a college student to be able to attend school and pay for it without assistance.

“I work, but I can’t afford to pay for everything and go to classes,” Tenenbaum said. “That actually can disqualify me.”

Tenenbaum said he plans to continue applying for a change in status, despite the difficulties he has encountered in the process. He will next present a letter to GC&SU President Dorothy Leland, which he hopes will help set a precedence for other students in his position in the future.

This article was originally printed in Thursday’s Baldwin Bulletin.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 8 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry