A New Student Environment Emerging
26 March 2005
The Voluntary Student Unionism legislation that has been
introduced into the Parliament has sparked a great deal of debate
locally and nationally.
The arguments for turning around the legislation, or pursuing
compromises seem futile because the Coalition is, and has been for
some time, clearly committed to abandoning compulsory fees for
Student Guilds or Unions in universities. Their policy platform is
that students should have a choice on whether to pay Guild fees,
and a small minority may, but the majority of students will likely
decline, because the $200 or so a year at USC is too much.
The AVCC made the point that Guild fees are like the local
Council rates. Everyone has to pay them even though people derive
different levels of benefit from them. They are a contribution to
the 'greater good' and to making services function for a community.
Individual opting-in or opting-out would not work.
Mature students, in particular, however, claim that they receive
no benefit from the $105 per semester that they have to pay
up-front. That fee is collected by the University and over 90 per
cent of it is passed directly to the Guild.
The Guild at USC has been established as a separate body
corporate, responsible for its own affairs including the
disbursement of its finances, under the University of the Sunshine
Coast Act of State Parliament.
In recent years the Guild has become more organised, and with
its employed professional staff, has been targeting support areas
very carefully.
The real problem for students and the University next year will
be how we fund the essential services that we know students will
need, yet having to mount them without Guild support and
monies.
Part of the up-front fees, for example, is an 'access fee'
component which the Guild has agreed with the University can be a
contribution toward the avoidance of car-parking fees, the
provision of lighting, pathways, and parking spaces. Everyone
benefits, but few people know about it. Even mature students
benefit.
On issues like rental tenancy advice, students in large number
turn to the Guild, as they often do when discussing health issues
and legal problems. It could be argued that students will pay for
these services if they value them, but they are often the students
who can least afford to pay, especially the higher costs that will
result from fewer economies of scale.
It could also be argued that Universities themselves ought to be
paying for counselling, legal services, child-care, health support
and academic advising. Though 'Student Affairs' now undertake some
of that specialist professional advice its scale will now likely
have to increase. The only source of monies to support them will be
from operating grants that are already under enormous pressure. For
example, we have to pay a higher proportion of our building costs
than ever before, and staff salaries have to increase.
There are other areas like 'O' Week, sport, leisure areas for
example that will also experience a lack of funds.
The University administration and the students have an immense
task ahead to reconfigure essential and affordable student
services. If we do not, more students will drop out at a time when
we are trying to build national and regional intellectual capital
rather than diminish it.
Professor Paul Thomas is Vice-Chancellor of University of
the Sunshine Coast