The Shorthorn - Heaps of Hypocrisy

Heaps of Hypocrisy

Written by Cliff Hale, The Shorthorn copy editor

Thursday, 28 August 2008 09:40 PM

Students must be diligent and forward-thinking to succeed, but the favor isn’t always returned
Nontraditional students attest to the value of post-secondary education. A degree can mean the difference between retirement or pushing the tea cart at Luby’s Cafeteria. Younger people with degrees are far more likely to get three or four jobs in their careers that include annual vacation time and health care, rather than two or three job changes per year with no paid vacation while enduring fixable health problems that worsen from neglect.
A degree is a profound benefit in America. Sadly, formal education is primarily found in academia — an institution that has a venerable and deserved reputation for incompetence.
One example is the ridiculous UTA financial aid system.
Students typically plan their semesters far in advance. Many are required to get advising before registering, then they must do so well in advance of the start of the semester. Students decide if they can afford to be full or part time, then make job decisions accordingly.
Before financial aid decisions are made, students sign up for a certain number of class hours, and the result is posted in the university system.
Financial aid, however, does not consult the documented plan of the student and base disbursement decisions on this information. Rather, the system assumes a full course load and awards grants, scholarships and loans to cover the maximum possible expenditure of a full-time student. The most likely logic for this is to make certain that the full-time student has every centime available to get his or her semester rolling.
If a student has chosen not to attend full time and made the decision clear by registering for less-than-full-time hours, he or she is still issued the full-time funds, and when financial aid decides to do its homework after the fact, it discovers that it has fully funded a part-time student and snaps the money back again.
Financial Aid Office notifies the Bursar’s office of the award amount, and the Bursar withholds owed tuition and fees and only disburses the remaining amount to the student. When a pupil gets that lovely, life-saving check, he or she can reasonably assume that tuition and fees are covered, and must budget the check received for a semester’s worth of books, rent, ramen soup, etc.
Regretfully, the financial aid process is slower than most students are, and the Bursar’s office is less than diligent about skimming off the university’s percentage before sending the leftovers to the eager student.
Standing in line at the start of a semester at the Bursar’s office, or sitting with a “now serving” number slip in hand at the Financial Aid office, reveals that this flawed concept frustrates the best plans of the most-prepared and forward-thinking student.
Nontraditional students often have much more experience in the private sector than in academia and other government bureaucracies. For many, it’s quite a culture shock to see how lenient university administration is toward mediocre, and worse, performance.
One of the most important lessons a student can get at a university is the collateral education of example, poor and good. Before launching into the private sector, be certain to know that this management style is only effective in the specialized bubble of academia.
And if you want a career where incompetence is not grounds for dismissal, steer clear of the private sector and get a cushy position in an institution of higher education.

— Cliff Hale is a film junior and a copy editor for The Shorthorn
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