Uniform State Residency 2014 Training

1. Uniform State Residency 2014 Training

2. Uniform State ResidencyBackground As part of the UNC Efficiency Agenda, the Residency Verification process was identified for review. An August 2012 Collaborative Efficiency Review by OSBM, in conjunction with UNC, analyzed the three areas of residency classification (initial classification, reclassification and the appeal process) and recommended various options for improvement. UNC General Administration directed UNC FIT to lead a future state analysis for residency in March 2013, engaging campus experts across the system.

3. Uniform State ResidencyUNC Goals Reduce inconsistent decision making and application of the residency laws Reduce duplicate student residency verifications Provide a more efficient experience for students

4. Uniform State Residency UNC Goals Reduce burden and manual processes in place on campuses Identify a process that could serve undergraduate and eventually graduate determinations Identify a process that could serve all of higher education in NC

5. Uniform State Residency In late July, Senate Bill 402 was passed by the North Carolina General Assembly directing UNC to work in conjunction with the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS), North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA), and the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) on a coordinated and centralized residency determination process for higher education. The UNC vision project continued the final stage by estimating costs for the solutions identified earlier in the project noting that the new law for a statewide vision may impact the recommended solution for UNC.

6. Uniform State ResidencyPurpose (1) To meet the goals outlined in the UNC Study (2) To Comply with the Legislative Directive Mandating a Coordinated Residency Determination Process across all NC Higher Education: Section 11.3(a) of Session Law 2013-360 and (3) It’s the RIGHT thing to do

7. Uniform State ResidencyWho Is Leading the Charge A Collaborative Higher Education Work Group composed of representatives from the University of North Carolina General Administration, NC Community Colleges System, NC Independent Colleges and Universities and NC State Education Assistance Authority, assisted by College Foundation, Inc. We are working in collaboration with The State Residence Committee and with a team of residency experts across UNC and Community Colleges

8. UniformState ResidencyScope (1) Develop and implement a standard set of common questions that all students must answer to determine residency; (2) Build and implement a structure/calculation algorithm method to automate the residency determination, based on answers to the common questions; (3) Conduct statewide residency verification training;

9. UniformState ResidencyScope (4) Develop and deploy a standardized Uniform Residency reclassification and centralized appeal system; (5) Integrate graduate admissions application data into the standardized system

10. Uniform State ResidencyTimelines • Phase I Deliverables due by June 30, 2014: • Development of Common Questions and Accompanying Algorithm and State Residency Training; • Phase 2 Deliverables due by June 30, 2015: • Technical Development, Testing and Deployment of the common questions and algorithm by June 30, 2015 (to be applicable to students applying for admission for the Spring 2016 semester and beyond) and B: Develop model for a standardized reclassification and centralized appeal system

11. Uniform State ResidencyTimelines • Phase 3 Deliverables (Due Date TBD): • Implement the standardized reclassification process; (B) Develop plan to integrate graduate admissions application data into the standardized system • Phase 4 Deliverables (Due Date TBD): • Integrate Graduate Admissions Application Data into the Standardized System

12. Uniform State Residency Where We Are Now (1) Standard Questions are Developed (2) Algorithm Development is in progress (3) Training is being conducted today (4) Phase I Deliverables will be met!

13. Uniform State Residency Initial Residency Classification: An Automated Process (1) Standard Questions revolve around six areas of key residency determination: (a) Citizenship; (b) Claim; (c) Domicile/Residence; (d) Student Information; (e) Parent Information; and (f) Military (2) Standard Algorithm will be applied to these questions to determine initial residency (3) There will be no human intervention (4) CFNC Applications will have the residency questions and algorithm embedded in them

14. Uniform State Residency Initial Residency Classification: An Automated Process (5) Other campus applications (which are NOT linked to CFNC) will have to implement the standard questions and algorithm and will be subject to audit for compliance OR they can choose to send students to CFNC for residency determination (we will have focused follow-up conversations with each of these campuses) (6) Beginning with the Spring 2016 semester applicants (in place by Aug 2015)

15. Uniform State Residency:What Does this Mean to you? (1) Goal is to achieve greater uniformity NOW (2) Take back what you gain from today’s conference (3) Send questions in as you encounter issues that are difficult (4) Review the FAQs that will be posted on the website (5) Become familiar with the Standard Questions

16. Uniform State Residency:What Does this Mean to you? (6) Think through your campus processes as to how the standardized and automated processes will impact you (7) Start Planning for change! (8) Engage all of the necessary people on your campus (9) Expect communications, protocol and guidance throughout this project

17. Purpose of the Manual To aid University and Community College administrators in classifying a student’s residency for tuition purposes. To guide independent colleges and universities in this state in determining the number of North Carolina students on their campuses for which they are eligible to receive state funding. To assist students and families in understanding the law and policies related to residence for tuition purposes.

18. 3 Key Points to Remember • Residence and Domicile are NOT the same –it is the student’s domicile that determines whether the student is eligible for in-state tuition. • To be eligible for in-state tuition, state law generally requires a student to have established domicile in North Carolina for 12 consecutive months. • A student’s domicile is generally presumed to be that of his or her parents.

19. Application Deadlines • The Initial Residency for Tuition Purposes determination is completed a part of the application for admissions to a college or university. • The residency reclassification process is in response to the initial classification or to changes in circumstances. • Except for deadlines set out in General Statutes, UNC Board policy, or SBCC Code, the deadline to submit the reclassification application along with all supporting documentation cannot be later than the 10th business day of the term for which the student is seeking residency reclassification. • Institutions may set their own deadlines so long as they are not inconsistent with the these deadlines.

20. The Concept of Domicile • A person’s residential presence in a state AND • That person’s particular intent related to that presence

21. Residence ≠Domicile Residence is where you live A domicile is where you intend to return and remain for an indefinite period of time A person can have many residences but only one domicile

22. Definitions

23. “Bona Fide” In good faith with earnest intent. A person must demonstrate that he or she has established a bona fide, as opposed to a temporary, domicile when seeking residency classification. Establishing domicile in North Carolina just to become eligible for in-state tuition is not a bona fide domicile.

24. “Burden of Proof” The responsibility borne by the applicantto convince the institution of higher education, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the student is a bona fide domiciliary for tuition purposes. This burden of proof is met by providing tangible evidence to support relevant conduct of legal residence and its duration as may be required by officials of an institution of higher education.

25. “Capacity” Legal ability to establish residence unimpeded by other factors, such as age or non-immigration status. For purposes of legal residence for tuition purposes, capacity includes the ability to remain in North Carolina permanently through one’s own financial resources.

26. “Domicile” A person’s true, fixed, and permanent home and place of habitation of indefinite duration (for an indefinite period of time);it is the place where he or she intends and is able to remain permanently and to which, whenever the person is absent, he or she expects to return. A person may have more than one residence, but may have only one domicile. For purposes of the Manual, “domicile” is synonymous with “legal residence.”

27. “Domicile” (continued) • Domicile may be established by: • Birth • Law • Choice • Residence for tuition purposes is not guaranteed – it must be established by the student. • The burden of proof is on the student.

28. “Domicile” (continued) Evidence of domicile includes (but is not limited to): Where the student lives Voter registration and act of voting Driver’s license and vehicle registration Employment and payment of taxes Ownership of real property There is no “residence checklist” – each application is considered on its own merit.

29. “Domiciliary” A person who is a legal resident of (is domiciled in) North Carolina. For purposes of the Manual, “domiciliary” is synonymous with “legal resident.”

30. “Evidence” Documents and other proof verifying conduct that is provided to officials of an institution of higher education regarding legal residence and its duration necessary to prove that an applicant is entitled to in-state tuition.

31. “Initial Classification” The first classification of residency for tuition purposes assigned to an applicant for admission to a public institution of higher education based on information received as a part of the application for admission to that institution. Initial classification decisions by one institution are not binding on another institution, nor are initial classification decisions at one academic level binding on another academic level within that same institution.  

32. “Institutions of Higher Education” Institutions, both public and private, that offer post-secondary instruction in North Carolina, including all UNC constituent institutions and all Community Colleges. .  

33. “Legal Guardian” A person who is court-appointed to act in the place of an individual’s parents (usually referred to as a “guardian of the person” or “general guardian”). A guardianship ends when the person reaches age 18 or is otherwise emancipated. “Custody” or “legal custodian” is not the same as legal guardian.

34. “Minor” A person under the age of eighteen (18) years. A person is no longer a minor on the date of the person’s eighteenth birthday. Generally, a minor is presumed to have the same domicile as that of his or her parents or legal guardians.

35. “Misrepresentation” A false and fraudulent misstatement of fact. If an applicant or someone acting on the applicant’s behalf knowingly makes a misrepresentation in connection with a state residency application or appeal, that misrepresentation could lead to a misdemeanor charge.

36. “Preponderance of Evidence” The greater weight of the evidence; more probable than not; proof which leads one to find that the existence of the contested fact is more probable than its nonexistence. This standard is less stringent than “beyond a reasonable doubt.” It is not necessarily established by a greater number of witnesses testifying to the fact, but instead by evidence that has the most convincing force.

37. “Presumption” A legal inference used to place the burden of proof and of producing supporting evidence on one party to a proceeding in order to overcome that presumption. Under North Carolina law, a minor’s domicile is “presumed” to be that of his or her living parents or legal guardian.

38. “Prima Facie” At first appearance or first view – before investigation. Under North Carolina law, the legal residence of the applicant’s parents shall be prima facie evidence of the applicant’s legal residence.

39. “Reclassification” The process of an applicant's formal request to review pertinent residentiary facts to determine the correctness or an update of the initial classification of residency for tuition purposes by public institutions of higher education.

40. “Residence” A place of abode, whether permanent or temporary. “Permanent residence” means the legal residence or domicile, whereas “temporary residence” means one’s abode for an undetermined or temporary duration. A person may have many residences but only one permanent, legal residence (domicile).

41. “Resident for Tuition Purposes” A person who has established legal residence (domicile) in North Carolina and maintained that legal residence for at least 12 months (365 days) immediately prior to his or her classification as a resident for tuition purposes. The applicant must establish that his or her presence in the State is, and during the required preceding 12 months was, for the purpose of maintaining a bona fide domicile rather than maintaining a temporary residence incident to enrollment in an institution of higher education.

42. Supporting Documentation Evidence of North Carolina domicile for tuition purposes includes actions that would normally be characteristic and expected of any permanent resident. Domicile information – lease or rental agreement (if renting) or warranty deed if purchasing. Financial information – previous year’s tax return (federal & state) Acts of residency – such as vehicle registration, voter registration, driver’s license Employment information Citizenship or immigration status (if applicable) Parent information ….the legal residence of parent(s) or legal guardian shall be prima facie evidence of the individual's legal residence, which may be reinforced or rebutted relative to the age and general circumstances of the individual.

43. Fundamental Principles of the Law of Domicile • In-state benefits are provided only to legal residents of North Carolina • The primary North Carolina statute requiring domicile for in-state tuition purposes is G.S. 116-143.1

44. Burden of Proof in demonstrating domicile • It must be shown that: The person abandoned the first domicile with the intention not to return to it And The person established a new domicile with the intentionof making the new residence a permanent home

45. How to Start Domicile Determination • In most cases it requires 12 months of uninterrupted domicile in North Carolina • With minors the inquiry starts with the parents or legal guardian • Once a student is 18, they have the legal capacity to establish their own domicile • The classifier looks at the domicile of the living parent(s) or legal guardian as prima facie evidence. Student may rebut or reinforce this legal presumption

46. Looking for Domicile Evidence • Does the student have capacity to establish residence? Are they 18, are they independent? • There are numerous factors to review and consider as a whole. The classifier and appeal boards are advised to look at actions more than personal statements and emotional appeals • Do not consider statements of intent to do things in the future. Look at current actions.

47. The Burden of Proof “Preponderance of Evidence” What actions did the student take to establish domicile

48. The Burden of Proof “Preponderance of Evidence” What actions did the student take to establish domicile When did the student complete these actions

49. The Burden of Proof “Preponderance of Evidence” What actions did the student take to establish domicile When did the student complete these actions Whythe student performed such actions

50. Five-Year Rule Exception • The NC General Assembly has decided by law that if the student has lived in North Carolina for five consecutive years immediately prior to enrolling or registering at an institution of higher education, the domicile of the student’s parent(s) is not presumed to be the student’s domicile, even if the applicant is a minor. Domicile is determined based on the information supplied by the student with no statutory presumption in favor of any particular piece of evidence