The university status can be exciting for any school, but with a new status, change should come, too.
Moving from Dixie State College to Dixie State University was supposed to lead to what I thought would be many new plans on campus. Newer programs, events, equipment, and a higher student enrollment are improvements I had hoped to see in action by the time fall came around.
The university title has promised to impress, but isn’t there more to being a university than getting to play laser tag on campus and minoring in Spanish?
I was not expecting a giant parade with balloons and fireworks, but, compared to last year as a college, things feel the same. Classes are run similarly, events happen just as they did before, and enrollment is about the same.
One of only a few changes I have seen is a rise in tuition. Have the finances been split to include the new things DSU needs to fit in with university criteria, or will the money from the tuition increase be used for things less important? Students are the ones spending the extra dollar and should have a say in what it is going toward.
Spending the extra means expecting the extra.
I was hoping to have some part of what a university status entitles. While administration and faculty make the decisions, students are the ones who are affected by them.
There are a few things I would have liked to see happening as school started.
I want better equipment for students to use and events designed to help better students. Having professionals from different occupations coming to speak about how things are after college or discussion groups about news happening in the world today are just a couple of ideas. Getting programs for students wanting to go further than the normal bachelor’s degree is an important step toward university status as well. The ideas I have may be in the works, but action should already be taking place.
Students are not here to wait around for the things we need to better ourselves. College is what prepares us for the real life ahead. When I constantly heard that going to a university was better than attending a college, I never understood why.
I thought the transformation of Dixie State would help me understand, but I still have so many questions unanswered. Yes, switching over is a process and things take time to get worked out, but students like me who graduate in a year do not have the privilege to wait much longer.
DSU needs to start living up to the new status it has been given. Here is to hoping this happens sooner rather than later.
