At last night’s State of the University Address, Undergraduate Student Government President Aftab Pureval and Vice President Deb Mason discussed the need for faculty recruitment, changes to the honor’s program and a limit on tuition increases.
“The governor and leaders at the statehouse have shortchanged education and created an enormous problem for our administration,” Pureval said. “In order to be a stronger state and economy, the state needs to give us more funding. We cannot be a world-class institution without their support.”
“Surely Ohio State will once again bear the brunt of a legislator that refuses to address the real need for higher education funding,” he said.
Pureval discussed the tuition commission created by USG three months ago, to review how the university was spending its budget. He said USG has not yet finished reviewing the budget, but has discovered that the university is not spending money in places that students view as priorities. Instead, the money is going to research and technology.
Pureval also discussed a lack of adequate funding at OSU.
Since OSU is not receiving adequate funding, students from low-income families are not able to afford an education because of the lack of state financial aid. One problem is that students are receiving financial assistance based on merit and not on need, Pureval said. Students who are given merit-based awards are often the ones who need it the least.
“If students can pay for college without help, then they should do it,” he said. “Financial aid is more critical now than ever.”
The USG president encouraged the university to lobby the legislature and make sure undergraduate students are able to receive the proper amount of funding.
He also said OSU needs to strengthen the honors program by cutting the amount of students that are accepted as honors students.
The Office of Admissions receives millions of dollars to recruit students, Pureval said. Still, the OSU honors program has been called lacking relative to other universities.
“While we all know that recruiting is important, it has to come as a secondary concern to students who are already here,” Pureval said.
Four years ago, USG supported a tuition hike because it was believed to be needed for the elevation of the university’s academic ability and to give students the best undergraduate experience, Pureval said.
“Today our support ends,” he said.
USG will not longer support any tuition increase by the university and there needs to be a way to keep OSU affordable and accessible to all students, Pureval said.
Emily Quick, a senior in marketing and an undergraduate student member on the Board of Trustees said that every avenue should be looked at before there is a tuition increase. A lot of discussion needs to go into such a proposal before it is implemented.
It is necesary for students to be informed of the important issues facing the university and how the state is spending its funding, Quick said.
