Sunday, April 22, 2012
Students vs. University
I thought about this one for a long time, and I feel as if universities have power over students, but most decisions are focused around the general happiness of the students. What I mean is that the students are like the people of our country in the sense that we have a voice in decisions that matter or pertain to our university (country). University decisions are made with careful thought, and if the students do not support the decision, often times they protest or strike. With the economic downturn of recent years, universities across the country had to make cuts in their programs outside of academia. This is a decision that the university was forced into (no money = no program). While students don't have a voice in the matter when it comes to the cutting of a few programs, they do influence the decision in other ways. Generally, universities who are forced to cut programs look into which clubs or sports are most popular, or which programs draw the most focus from the students. These programs are the ones that stay, while the clubs and sports with very few members, or very few people attending events are usually scrapped. I think that the university and students work as a partnership in an indirect way. The students influence campus wide decisions, while the university implements programs and classes that students will both attend and enjoy. I don't think that the administration has ultimate power over the students, but I do believe that they have final say in most decisions on campus. If students wanted more power in these decisions, actions like petitioning, and gaining information about what the students on campus want might help their cause.
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One program that's been entirely eliminated is the Institute Of Aviation. It clearly impacts those students who ere in it, but may not affect at all the bulk of the students on campus. A different sort of cut has happened in large lecture classes, where in some cases the discussion section has been eliminated and a third hour of lecture has been instituted to replace it as a cost saving move. The harm on students in that case may be more obvious.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you there, but I feel as if it affects future classes of students in the sense that programs might get taken away that they may be interested in. Other schools who have Institutes of Aviation may get a group of students who were more interested in our university, but chose these other schools because they offer what this group of students are interested in. I understand that program cuts are natural at university's, and in high schools, but I feel as if it does not only affect the group involved, but it affects future students as well. As for your point about discussions being cut, and lectures hours being added, I feel as if the students definitely suffer there. Discussion sections are meant to help you digest what happened in lecture, and in the readings, and I feel as if they are very beneficial for students in large lectures. This is definitely an example where students don't have much say, and ultimately the school does what is economically effective.
ReplyDeleteI agree with John that future implications are not thought out as well short term solutions. However, we live in a world where short term goals are much more important that long term goals. However, this will catch up to business, governments, and universities at the end.
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