Illini Bucks
I think Illini Bucks would especially be used to reserve certain locations such as areas of a gym and places to study, prioritize office hours, and also, students would use them to register for courses. All of these reservations are completed on a first-come first-serve basis, but registration for courses is done in a certain way. Athletes get the first round to choose classes because the university does not want their classes to conflict with their competitions and practice. Although many non-athletes see this method as unfair, since athletes are able to take the better class times, in some ways, it makes sense. If professors are constantly required to move their exams and syllabus because of the athletes' conflicts, it is a burden on them. However, it is important to note that even though athletes get to choose their class times, they still have conflicting events with important exams and pieces of their classes. Therefore, I know that many students think that athletes should not get priority registration because professors still have to accommodate with their schedule.
With honors students, I think the main reason that we get priority registration is to incentivize participation in the honors program. At the U of I, I feel that there are not many benefits of being in the honors program. Yes, there are a few classes people can take specific to the honors college, but in my personal experience as an economics and statistics major, I have not been able to take many honors courses. The only real benefit I get from the honors program is registering for courses early, and a resume booster. I think the university knows that participation in the honors program would go down if they students did not get priority registration, and that is why the do that.
I think that if all students got the same amount of Illini Bucks and could use it to register for courses, then many students would spend most of their money on this. In my experience, almost everyone is trying to move their schedule around in the first two weeks because the open course times are not ideal, and students really value what time class is at. Most students I talk to do not like class to early so that they can sleep in, and they do not like class too late so that they can study, be a part of RSOs, or hang out with friends at this time. If nearly are students spend all their Illini Bucks to make a better schedule, then almost no one will benefit. Without some form of a hierarchy, if all students were to pay a high cost, then the algorithm to create a proper schedule would be back at square one. Similar to the intern-matching algorithm, if every student desires a very specific class time or hospital to work out, still, only a few will benefit from this. Adhering to similar needs of tons of undergrads is almost impractical.
Because all students are trying to obtain benefits from the same company, the U of I, and they realize that with the same amount of Illini Bucks they will not be able to actually benefit with course selection, wealthier students may use money to get Illini Bucks from other students. Also, students who do not really care about when their classes are could make money by selling their Illini Bucks. In this way, the university might be fostering unfair transfer costs within their institution: students are bribing each other in a way. It may seem as if wealthy students are able to fully benefit from the Illini Bucks, but less wealthy students may be ok with this because they can make money. I think the question of whether it is ethical for the university to enforce Illini Bucks comes up. If it promotes bargaining and auctioning in a way, it might not be a good thing for the university as a whole.
Additionally, it would be interesting to see if this impacts the demographics of classes. Although my classes are generally filled with people in my major, I still think there is diversity throughout my classes. The aspects of diversity include race, socioeconomic background, and how the students are involved at the U of I in general. I feel that with Illini Bucks, classes may be filled with a lot of similar, like-minded students who come from similar backgrounds. This may be a good thing: students can really meet people who value similar things. But I also think that diversity adds a different element to classes. At the same time, it is possible that Illini Bucks really make no impact, and student demographics in courses remains the same.
With office hours, I think that Illini Bucks could be used very effectively. If students have a pressing question, they could use an Illini Buck to get it answered. However, when an exam is coming up, I think this could be stressful. Students who saved on Illini Bucks would be able to ask their questions immediately, and students who may have asked before would suffer the consequence. With this, I think it comes back to an ethical point. If someone is willing to wait the time to get their question answered, they deserve it. Paying for help, in a way, may seem nice, but could create lots of problems and stress for students.
Please make several paragraphs with line spaces between each of them, instead of one big paragraph.
ReplyDeleteLet's talk about a few of the items that you prioritized. First, consider quiet study space. When I was a student, a zillion years ago, there was a reading room in the undergraduate library for this purpose. (This was at Cornell University, not here.) I think the current undergraduate library on our campus is inadequate to fill the need, but there are other Libraries that may have empty space, yet students don't use them. For example, I believe the ACES Library may be that way (though my information is a few years out of date). If there is good study space, but it is a hike to get there, does that address the issue or not. When I was still working full time, I had an office on the 4th floor of Wohlers and as I would leave the building to go home at the end of the day, I'd often see classrooms on the first floor with a paper note on the door handle saying something like -- taken, occupied, or reserved. I believe this was on a first come first serve basis, but probably quite inefficient, as the space could accommodate many more students.
Now, regarding when students want to take classes (and when professors want to teach them) I know that 8 AM is too early for many students. Do you think 9:30 is also too early for some? Could that explain some of the attendance issues we have with our class? When I was doing the campus job got some data about room scheduling. There is a peak load demand problem. The system-wide peak was at 10 AM. The vast majority of classrooms were in use then. I seem to recall that 1 PM was another very popular time. And certain classrooms were heavily scheduled, in excess of 30 hours a week. That included the very large lecture classrooms, but also the amphitheater classrooms that accommodate about 65 students. If the scheduling of classes during the peak demand period doesn't accommodate all the courses that need classroom space, how should the campus accommodate that?
On the office hours congestion, I am not seeing that in our class regarding face to face office hours. If I had an online TA who held virtual office hours, in the evening, I'm guessing that would be used pretty heavily, particularly Tuesday and Wednesday before the Excel homework is due. I wonder if virtual office hours of this sort is the general solution, with face to face by appointment as the alternative. But faculty probably won't agree to evening office hours face to face. I will note here that when I first came to Illinois and taught intermediate microeconomics, my office hours were pretty heavily attended. One possible reason for that is the students finding it easier to meet with a younger instructor. Also, at that time, students would often come in groups rather than individually. I wonder if that happens now and if it would help alleviate the congestion where it does occur now.
I thought it was several paragraphs, will try to address that!
DeleteYes, I do agree that the UGL does not fulfill our needs. I have waited for a long time to get a table there. However, as you mentioned, a lot of it has to do with location. I know that I personally go to the UGL in between classes or meetings for RSOs so that I can get my work done in a place that is near where I need to be. Even the union is very crowded. As for reserving classrooms, for the RSOs that I am in we have to file a room request through the RSO office. Classrooms can be reserved. However, during finals time, I know that I would look for an empty room throughout buildings to study in, and hope no one had reserved it. If someone says they reserved the room, I am forced to leave.
As a junior, this 9:30 am class is the earliest one I have taken. For me personally, it was a very early class. The reason I signed up for it was because the topic seemed interesting, and it fit in with my other classes well. I agree with the data you found: usually from 10-1 I have class. As for the campus accommodating students' preferences, I am not sure if it is possible. We have limited rooms, and I think that some students will have to take earlier or later classes. I think that creating more space would not be justifiable.
For the office hours, I think they really depend on the course. For my math and statistics classes, I usually go to office hours because I know the TAs tend to mention information that may not be said in lecture but is very helpful for the exams. However, for my writing-heavy classes, I usually do not go to office hours very often. Also, for the math and statistics classes, office hours are 5-8 every day of the week, which is a good time for most students. I know that my Spanish class had office hours from 12-1, which was when I had class, so I never went.