Illinibucks
This is an interesting hypothetical to analyze. One of the
first questions I had reading this prompt was ‘would all students receive the
same allocation of Illinibucks’? If so, then this puts everyone at a level playing
field, and it is up to the students to effectively use their allocation, as
everyone has the same amount and people can’t just overpay (if they had more
than others) even if they don’t value it at that price. The administered prices
would have to be high enough so everyone can’t buy everything so easily. Some
of the things that the Illinibuck system could work for would be class
registration, advisor meetings, housing selection, and others. Using a single “currency”
system for these different factors would force students to prioritize these.
They may value housing more than course selection, or vice-versa. This would
only work if these things had the same administered price. If a student is
forced to choose between having first selection of a class or a dorm at a
similar price, and if the price is high enough, they would need to make a
decision considering they can’t use all their resources to obtain priority for both
(if the prices were too low, it could create an issue – having an uneven
distribution in either housing space or class space could be a result. In this
case, people won’t be able to have their preferred class and their preferred
dorm, this way the less popular classes/dorms could be filled by people who prioritized
the other option.
I imagine another, more simple, use of the Illinibucks could
involve the dining halls around campus. During peak hours when the lines to get
in the hall are longer than normal, students could use some sort of “express”
line where they use an amount of Illinibucks to enter the dining hall before a
line of hungry students. This may not be the most practical example, but one
that could change a previously “first-come, first-serve” process. I’m not sure
if this is within the context of the hypothetical, but if the school could tie the
distributed Illinibucks into the textbook buying process, that would intrigue a
lot of students, including myself, to utilize their allocation to potentially
reduce the financial burden of expensive required books. Another service that
could utilize Illinibucks would be visiting student advisers. During certain
times of the year, especially during registration periods, the schedule for
advisers can be extremely congested and it can be difficult to find an
appointment in a reasonable time frame. The school could administer prices
based on the time of day/semester, administering higher prices when the demand
for advisor meetings is typically the highest, leaving it to the students to
decide how much they’re willing to “pay” for a prime meeting slot. If the
prices are high enough, it could spread out the demand away from peak times and
give more students an opportunity to have these meetings. For the students
willing to pay the administered high price, they would have a higher
need/priority for meeting time. Not sure if this is the correct application,
but with the correct pricing it could be effective, in my opinion.
If I was given an allocation of these “Illinibucks” for the
sole purpose of moving to the head of the line, the first priority that I would
use them for would be registering for class. This is mostly due to some
experiences that I have had in the past where I was not able to sign up for a
class because it was already full (due to people being able to register before me)
and I had to settle for an alternative that didn’t appeal to me as much. This
has happened on a couple separate occasions throughout my registration
experience here at Illinois. As a whole, I am satisfied with the choices and
quality of courses that I have been able to take, but there were definitely a
few instances where I missed out on taking a class that I had a strong desire
to take.
I believe the current course registration process is constrained by what the software allows. So imagine this hypothetical. You can use Illinibucks to get priority in registration for one course, but then you go back to your normal position for registering in other classes.
ReplyDeleteIn this sort of system it would be informative as to what classes would fill early, not just that the class eventually does fill. The early ones are the prizes and really should have capacity expanded, if at all possible. From reading some of the other posts, I gather that some computer science classes aimed at non-CS students might be in this category.
On the dining hall example, while that's come up in years past you are the first one to mention it this time around. So, I wonder two things about this. Do students who are on the meal plan nevertheless use cash to purchase food on or around campus? I'm guessing that many students do buy coffee and/or other refreshments. Most of those places sell some food. If cash transactions are something of a substitute, then maybe the Illinibucks wouldn't be used so much for that purpose. On a different note, it does seem to me that on our campus everyone takes lunch at noon, rather than have the lunchtime stagger over a larger time window. That increases the congestion. Might some people eat at a particular time just by habit? If so, would the lines be shortened if demand were spread out over time?
Several students did write about accessing advisors. In this case I wonder if some of that is excess bureaucratic process, where the advisor has to approve the student schedule and that necessitates a face to face meeting. In reality, that sort of transaction can be done online, and it would probably me more efficient to do that. If the students really wants advice, as distinct from getting approval, that is better served through a face to face meeting. I seem to recall doing the advisor job for one or two semesters, and having very real real conversations with students. I'd hope it would be more effective now, but I wouldn't be on it.
Referring to the dining hall example, most students eat their meals around their course and/or work (or other extracurricular activity) schedule. Additionally, depending on their type of meal plan, they would use cash to make additional snack/coffee items on campus. The university could administer Illinibuck prices for students who don;'t have the option to do so. For the larger meals, the time windows are wide to start with, but that may not impact people's eating habits - they still plan around their own time frame and schedule. For students who have the flexibility to eat at less-congested lunch hours (earlier or later than the typical noon window). If the school could find a way to target students who have that flexibility, they can administer a price or method for them to utilize Illinibucks that would give them an incentive to not eat at the more congested period. Maybe those incentives could include a potential rewards programs, aiming to reduce congestion by rewarding students who have the ability to eat at different times.
DeleteFor the advisor example, at least in my experience with the Economics department, appointments are scheduled online, and I don't believe they require a direct approval to do so (I could be wrong on this, however). If the Illinibuck functionality includes online methods, this could work. People can allocate Illinibucks for prime meeting spots, or the chance at a more in-depth meeting. Signing up for appointments online is a first-come, first-serve action based on the availability of the respective advisor. It would be unreasonable to have them change their availability, so maybe the type of meeting (quick sit-down/questions, or a longer plan session) could be influenced by Illinibucks.