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Opinion

Let your service fees work for you

Sean Graves
Guest Columnist

I remember a time not so long ago when tuition and fees were less than half what they are now. We have been told increasing energy prices and lower enrollment are the culprits for the thinning of our wallets, and though turning off the air conditioning and lights at night might help the electric bill, lower enrollment seems to be a more complicated problem -- especially when Federal Financial Aid has been slashed more than Freddy Krueger's latest victim.

We have been told that this fine university of ours would like to be known as an even better one -- a flagship university. However, with all these obstacles in the way, many students work so much, they take an average of eight years to graduate. 

How can we possibly boost enrollment by increasing educational costs? More than 80 percent of our students work more than 30 hours a week just to pay for school as it is, and financial aid is shrinking faster than a slab of bacon in a pottery kiln.

As Student Fees Advisory Committee meetings begin, keep in mind that one of the departments presenting can actually help solve this problem: Veterans Services.

With the exception of international students, veterans are the only group that brings significant financial resources from outside of Federal Financial Aid to their studies. For a typical four-year enlistment, veterans have over $36,000 in educational benefits; some have more than $70,000.

Not only do veterans bring their own financial resources, but they also bring important intangibles such as discipline, motivation, leadership and organizational skills to their studies, and many have already completed rigorous training programs in the military. As a result, veterans have a very high retention rate and often graduate in much less time than this eight-year institution averages, often in less than four years through taking summer courses and overloads. Supporting our veterans and all students by supporting Veterans Services will be the most effective way to reduce pressures for tuition increases and get Tier I status. The manager of Veterans Services holds the position of Program Coordinator. This is the lowest salaried position within the University's pay structure, which poses a real problem as far as recruiting and retaining an effective manager. Veterans Services has a great manager now, but if we don't pay him a fair salary and give him a full-time assistant, we may not get to keep him for long, and all students will ultimately suffer the consequences. The department needs to add a Program Manager position to the department to serve as its manager, leaving the Program Coordinator position as a full-time assistant manager. The office also needs to be remodeled to be disability accessible, as more than 17,000 of our veterans have been wounded in Iraq and the War on Terror.

Students can express their desire to have their Student Service Fees work for them for a change by writing President Gogue, who will sign the final SFAC budget, and by carbon copy the dean of students, the vice president for Student Affairs and the associate vice president for Student Services, along with the coordinator of Veterans‚ Services. Students should ask Gogue to ensure that Veterans Services gets these increases so that it can recruit more veterans and thereby help all students with their tuition costs and degree valuations. 

If students want their desires for an end to rising costs to be fed, they must take off their bibs of inaction and put on aprons of advocacy. Student fees money is, after all, our money, and opportunities come dressed in work clothes.

Graves, a guest columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu