I believe that Illini bucks could be beneficial in some aspects of collegiate life. Having Illini bucks would perhaps level the playing field for various amounts of students, especially when considering programs that come on a first com first serve basis like time tickets for registration, certain times for sections of a class (valuable to avoid an 8 AM class), or even things like tickets for an Illini football bowl game. These Illini bucks would probably be used more for registration slots and class section times, because I believe that the demand for this type of utility is much higher among the vast amount of college students, and also because the Illini probably won't make a respectable bowl game this year, if at all. However, because many of the students may wish to use them for the purpose of section times and registration tickets, the effects of every student having having Illini bucks may be limited. Scheduling classes where spots are limited would leave many to hold on to at least some of their Illini bucks in order to be able to take the classes they need to graduate.
Illini bucks may also undermine principles in the current system that seem to be fair or at least respectable. For instance, registration time slots are often based on seniority. This allows student who have been at the university longer to choose their classes so that they will have an opportunity to get the classes they need before they fill up. Having Illini bucks will allow those with more resources to acquire more Illini bucks and potentially affect upper class man who are trying to graduate on time. Furthermore, programs like the James Scholar program, which allows students with higher academic standing to pick classes first, would be undermined because the incentive to do well would be marginalized by students who are able to acquire more Illini bucks. This seems to defeat the overall objective of institutionalized learning and undermine student initiative and hard work.
When thinking about how Illini bucks would be priced, it is very hard to think about how market price would be determined for a slip of paper that allows for perk for students who have enough of them, especially when all students who go to the University have already paid tuition. That point aside, if the price were too low, everyone would be able to get them and their effect on the system would perhaps be relatively minimal. If the price were high, which I believe would be the case if these were to exist, only a small amount of perhaps rich students would be able to afford them. This perhaps would also leave the system minimally effected because a small amount of major diverse students will have little effect on taking up classes and section times. If the price was perhaps fair for everyone, then I believe the most problems would occur there and the majority of students would be put at a disadvantage.
In you last paragraph I think you misinterpreted the prompt. You wouldn't buy Illinibucks with cash. You would get them as an allocation, say at the beginning of each semester, with the stipulation that you had to use them that semester. Then you would buy your various priorities with the Illinibucks at the administered prices that were set. Possibly you could also use Illinibucks to "bump" somebody in a class that was sold out or in some other allocation where there was excess demand.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your second paragraph. As you say, the current system is set up to reward both seniority as well as good grades (through early time tickets received by honors students), changing to an "Illinibuck" system would undermine both of those. Using an allocation for sports tickets, particularly something like bowl games was not a use that I came up with, and while I don't think it would be so popular here at Illinois, I'm sure that would be a primary use for students at schools like Wisconsin, Michigan, or Ohio State. Along that line, where students decide to spend their allocation could definitely serve to show the culture of the school as well as the priorities of its students.
ReplyDeleteWhile many students have different priorities and would certainly spend their Illinibucks on many different things, I feel that since there are so many students and this is a University, selecting classes and even bumping people from sections would turn the whole process into a nightmare. There certainly other things the students could spend their Illinibucks on, but I believe many of them would save for selecting classes so that they can not only graduate on time, but also get into classes they really want to take.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinions that the seniority and honor that students pay time and effort to earn will be eliminated under Illinibuck system. Moreover, as you mentioned, even if for the same course, students might have same preference on time slot or professor. If all people use Illinibucks at the same way, it will not make sense. So if prompting this system, the university should also think about the diversity of incentives to use allocation.
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