At last week’s State Board of Education meeting, ASUI President Max Cowan and other student body presidents from across Idaho discussed the most pressing issues facing students at their respective institutions.
Together, they decided on seven issues to bring before the SBOE, with hopes they would be incorporated into the board’s lobbying priorities. According to Cowan, the issues focused on college affordability and campus safety.
Cowan said this is the first time the student presidents have taken a collective interest in state policy. In the past, Cowan said student governments have given their suggestions to their respective institutions to submit to the SBOE. This year, they will be sending their seven points directly to the board in what Cowan called a “shotgun method.” While they don’t expect all seven things to be accomplished next year, Cowan said their hope is to throw them all at the wall to see what sticks.
Advocating state funding for education to offset tuition increases
Some money in the university’s budget — like building funds or agricultural research — is earmarked. According to Cowan, this money can only be spent on what it was designated to be spent on.
Theoretically, Cowan said, asking for stronger support of general education would offset tuition increases because, in the eyes of the institution, tuition and general education money can be used the same way.
“Instead of asking for money, which is what we’ve done in the past, we’re saying support higher education,” Cowan said. “Students have a vested interest in supporting general education.”
Requesting funding for state scholarship endowment
When Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter took office, he hoped to create a scholarship endowment, Cowan said. But he said the issue with that is the endowment was never fully funded and only $10 million was going into it each year — but even that stopped once the recession hit.
“If the state has a surplus, they can put that money to use in the state scholarship endowment,” Cowan said. “If they were to put it to use for the university, that money would go away next year.”
Cowan said UI has $20,000 to spend and if they put that into the state scholarship endowment, they would receive a payout of $500 a year — something Cowan called a smart investment.
Tax incentives for nontraditional students
Many nontraditional students in the workforce face something of a Catch-22, according to Cowan. Usually, he said, these students have returned to school because they aren’t happy with their job and would like to move up, but because their income may still be enough to live on, they’re eliminated from many scholarships that would make college attendance affordable.
Cowan said the solution to this is to provide tax incentives such as making tuition expenses tax deductible for these students.
Creating state-funded application fee waiver program
Many state universities, including UI, charge applicants a $50 to $100 fee to process their application. Cowan said this is a problem because if someone’s parents can’t or won’t pay the fee, and they don’t necessarily see themselves going to school anyway, there would be little reason for them to apply.
This barrier could be broken down by a state program that funds application fee waivers for Idaho students in need, Cowan said.
Creating state run student loan program
Federal loans, according to Cowan, are a net revenue generator, and generate more than $100 billion for the federal government in a 10-year span.
Theoretically, though, a state loan program would pay for itself — if the state is willing to offer lower interest rates than federal loans.
“If the state of Idaho is willing to not necessarily make money, but simply cover the cost, Idaho students can be better funded through loans with better interest rates or better payment plans,” Cowan said.
Empowering Threat Assessment Teams
Following the Virginia Tech Massacre in 2007, Threat Assessment Teams (TA) were implemented in schools to investigate individuals who are at serious risk of causing harm to themselves or others.
Currently in Idaho, TAT records are treated as educational records, and under public records law, an individual is entitled access to any record in which they are named. According to Cowan, this means that an at-risk individual under investigation can theoretically gain access to their own TAT record.
“I think it’s a pretty widely held belief that if we are trying to ensure safety, then those individuals being investigated for making campus unsafe shouldn’t … know they’re being investigated, and … know what the investigation contains,” Cowan said.
This could be solved, Cowan said, if TAT records were treated as police records rather than educational records.
Amending nondiscrimination policy to protect students
In the state of Idaho, most universities have nondiscrimination policies that include gender identity and sexual orientation — most, but not all, Cowan said.
If the SBOE amends their own nondiscrimination policy to include these terms, then the policies of all the institutions in the state are automatically changed as well. This essentially guarantees no one will be discriminated against, which, Cowan said, is a matter of campus safety.
Hannah Shirley can be reached at [email protected]