The idea of "Illini Bucks" is an interesting one. Students obviously have different tastes for what type of college experience they want as well as what unique parts of college they have more interest or want a priority in.
When I think of the major parts of what makes up the University of Illinois, a few things come to mind. You have academic side of the University which consist of majors, minors, electives, tutors, office hours and everything else that makes up the academic institution of the school. You have athletics, which consists of varsity sports, club sports, attendance at varsity sports, and jobs given around varsity sports such as student-media, practice helpers and student trainers. Then you have the social aspect of the University which consists of the greek system (frats and sororities), bars, and the countless different clubs offered around this campus. Lastly, you have your housing which consists of living in the dorms, houses and apartments.
When breaking down the different sections of this University, I see value in the Illini Bucks in just about every one of them. In the academic portion of this University, I really see the Illini Bucks being used to decided who gets to sign up for classes first. As of right now, student athletes get first priority, James Scholars get second, honor students get thrid, and then it opens up to the whole student body (or that is what I've been told). With the use of Illini Bucks, the students could pay a certain amount of their money to gain first access to class registration. Similarly to class registration, you could use Illini Bucks for housing. There are definitely better dorms than others on this campus and students will surely pay more for better quality and location.
I also see value in Illini Bucks for use in the University of Illinois Athletic Department. Specifically football and basketball tickets. The student section is operated as a first come, first serve experience. The students who arrive the earliest will get front row seats to the action. With Illini Bucks, you could pay to have the best seats in the student section reserved just for you. Also, there are many different students who want to work with student athletes in order to help their chances of getting into top PT (physical therapy) schools. Many who apply, but only few get the opportunity. If you value this position more than others, use your Illini Bucks to get you that position, with possibly the team you really want to work with.
Lastly, with the social aspect of the University of Illinois, I see the Illini Bucks being used to gain access into bars on campus. When talking with other people who get into bars or enjoy going to the bars, the biggest complaint seems to be the line to get in. Getting into to Lion, Joes, Brothers, or Kams over the weekend is a time consuming process. Maybe if there was a deal made between the University and the bar owners, students could use their Illini Bucks to get into the fast or "V.I.P." line which takes less than half the time to get in. If you value your social time out at the bars, then Illini Bucks could be a great way to stretch the time you actually get to have inside the bar rather than waiting around.
Me personally, I would use my Ilini Bucks for housing and VIP bar lines. My freshman year I lived in Snyder hall. After seeing the other options that were available and seeing the other dorms offered by other Big 10 schools, I could have definitely used an upgrade. In regards to using the Illini Bucks for VIP bar lines, that is simply because I don't get to go out very often with how busy my schedule and weekends are. I don't want to spend the small social time I have waiting in line when I could be inside having a good time.
Now, there are issues that would arise if the facilitators of Illini Bucks place the price either too low or too high. If the price is too low, the demand for such opportunities like priority classes and priority housing would exceed the supply available creating a shortage. Then, because of the limited supply, it could come down to the matching concept for which individuals the particular dorms or bars want. Or there could be the potential of a bidding war to start. On the other hand, if the price was set too high, then the supply would exceed the demand and their would be a surplus of either dorm rooms or VIP bar line space in this case.
I'm afraid the University has no control over the bars - they are commercial entities operating outside the university, if in close geographic proximity.
ReplyDeleteOn the revenue generating sports, I would allow international students to use Illinibucks for that purpose, along with some complimentary tickets, because there is a cultural aspect to these events that might otherwise be missed. Every student should experience it at least once. On the flip side of this, I believe Orange Krush actually benefits from the current arrangement - waiting shows a kind of loyalty, so for that you wouldn't want to bypass the current way of doing things. For other student seats, maybe you are right.
I don't know anything about Synder Hall. My older son was in ISR, so I got to see a dorm room there. I thought it was pretty cozy. Students do need more space.
Regarding the point you made about the use of Illinibucks for gaining priority in the student section, do you think this could lead to other issues arising from within the organization. The current system of giving priority based on seniority at the school allows for people to essentially "wait their turn" until they can gain access to the student section. If the Illinibucks system were implemented into this, priority would be given to the students who simply had no other use for the allocation of their Illinibucks. I feel like this would diminish the culture surrounding the Orange Krush organization.
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