Senator speaks to ASUSU
Senator Stephen Urquhart, the chair of the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee in Utah, spoke to members of ASUSU on Thursday.
In the meeting, he spoke about what students could do to reduce tuition costs and highlighted two controversial topics: online courses and differential tuition.
“Tuition rates have just been increasing phenomenally across the nation and it’s just not sustainable,” Urquhart said. “We’re at a point where we can’t keep doing what we’re doing.”
Christian Orr, student advocate vice president, said distance education and online courses at USU could hurt the quality of a college degree. He was concerned that the people who earned a bachelor’s degree online may not have had the same depth as a person who earned it in class.
“It’s scary to think that somebody can hop onto a computer and Google all of these things and put in all the right answers,” Orr said. “Does that mean they’re going to get the same education that we do? Does that make the quality of our degree less?”
Urquhart said online education is necessary because it helps students who can’t regularly make use of advancements in technology.
“I always ask, ‘Is online education a good thing or a bad thing?’ and you can’t answer that question,” Urquhart said. “We can either really screw it up or we can get it right.”
Orr said the only class he took online was bad because the website moderator only accepted assignments and not communications from his students. Orr said this made it hard to know what the professor expected of the class.
“There are so many more aspects to an education than just ‘plug in the right answers,'” Orr said. “There is an important social dynamic to professional preparation.”
When Urquhart asked for more input, Abigail Kingsford, ASUSU public relations director, said differential tuition was causing even more difficulties for some students.
Kingsford said a class she took in the business department was nearly the same as one she took in another department. She said the business class had more students and was worse than the other.
“I’m not receiving as much personalized attention,” Kingsford said. “There’s a lot more pressure in this class and I don’t think this professor’s as good. Supposedly, my differential tuition is going to paying better professors or to provide better programs and I’m just not seeing that.”
Orr said his online course came through the business school and cost extra due to differential tuition. He said the extra fees didn’t benefit him at all.
“I’m not a business major and I’m not stepping in the building,” Orr said. “I’m not even talking to a professor. I’m talking to a staff assistant, if that, through e-mail. I can see value if there’s value but there wasn’t for me.”
Urquhart said the students needed to investigate where the money was going.
When Daryn Frischknecht of ASUSU said there was no accountability for the extra tuition, Urquhart told her to push for it.
“Get the facts,” he said. “See if your fellow students share concerns, find out as much as you can, take it to the administration and say, ‘Hey, are we being ripped off here?'”
Urquhart said the administration needs to be open with students but the students shouldn’t wait for them to have the first word.
“Most institutions can find some areas to cut back,” he said. “I’m always amazed that students don’t take more of an active role in pouring into this.”
Urquhart said the only way to cut student fees is for the students to start looking for the facts and presenting them to the university.
“The people who change the world are the ones who dig in,” Urquhart said. “Get facts and figures and get information.”
– addison.m.t.hall@gmail.com