How is it that the administration at this university is fully capable of cutting funding (in some cases, retroactively), but seems fully incapable of finding funding? Why is it that there is approximately one administrator per every 20-30 students (or less) at this university, and so few of them seem capable of writing grant proposals?
Have people like Chancellor Jones forgotten that it is STUDENTS who pay his paycheck, ultimately, and therefore he should consult us before taking a ‘joyride’ in the fiscal vehicle that is our hard-earned cash? If the Athletics Department is having so much trouble with funds, let them fundraise. There are grants for just about everything else out there, why not athletics programs at state-funded universities?
Honestly, there are other departments that would benefit a far broader spectrum of our campus community, such as any of the student employment programs. Has anyone noticed the drop in the number of desk attendants (DAs) and their hours at the doors of dorms? How about less frequent visits from Community Service Officers (CSOs)? Granted, not ALL student jobs may be in jeopardy, but these two examples are those of unwise budget cuts to programs that are NOT expendable to this campus community, for reasons that should be painfully obvious.
The University Police Department, while composed of officers instructed and trained to acknowledge and recognize the diverse needs of a university campus, simply cannot handle the workload of many of the smaller things that the DAs and CSOs collectively take care of for them, on top of investigating cases ranging anywhere from petty theft to sexual assault. That is why these programs were put in place:
1) to aid the Police Department in securing the campus and keeping its inhabitants safe.
2) to give something back to the students involved in the form of a steady paycheck.
3) to give back to the UAF campus community, as a whole.
If these two (and most likely, several others that I have failed to mention) student job programs can offer so much to their participants and community, how is that something that benefits far fewer in a substantial manner, like the athletics program, gets the ill-begotten funding that our administrative staff plucks so carelessly from ALL students’ pockets? No offense meant, but I have never been to a Nanooks sporting event, nor do I care to go...I’m too busy trying to finish my degree, and would rather play a game of pool to ease the tension. I have a similar story regarding the ‘transportation’ fee, but that’s for another time.
In short, there are two lessons:
1) ASK the students before you purloin their pocketbooks (that means we at least get a vote or something of the sort)
2) Student job opportunities give more back to the UAF campus community, tangibly, and in some cases, help unite it.
Joyride’s over. I want my keys back.
Swartz is a UAF student.
This article has been edited for length.
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