Last year, St. John’s University announced the Alumni Assistance
Program, which offered a 50% reduction in tuition for alumni who
had been laid off within the past six months and who enrolled for a
graduate degree in either the spring or summer of 2009. I am
pleased to advise you that the University has decided to
extend this program, to individuals who begin their studies during
the Fall 2009 semester. The decision to extend the
program was made based upon your requests and the continued
economic downturn.
Other components of the program have also been continued. As you
may already be aware, the expertise of the University’s Career Center is
available to all of our graduates. I encourage you to visit the
Center’s home page to learn about the services that are provided.
The Career Center also acts as a clearinghouse for position
openings that require experienced workers. We hope that alumni in
need of personnel will continue to use this clearinghouse as a
recruitment tool, and that alumni seeking employment will use the
clearinghouse as a resource in their job search. Networking, as you
know, has long been a valuable tool in seeking employment, and St.
John’s vast technological capabilities enable the University to
facilitate networking among its more than 150,000 alumni in ways
that we hope will be helpful to many of you in these difficult
times.
Many of you have used the economic downturn as an opportunity to
reassess your goals and change careers or enhance your
expertise in your current field so as to prepare for future
possibilities. The 50% reduction in tuition is intended to aid
these efforts. This reduction will be applicable to a graduate
degree offered by any of the University’s schools or colleges with
the exception of the School of Law. And the reduction will remain
in place for the entire period of your studies or for two years,
whichever comes first.
Let me take this opportunity to invite you to an alumni professional development
workshop that will be offered on the Queens campus. This
session will help alumni retool their resumes, reacquaint
themselves with the job search process, and explore possibilities
for changing careers and beginning graduate study.
As alumni, you will forever be a part of our St. John’s
community. Today we continue to reach out to you in the
spirit of caring and concern that has always been central to our
University’s mission with what we trust will be meaningful
assistance during difficult times.