The university’s motto is, “Excellence, access, diversity and community.” The third is definitely true; U.S. News reports that in their college edition every year. Yet what has happened to the other parts of the motto?
When you examine the first two, red flags are waving. Have you ever felt you have “Access and excellence” when you’re trying to register for classes and you have to sit through the monotonous voice of the TTRS system? Or was wondering if the class you really need was canceled due to not enough students being enrolled?
Or tried to pick up something from a locker on Friday, Dec. 1 when the school closed due to the snowstorm. Sure it’s usually a slow day on Fridays, but people still need “access” to books or supplies they may have left here on campus. What does access mean if the school is shut down for six inches of snow? If this was a big-league school, would we decide to close the school even after some people were already on the way to class or work at NEIU? Knee-jerk reactions of this sort typify this university.
Is this worth an extra $240 added to next year’s tuition that continuing full-time students will have to pay? On Thursday, Dec. 7 at 1:40 p.m. in room SU-003 the Student Government Association will hold a meeting as Provost Lawrence Frank, Vice President of Student Affairs Melvin Terrell and Vice President of Finance and Administration Mark Wilcockson present the 14.7 percent increase of tuition for next year to the student body.
For many of you, Dec. 7 is when you have to “confirm your classes and make an initial payment or your classes will be cancelled,” according to the voice you here when you register over the phone. Remember to confirm your classes with this meeting in mind, as those classes will be costing you a lot more very soon.
Soon-to-be university President Dr. Sharon Hahs should be there as well, since the tuition increase will be the first of many “action items” at the Feb. 15 Board of Trustees meeting. And it will be the first time the student body has the chance to see who Dr. Hahs is and how receptive she is to public opinion.
But the true VIPs on the list to appear at the Dec. 7 meeting will be the student body, because $240 will pay for a week’s worth of groceries for a family of five, insure your car for a few months or pay your rent. Wouldn’t you like to know what that extra $240 is going towards and if it is really going to enhance “Access, excellence and diversity?”
If you’re paying for an education, you should demand not just access and excellence; you should add quality and accountability to that list, because you’re the one taking the classes. It’s your right to know what’s going on at this school and to demand that the money you put in equals the services you receive.
Sure we’re we don’t have dorms or residential halls, but we have an opportunity to show our solidarity in community. So fill the room and get your voices heard and maybe rattle the cages of the administration. The University of New Mexico, the University of Wisconsin and Syracuse University all tried it. NEIU used to be full of rabble rousers. The least we could do is speak our minds to the administrators and let them know we’re paying attention to our education.
After all, it’s our money.