There could be an abundant amount of uses if the University of Illinois implemented a system such as Illinibucks, that allowed students to spend an allotted amount on things of there choosing. The students would be given a specific amount from the university and could choose to spend them in whatever way they would prefer. Although something like this would only allow people to get to the front of the line, and have the first opportunity to purchase or sign up for something I still think it would be a good system. Illinibucks could be spent on a variety of things such as: registering early for classes, getting to the front of the line during book days to get the much cheaper "used" books, better seating at sporting events that are on a first come first serve basis such as basketball, and even could be used to determine on campus housing assignments.
If I were to be given an allotment of Illinibucks I would personally spend mine on a combination of class registration and basketball tickets. I am honestly not 100% sure how class registration works exactly, but I do know that James Scholars and athletes get to register first followed by Seniors. I believe it then goes by credit hours completed at university of Illinois. I transferred here at the beginning of my sophomore year, but am constantly registering later than all of my peers even though we have almost identical credit hours. Because of this, I would use the majority of my Illinibucks on registering for classes so I could get into some of the classes that I wouldn't normally be able to get into based on the order of class selection.T hat would be very important to me especially since I was a transfer student and they make it very hard for transfers to graduate in the normal "4 year track" because of course requirements and class availability.
The other thing I would spend my Illinibucks on is Men's Basketball games. I am a huge fan of the Fighting Illini basketball team but getting good seats at the game is a huge time commitment. The seats for the most part are on a first come first serve basis and in order to get floor seats you usually will have to get to the game hours before tip-off to ensure a good seat on the floor. That is a huge time commitment with all the classwork and tests and stuff we have going on, but it is the price you have to pay if you want good seats to watch the Illini play. The Illinibucks would allow you to get closer to the front of the line without having to be there for hours beforehand for key dates and big games. This would allow for a much better allocation of time on those days and give you more time to study and do work.
If the Illinibucks were valuable too low and didn't have much power people could buy illinibucks off others and accumulate large amounts that will allow them to get what they want. People might consider selling them to others for real financial profits. This could cause problems and students who were better off financially would be able to afford to have more perks and would have an easier time doing what they wanted. If they were worth too much, many people could be trying to split up their Illinibucks amongst to many things. In that situation no one would really have an advantage if everyone evenly spread out their spending. Other problems could arise if the Illinibucks were valued to low. If they could only be used for registering early for one class or cutting the line at one basketball game, people may not really value them as much and they would not be as frequently used. If usage became too low they could cease to be an efficient way to allocate the resources and opportunities the campus has to offer.
Let's talk about the Men's basketball tickets first. Currently, as you suggest, there is a "time price" for the good seats. The people who get them get there early and wait. Time pricing, or "queuing" does generate an allocation of fans to seats. Is that allocation efficient?
ReplyDeleteSuppose, contrary to how things are done now, that students with good grades got priority to Men's basketball games and students who had low GPA actually had priority in registering for classes. Would that promote efficiency or make things works?
It might help you to consider the effects of the Illinibucks by asking whether the current allocation method is efficient, then if it is fair. After that ask whether the Illinibucks contribute on either front.
Yes I believe that the time pricing is an efficient way to do seats for an event such as a basketball game. The fans who value the game the most are going to be closest to the court and they are most likely going to be the ones most into the game. This helps to create a home court advantage type of situation for the team and is beneficial to the team as well as the people that value the game more than others.
ReplyDeleteIf the the opposite of how things were discussed in the original post were to happen, and the students with high GPA got priority at sporting events and students with lower GPA got priority, i do not believe it would be any more efficient. Although "rewarding" students with a higher GPA would provide even more incentive for basketball fans to allocate their time better, I believe giving priority in class registration to low GPA sends a bad message. It would hurt the students who put in hard effort and get good grades and could prevent them from getting in classes they would need to graduate on time. This would almost make it more beneficial as far as time, and financially, for students to be more average and graduate in 4 years than to strive for a better performance and potentially not graduate for 5 years costing them an additional $20,000-30,000 in tuition and fees.
I still believe that the illinibucks would be somewhat effective in allocating both the course selection and basketball games, but that system would be far from perfect.