LETTER: Tuition increase necessary

To the editor:

I am one of a few students that has had the opportunity to listen to Dean Anderson speak on the subject of differential tuition several times. I also signed my name to a letter of support for this differential tuition increase. Make no mistake; I am not saying I want to pay more money, because I don’t. But I see this increase in tuition as a necessary step in keeping the education offered at the COB competitive and valuable.

I have seen Dean Anderson’s concern for the COB and the predicament it is in. He has called in personal favors and asked his personal friends for help, something few people would be willing to do. Why, because he wants to help us as students. He understands the marketing concept of brand equity, where a name is worth something. Toyota has brand equity, as does Harvard. Dean Anderson is doing everything he possibly can to increase the brand equity of the COB. This is only possible if everyone from Dean Anderson to you and me are willing to help out.

If you think Dean Anderson has come to rob you to give to the rich you are greatly mistaken. Dean Anderson had come to USU at great personal sacrifice both professionally and financially. He has done so because he believes in this university. He has a vision of greatness that can and will happen. He is not out to rob you, he is doing what he feels has to be done to save the COB, and it has not been easy for him to do.

We live in a country where supply and demand control price. There is a shortage of good educators, and so with a higher demand the COB must pay more to get better professors. Now don’t be mistaken that this will be used to keep bad faculty. Dean Anderson has made it clear that if the students are being asked to sacrifice in this way, professors will also be expected to step up to the plate and improve the quality of instruction all around. He is working on a lot of teacher improvement plans to make sure this happened. And it will be enforced.

Yes, I agree that enrollment may drop some at first, but I also believe that in a couple of years when students what the COB has become, enrollment will surpass its current level.

Josh Kerkmann