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Student Fees
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To the editor:
I have not been at this school for very long. I am a first semester freshman here on the Mars Hill campus, but despite my short time here, I've heard disheartening amounts of negative buzz coming from the students. Most of the buzz is just the usual whining heard from kids who complain about sensible rules and problems with no solutions, but in the mix of all the chatter there are substantiated arguments. Some of the complaints need to be addressed; not just to quiet the negative noise, but to preserve the pockets of the faculty. Some of the conditions here which students are unsatisfied with are not problems on other campuses. So if the school wants to keep its students returning, and continue attracting new paying pupils, they should try to stay competitive and give the students what they need.
Now keep in mind, I'm not saying that the school doesn't care about what the students want, but that the way things are now, change comes too slowly. There should be a more direct way students affect the betterment of the classrooms and campus; a way to choose what needs to be done, purchased, or improved upon. I suggest instead of guessing and polling, we should allow the students to make the decisions themselves on what needs to be done, but that raises another problem.
With all talks of change, there comes the problem of means. Students are poor. No matter how hard we try to find what needs to be done the what won't matter if there is no how. This has a simple solution. Put the money into the hands of the students so they can have a more direct influence on this school. Sound a little too simple? Well it is. This in turn raises another question. Where will this money come from and who will control it? Same answer: the students.
When the tuition for a school is in the $20,000 + range, what's another $100 to each student's bill? I propose we charge every student an extra 100 dollars in tuition, and divide it up for each class. Let's say there are 200 freshmen. Each gives 100 dollars to be pooled with all the other freshmen. Right there, there's $20,000 just for the freshmen class to spend on bettering the school exactly how they see fit. This system has gained unanimous support from every class I've presented it to.
But who will decide where the money goes? Who will be responsible? How about we give our class officers some legitimate responsibility for a change instead of having "elections" and then pretending they have power to make changes. Put it in the hands of the officers. The current officers might not be able to handle it, but with that sort of responsibility, the position would become worthwhile to many more people and therefore the elections more competitive. Voting and campaigning would become worth the time. The elections for individual offices could be combined into one so that the president and the cabinet could have a common goal and work well together. Of course, we can't have people running for office just to get their hands on thirty grand to do whatever they want with; we'd have to make them accountable for the claims maid in their campaign. Before any group campaigns for office, they should have to have a detailed budget pre-planned, and approved by the school to make sure every penny goes towards bettering the school.
But why worry about this? Why not do what we've always done? The answer is obvious: Because things will always stay as they have. Adding a program such as this would make this school much more competitive and draw more students here. With more applicants, admissions could be tighter, and with tighter admissions usually comes less problems on campus. Not to mention, more students would mean more money. We want to stay here at Mars Hill, but we don't want to be ignored. This school has the potential to grow, but growth always demands change.
PJ Mitchell
Reader Comment:
Bill Hamilton, Assistant Professor of Physical Education, 4/17/07, 12:53 p.m.
This proposal sounds like a good idea. As a faculty member, I certainly wouldn't suggest an added fee, but if students seem to be supportive, as PJ suggests, then I think this is a great way to be responsive to what our students really want. From a faculty perspective, it certainly would seem to be helpful in keeping students here. Thanks for the idea, PJ. I hope you will pursue it.
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