Illini Bucks
Illini Bucks is a concept that I have never
imagined, but can find many uses for in our University. It can range from simple
uses such as scheduling advising times, no lines at the bookstore, renting
study rooms at the library, parking at the campus lots, having priority on
study abroad trips, to big headaches such as the registration process.
Why would
I use Illini Bucks for registration?
I will talk about the registration process of a
typical transfer student. I chose this scenario first, because that is the
experience I can relate to, and second, because the number of transfer students
is increasing (4% of undergraduate students are transfers). Transferring as a
junior, I already had the basic economics 100/200 level courses so I just had to
enroll on the mandatory 203, 302 and 303. Due to time conflicts I chose to take the the latter my spring semester. I had no problem registering for those
classes, since they are offered in big lecture halls and usually had 2 to 3 time
slots. I also wanted to pursue a business minor, so I applied for the program
in September.
Spring 2017 came and I could finally enroll in 400
level courses. This was something very exciting for me since I could now pick classes
based on my preference. I looked up some 400 levels and decided to take Industry
Organization and Latin American Economies. At the end of the semester, around
April I got my acceptance into the business minor program. Here is a little overview on
the minor program:
Required
classes (not including the 2 necessary electives)
BADM 310 offered in the Fall at 3pm and
Spring at 9:30am
BADM 320 offered in the Fall at 9:30am
and Spring at 8am
FIN 221 offered in the Fall at 9:30 and
the Spring at 9/10 or 11am (also offered online
for business minors or students studying abroad)
ACCY 200 offered only for business minors online
As a senior, I have to finish my economics major
which means taking 3 more 400 level courses. Here is a little overview on the
time offerings of 400 levels:
8:00 am- only one class ECON 462
9:30 am- 8 classes (6 490 courses)
11:00 am- 9 classes (5 490 courses)
12:oo pm- 4 classes (overlaps with 11
ams)
2:00 pm- 8 classes (5 490 courses)
3:00 pm- 6 classes (4 490 courses)
This was the moment I realized how the registration
tickets mattered. Business majors had priority for registering for the business
courses therefore, I was only allowed to register after April 24th. The
business department recommends minor students to take summer courses since many
times the required classes get full before we, minor students, are allowed to
register. Once April came around, I was able to register to the 9:30am BADM
320, BADM 310 was already full, and FIN 221 had only online spots available.
Even though I had priority registering for my preferred Econ 400 course, I had
to drop it since it now overlapped with my 9:30 BADM lecture.
The demand for 490 courses is very high as most
offer only one lecture time and students do not know if those courses will be
offered in future semesters. So by April 24th, all of the courses I
wanted to take were full. I could either enroll in a course that I had no
interest in, or wait for the semester to start and frantically reload the
registration page until someone dropped. I decided to wait and see. At the end I
was not able to enroll in Health Economics, but a spot opened for this class and
I thought it would be an interesting class to take instead.
How could
Illini Bucks have helped me? I
could have used them to register for the business minor courses earlier, and
then planned my semester accordingly. Or another idea is that maybe we could
use Illini Bucks to be notified of an opening in a course that was full. I
really do not know why the University does not have something like this in
place.
How would
Illini Bucks work? If used for registration, I believe courses
should have an Illini Bucks cost. A course with higher demand should
cost more Illini Bucks, and vice versa. Early registration for morning classes
should cost less Illini Bucks than for classes between 11-2pm.
I am not a morning person, so 8am are an absolute
no-no and 9:30’s are a bit of a struggle. In my opinion, the university should
offer 200/300 level courses on the morning since they are mandatory therefore Freshman’s/Sophomore’s
do not really have a choice but to attend them. Once a student reaches
Junior/Senior level, I believe class choice should be based on
interest/preference however class times are sometimes more important
than that. Looking at the offered times, most 490 level courses are offered at
9:30 or 11am and it makes me wonder why there are no courses at 1pm.
Some argue that classes in the morning are supposed
to train students for real life, however I honestly disagree with the statement. Most
University students are indeed nocturnal, whether they spend their nights
studying, hanging out with friends or partying. The life style of a college
student is nothing like of a working professional. Students have the choice to
pick later classes and sleep in, or end classes early and nap in the afternoon.
Once a student graduates and joins the work force, all that will change.
Take me as an example, during the school year I
cannot wake up before 8am no matter how early I sleep. I had an internship this
summer and many times had to be at work at 6am. I really had no choice and at
the end of the day I got home so tired that I went to bed no later than 9pm.
Now that I am back in college, I thought I could keep up with my morning habit,
but that did not last not even a week and I am back to waking up at 9am,
sleeping late and napping throughout the day. (Not that I believe those habits
are good… I honestly wish I was a morning person).
“To sell
or not to sell?”- How should Illini Bucks be distributed?
This is an interesting question: how would students
get Illini Bucks? Some argue that it should be merit based. I disagree, honors
and athletes already have preference for picking classes, therefore Illini Bucks would
have a diminishing marginal return for those students.
The university could sell additional Illini Bucks
for a certain price. This would generate much needed revenue for the University,
but it wouldn’t be an easy task to price them. It would also raise an ethical
question of whether it is fair to the students since it could be seen as a way to
reward those who have the money to “cut in line”.
I have a particular idea that might be interesting
in this scenario. Pocket Points in an app that has risen in popularity on
campus. The idea behind it is to “lock” your cellphone while you are in a
lecture or studying on campus and in exchange gain points that could be used
for deals on restaurants or stored located near. For example, with 5 points a student can buy
any latte at Espresso Royale for $2. My idea would be to accumulate
points in exchange of Illini Bucks. This would be beneficial for students that
now can have access to Illini Bucks not for a price, but for class/studying
commitment.
Cellphone distraction in the classroom is a big and
rising problem, this could be like an “extra credit” for students who decide
to “shut off” while in class or studying.
Conclusion
While these are all hypothetical ideas about the
hypothetical situation of having Illini Bucks. I believe it really opened my
eyes to the problems with our current registration system, and the many difficulties
that would be faced if there was to be a change.
I was also able to see how transactions costs
affect students who take classes in different schools (LAS vs. Business).
Although we are all one institution, there is not much
communication/coordination between the departments and students end up suffering
the consequences.
Thanks for all the detailed information about courses and times when they are available. Here is a little background from my vantage.
ReplyDeleteThe Economics Department used to be in the College of Business, although even then undergraduate Econ majors were typically in LAS. Though David Kinley actually founded the College of Commerce, so you would think it would be one happy family, since I came in 1980 there was always tension between the Econ department and the other departments in Business. Much of that revolved around the relative importance of PhD programs (a big deal in Economics) versus professional Masters programs like the MBA.
One manifestation of this tension was that the core Econ classes were requirements for all Business students. Way back in the early 1980s, when I used to teach intermediate microeconomics, I would get pushback from accounting students who didn't see how it was relevant. That sort of tension persists even now.
I give that background because the College of Business doesn't really want to offer a Business Minor, as least under the current schema for minors on campus. It does so grudgingly to appear it is a good citizen on campus. (Incidentally, Business is like Engineering in this regard. Departments like CS, don't really want LAS students to be taking their classes, with the possible except of Math majors.)
I'm afraid that on this particular issue, the Illinibucks solution is a bandaid at best, but not a real solution. It might help you with getting into one class. But it can't solve the entire package. That requires a bigger adjustment, one that would take real resources to implement.
I had the same issue this semester as well because I got in the business minor program in April. It is one thing to be accepted into the business minor program,and it is another thing to be able to complete your core requirements. Many students apply to the minor program as juniors considering that one has to wait till January to submit the application. The decision of acceptance is concluded in the spring which gives you only your senior year to complete the Business Minor Program. IlliniBucks would be very efficient in this case to ensure that students are able to get in their required classes. Imagine a case where one isn't able to complete the required classes in the Spring of her senior. That can lead to students not completing their business minor because they didn't get a fair chance to pick their class (regardless of their preference of early morning classes).
ReplyDeleteYou gave a good point about allocating a high price IlliniBucks with a high demand courses, and low price for probably the 8am's. I never really considered why there are no 1pm Econ classes. I am already thinking next semester's courses, and I have a feeling I might have a clash or would have to forefeet my preference on 400 econ classes to fit the required courses for my business minor.
Using a similar approach to pocket point sounds like a good idea, but I wonder if there might be potential problems if students are able to stay off their phones, and everyone has the opportunity to jump the line. It might not be as effective if everyone gets the opportunity to jump the line because there wouldn't even be a line if the school were aiming towards getting those points. I must say, it is interesting how classes get filled up easily once registration is open all the way to the summer. Then, students start selecting 4 0r 5 out of their additional picks of 6 classes that they want to register. Most of us do this even when we know it's not right. But none wants to take the chance of picking just 4 classes, and finding out at the beginning of the semester that the class is nothing like your desired preference.
I can't imagine what it must be like to have to fit all those classes in a short period of time. I came in here as a freshman into the economics program, so I had plenty of time to think about my course plan for the four years. However, I wish I could've been as diligent as you have been in less than 2 years in planning out coursework. Completing the Business minor is very commendable.
ReplyDeleteI share your frustrations on the class restrictions. I used to be a CS minor and, unlike the business school, the CS department does not give any special privileges to CS minors in registering for classes. You have to take CS 125, 173, 225, and three upper level classes. I only got to 225 before I dropped out of that class because it was too difficult. Getting into all of those, even when I had declared the minor, was so difficult. There's no guarantee that anyone will even finish the minor because the only way to do all the upper level classes is to pay attention when the class opens without restrictions.
It is also unfair that business students can take all our economics classes, but we can't ever take any business classes unless we're in the college with a major or a minor. My parents wanted me to take an accounting or finance class just to supplement my knowledge and so I know basic concepts, and I thought this was a good idea to, but I could never get into any classes. And it's hard to explain to my parents why I can't get into them. A couple of BADM courses go towards my informatics minor, but by the times the course restrictions open to Informatics minors, the classes are already filled up. This totally defeats the purpose of having any special registration for Informatics minors in the first place.