Illinibucks
I think the idea of Illinibucks is an interesting one. While
it might not be the first thing that must be addressed, the distribution of
Illinibucks would be a long, and difficult system to establish. That said it
makes sense that you would use the current system as a basis, and simply try to
make the system compatible with Illinibucks. I think you would have a “standard
package” of Illinibucks, you would then add to that package every time someone
should receive priority. People who receive priority in the current system
would receive some amount “x” more than the standard “Illinibuck package”. This
would mean that senior would receive more than a freshman, honor students would
receive more than non, and students with special needs would receive more than
those who do not have any. It would then be a matter of deciding what could and
could not be bought with Illinibucks and then assign values to each of those
things. I do not think any of this would be easy or simple.
The Illinibucks system could be used for anything that the
University offers to students. This could include sports tickets, any
university rentals, or dorm assignment. The more things that you could use
Illinibucks for the more important and useful they would become. This could
have unintended consequences if the university was not careful. The more people
that wanted and usedillinibucks the more people would be willing to trade for
them in a side market. This side market would allow students to pay in cash or
simply trade for something in exchange for Illinibucks. This market would all
depend on how often Illinibucks could and were used. The more they were used,
the more value they would have and the more students would be willing to trade
for them outside of the University sponsored system. Even if the university
linked your Illinibucks account to your UIN or Netid there could and would be
work arounds. As soon as students saw a value for Illinibucks this market would
exist, I do not think the University could prevent it, nor do I think that the
university would want this.
Class registration would be a large part of the Illinibuck
system. The classes a student takes is extremely important. There is no doubt
in my mind that most students would spend a large part of their allotment on
their classes, regardless of what else was offered through Illinibucks.
Hopefully this would reduce the amount of people who act opportunistically when
signing up for classes. After all, if the Illinibucks system works then any
student could take whatever classes they wanted as long as they were willing to
spend the Illinibucks to get it.
I would spend most if not all my Illinibucks for class
registration. I spend the majority of my time each semester on classes, and
Illinibucks would offer me an opportunity to get the classes I wanted, with minimal
hassle. I would get no classes before 10, as few classes on Friday as possible,
and making sure I took classes that I was interested in. While Illinibucks
provides a different system to accomplish this I do not think that they are
necessary for this to happen. After all I have only had 3 classes before 10 in
the 8 semester I have been at the University of Illinois, and I have not had a
class on Friday for 6 of those semesters. I think the major effect that
Illinibucks would have in class registration is that the University could
develop better data on what students want from classes, and what they do not
want. After all, illinibucks would be putting a numerical value on everything
that students used them for.
If the administered price was too low or too high
Illinibucks would not work. As an example, I will use class registration. If
the price was too low more students than the system could handle would pay to
register for the class. If the class had a limit of 30 people, and the price
was set so that 100 people payed for priority registration of the class, then the
system breaks down. It would decimate the perceived value of Illinibucks and
then no one would trust or use them. If the price was set so that only 5 people
registered for the class then there would be a shortage of Illinibucks, rising
the perceived value and increasing the potential use of a side market of
illinibucks. In both cases, the supply and the demand of illinibucks did not
equal each other. The administered price would have to be carefully monitored
and adjusted throughout each semester so as to prevent this from happening.
As you've written a post like many of your classmates, let me be a contrarian and ask about possible other adjustments students might make in the presence of excess demand for certain classes.
ReplyDeleteFirst, are there majors and certain gen ed classes where there isn't crowding? Very popular majors and gen ed classes are where you expect the courses to be sold out. Why follow the crowd? Why not do something different? If upon graduation your are part of the crowd, isn't there some fear that you might get lost in it?
Next, I asked in class earlier in the semester whether students have taken an online class. Many have. Do online classes also sell out or do they have unlimited capacity? Could you get into the course you want by taking an online version of it?
Then, to the extent that there aren't online alternatives and there are still some popular courses you want to take, can you work through what an efficient allocation of students to courses looks like? The current registration system gives some priority to seniors, on the thought that they should be less constrained in the course choices. You mentioned other priorities - for example, honors students get priority. Is that fair?
Regarding what you wrote in the last paragraph, while there might be variation in demand for a course from one year to the next, one should expect the historic demand to predict the current demand. Further, Banner might have data about students trying to get into over subscribed courses. (I don't know that, but maybe you do. Can students indicate they want to add a class?) If so, the excess demand could be predicted and the Illinibucks price set accordingly. It wouldn't be perfect, for sure, but it could avoid the scenario that you depicted in your last paragraph.
When I was signing up for gen ed classes I took them for one of two reasons. The first was because I was interested in them. Those classes were rarely filled, and I enjoyed them immensely. But I also took classes pad my GPA. These classes were normally filled quickly for their reputation as easy classes. While those classes did make me a part of the crowd, it did not show on my resume. While it may be better for me to take classes that others did not take it is hard to show this with a single piece of paper. The GPA on the other hand will be front and center on said paper. I agree that being lost in the crowd is a disadvantage, I also think that it is something that needs to be balanced with other things, such as my GPA. Because of this I try to invest my time in things that will be more noticeable. Hopefully, the gen ed classes that I took that will be enough.
DeleteIn my experience, online classes normally have online finals, or at the very least the option for online finals. This means that while online classes have a technical limit of students it is easy to email the professor and get accepted in to the class regard less. This means that if an online class is available I could take it. That said I do not do well in online classes. I do not put the time needed into the class. This means that I avoid them whenever I can even if I could take them.
I think priority registration is difficult at best. I think that the longer a student is at the University the more priority they should have. This is because senior and junior students tend to have more things to do, apply to jobs, internships, and a specific set of classes they need. After that basic idea, I have a harder time deciding who should and should not get priority. Student who are in the major should have priority over those who are not and I also think honor student should have some priority. That said giving preferential treatment to some students is not fair. I do not think this is entirely a bad thing. Put simplistically the world is not fair. When students enter the university they are either told, or able to learn the rules that the university follows. The goal of the student and the goal of the university are not the same. I think the University is right to give preferential treatment in some cases, and I think it is the job of the student to navigate the rules of the university. I say this even though I am not an honor students, and tend not to get the full benefits of the university’s preferential treatments. Regarding my last paragraph, I do not know. I have looked into it, briefly, and I have not been able to find an answer. I do not believe that students can indicate classes they want.
I also believe that the administrative price has to be monitored. In my post I talked about how people may just use real money to cut the line as they do currently in some situations. This is more used in desperation, like when a senior has to take one class to graduate.
ReplyDelete