If the University were to implement a system of "Illinibucks", students would be able to allocate these Illinibucks to these priority systems in order to "jump ahead" of other students based on their desire for a variety of things such as selecting classes, purchasing books, and selecting preferred campus housing. Each of these priority systems would have a designated Illinibucks price for each item in the priority system based on demand. For example, to jump to the top of a priority list for registering for a high demand class, one would have to allocate a greater amount of Illinibucks in comparison to a class with low demand.
Registering for classes is the easiest example to explain and therefore will be used to try and understand underlying issues that could result from using the Illinibucks system. Illinibucks would be used to jump to the top of the priority list for registering for a certain class, that would, presumably, allow the student, who chooses to use his Illinibucks for that class, to register earlier than the general population. This would ensure that they get a spot in the class, as well as allow them to choose their preferred time slot for that class.
The biggest issue that could arise from this is too many students allocating their Illinibucks for the same class. This would lead to overcrowding at the top of the priority list, and therefore would negate the need for the Illinibucks in the first place. Another issue is that their could be too many people using Illinibucks to jump to the top of the priority list, and would block certain students, who didn't use their Illinibucks, but are trying to register for a class necessary for their major. This could cause significant inefficiencies in blocking students from graduating on time. One third issue with this is if a class is undervalued, in terms of the cost to jump to the top of priority with Illinibucks, too students will jump to the top of the priority list, completely negating the point of having the system in the first place.
In my personal experience, I would have used Illinibucks to get priority in registering for computer science classes, in order to complete a computer science minor. As an economics major, I had always seen the practicality of adding on a computer science minor in order to diversify my abilities for practical applications in my career path. But due to the demand for intro level computer science classes at this university, it was near impossible for me to get into those classes. In this case the Illinibucks would have been extremely useful in allowing me to pursue this minor, as I would have most likely allocated as many Illinibucks to getting into those courses as necessary.
Implicit in your arguments about prioritization is that supply is fixed. You considered this only from the demand side. I wonder if the supply being inelastic is necessary and what it might take to expand capacity.
ReplyDeleteMy son, who has a degree in Industrial Engineering, also has a minor in CS, so perhaps was in a similar situation to you, though maybe college of Engineering students have more priority than LAS students. That I don't know. But I was on some committees about 10 years ago that discussed Informatics as the solution. So I wonder if you've looked into that. Informatics courses are offered by many different departments around campus, not just CS. If Informatics would have matched your interest, then the real issue is about getting the word out. You may have had a prior conception that CS courses were the best route. But other possibilities that are more readily available might be as appropriate, perhaps even better.
The informatics minor is a comparatively new thing, so the reputation for it may still be forming now. I can understand wanting a more sure thing. But, getting back to my original point, the campus has thought about this particular issue and has tried to expand supply in this way. So, at the least, it is something to consider.
I think getting the word out about other opportunities for applicable minors should be a focus of the university. There are fairs for minors where students can access this kind of information, but often times information about these fairs or other references about picking a minor are emailed, and often overlooked or ignored (I am certainly guilty of this).
DeleteI was informed about the Informatics minor to late in my college career for me to be able to complete it on time. I think a good practice would be having academic advisers brief incoming freshman on minors to keep in mind with their major. Although the university does not benefit from having students pick up a minor, the academic esteem of the university will increase with expansion of opportunities.
When writing about this prompt, I too used the idea of student registration priority for an example on how Illini Bucks could be utilized hear at Illinois, so obviously I agree with your idea.
ReplyDeleteWhen you mention overcrowding, would that just be in the first couple years before a model was put into place in order to set the right price for the demand needed? Possibly with time, this could work itself out as the price gets higher for priority class registration and some people find that the cost of priority class registration is too high for their demand and they spend their Ilini Bucks elsewhere. Just a thought.
Laslty, I couldn't agree with you more in where I would allocate my Illini Bucks. With a Business minor, I too find it difficult to sign up for the few specific classes that I need. Illini Bucks could definitely ease our way into the classes that we need in order to graduate on time.