I have been a student at this University for almost two years. I came to this school because of its reputation as a good school with a good education for a low price. As the years go on, tuition is rising higher and higher, while the quality of education at the University remains the same.
The school keeps trying to come up with ways to improve the quality of the school, when the quality of the school doesn’t rest in the hands of the administration. The administration is a tool; the students are the outcome.
Our school currently has multiple programs offered and over 150 registered student organizations, but not enough people using them, or even aware of them.
Schools function the same way as stores: if everyone is buying pants with a hole in the left leg and a little green square on the right thigh, stores will supply more pants with a hole in the left leg and little green square on the right thigh, just because everyone is wearing them. More money will be put into this item because it is a good investment.
Similarly, the administration has provided the students with useful tools on campus that aren’t being used to their maximum capacity, and, therefore, aren’t being funded adequately. Hypothetically speaking, if the school introduced a new department X, money inputted into this department would be significantly impacted by the output of the department. If the department was outputting a large number of outstanding students into society, more money would be put into the department. The more students outputted into society, the more prominence becomes attached to the name “UMass Amherst”, and the higher the quality becomes.
Likewise, there are several resources on campus that aren’t being utilized as much as they should be. Teacher’s assistants are always saying that they sit alone in their office hours because no one goes to them for help, or even e-mails them to ask them for help. In addition, there are over eleven computer labs on campus, available for anyone who wants to use them. There are also free tutoring services offered through each department, and also through the CCEMBS program to help students reach their maximum potential.
In addition to tutoring services, there are also over 150 clubs on campus, created to give the University a sense of community. Most of these clubs average to about 20 students and they don’t get adequate funding because no one uses them. Pretty much anything you can think of to do has a related established club on campus, ranging from a club for Macintosh computer users to a juggling club, to a club for women in sports management. When money is given to an organization, the first thing that is looked at is how many people are using it and what the output is. Thousands of dollars could go into a hypothetical club like “The Barbeque Club”, and the thousands of dollars would continue going to “The Barbeque Club” if they put on events, attracted lots of students, and provided the school with a sense of community.
The administration can only take school improvement so far. They are the bridge between the input and the output. But unless we take the input and utilize it into something useful and beneficial, the resources we have will forever remain resources. Until we go out and find out what are resources are, use them to the maximum capacity towards our own futures, and give something back to our society, the quality of our school will remain the same.
Get out of your room, join a club, do volunteer work, attend an event, read a poster or two. The answer to your question is there. You’re just asking the wrong person.
Sanam Hakim is a Collegian columnist.
