The UA is doing a perfect job except for fees and transfer credits, according to students.
Those were the two complaints of the 12 students who attended the public forums about the UA’s re-accreditation process.
The Accreditation Board held open public forums on Monday with four separate rooms in the Student Union Memorial Center for faculty, students, alumni and appointed staff. Every 10 years, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools must reaccredit the UA, and a part of that process is a site visit from representatives of peer institutions, which began Sunday and will end Wednesday.
Bundled fees were the main concern of the lone graduate student who attended the forum.
“”A huge concern for graduate students are those fees, they are horrible,”” said Graduate and Professional Student Council at-large representative Zachary Brooks, a doctoral student in second language acquisition and teaching. “”Their money is tight and suddenly those fees are lopped on top of it. It could be the determining factor on if they go to graduate school or not.””
He asked that the board make a recommendation for more transparency and to unbundle fees.
“”We have to pay for things in order to pay for other things,”” Brooks said. “”Like, for health care, we have to pay for the Rec Center.””
Undergraduates feel that fees are an area that the university could improve on as well.
“”(Fees are) definitely a huge issue for us. And I think with the budget shortfall and the issue with tuition, sometimes it’s hard to fight, and there is a gap so they need money. But fees are an area we can fight and see a change,”” said James Allen, the Chief of Staff for ASUA President Emily Fritze.
When asked about the differences between Arizona State University and UA, most undergraduate representatives said the biggest difference was the “”feel of the UA.””
They cited that it was a smaller, centralized university compared to ASU’s expanding one.
“”ASU has accessibility to jobs. There have been reports that have come out that say that people at ASU are more likely to be hired by big corporations, but I think that’s location. That’s not to say UA doesn’t have access in Tucson,”” said ASUA Sen. Chad Travis, a pre-business sophomore, who chose UA for its business program.
Brooks said that his main reason for enrollment was the high national ranking for his program.
Undergraduates had no suggestions for improving retention rates and think the current programs such as the Think Tank are sufficient.
Brooks said that a school-wide early detection system for struggling students would be helpful for teachers.
On transferring to the UA, one student said getting the credits to transfer was the most difficult part for him.
“”You have to send it twice. Once to admissions to prove you did college credit, then send it again to a different office,”” said Jack Strandberg. He mentioned that attempts to alleviate the process began with the common course numbering system that Arizona universities are working toward.
All students attending the forum felt that the UA was completely welcoming to all students and that diversity was not an issue on campus.
Some students are angry that the university is not taking seriously their push to end contracts with Caterpillar and Motorola corporations.
“”I represent a number of the groups here and at ASU and smaller at NAU, and we have consolidated efforts because we as extracurricular groups are not happy with the way that the university has addressed our concerns,”” said Gabriel Shivone, a student studying English and former Daily Wildcat opinions columnist.
The board will visit campus until Wednesday.
