Illinibucks

I think that the idea of there being an initial allocation of these supposed Illinibucks is not a bad idea. If this were the case, then students would all be on an even playing field. That being said; they could use their Illinibucks to serve whatever needs they feel are most important to them. For example, if someone truly hated early classes or needed a perfect schedule, they could use their Illinibucks to be one of the first time ticket of the semester. On the other hand, if someone did not care about their schedule but it was important for them to frequently meet with their advisor, then they could skip the line and meet with their advisor whenever they want. This is where the idea of transfer pricing comes into play, I believe. Students would have the option of how to allocate these benefits within their own University experience. While I do not think that this is a necessary implementation, I don’t think that it would necessarily hurt.

I think that aside from class registration and visiting with advisors, Illinibucks could be used for tutoring services that the University already provides. For example, it could help people have prime access to things like writer’s workshop or career center services. 

I personally would use my Illinibucks to have priority for class registration. For me, that is the most important thing to be at the front of the line for. There are many classes that I wish I could have taken but was not able to because my time ticket was so late.

I think that once students can buy additional Illinibucks, many issues would occur. If the price were set too high, the University would be classist. It wouldn’t be fair for students who come from wealthy backgrounds to have priority over students from less prominent backgrounds. Students who are wealthy and could buy more Illinibucks wouldn’t have to deal with this idea of transfer pricing at all. Allocation wouldn’t even have to be a decision they make. I personally would be very shocked and angry if something like this were to happen. I don’t think a public university should be implementing that type of system If prices were too low, then the market would be flooded with too many Illinibucks, and they would hold no value. 

This all being said; I don’t think that the purchase of additional Illinibucks would be a good idea for the university. It would either take away their value entirely or it would make it so that students who are more wealthy are at an automatic advantage.