By Kelsi Peace, Managing Editor
Administrators addressed student concerns over the iPhone initiative, tuition and fee increases and university priorities at forums hosted by the Students’ Association Tuesday and Wednesday.
Dr. Bill Rankin, associate professor of English and member of the LINK team, told students he hoped they could temper administrative enthusiasm for the iPhone initiative and provide helpful insight.
“You have to think about the future; you have to move forward,” Rankin told students before taking questions.
Rankin said the initiative began as a 5-year plan, but with the help of fast applications being built and other opportunities, it was implemented much quicker than expected.
“This thing has grown astonishingly in the last 10 months,” he said.
He lauded the recent attention the university has received nationally and internationally for its ability to add value to an ACU degree and anticipated the question of why the freshman class was selected to receive the devices.
Freshmen, Rankin told students, have Passport, Welcome Week and U100 for trouble-shooting. He called this first stage “a step, but it’s not the last step,” and said the university is exploring applications for majors classes.
When Rankin; Kyle Dickson, assistant professor of English; and Kevin Roberts, chief information officer for ACU, yielded the floor to questions, students asked about everything from new job opportunities to forums for expressing application ideas.
But others had more serious concerns. Several students said the freshman class was the wrong class to begin the program with because of maturity reasons; others worried the devices would be constantly in use.
“This is a tool,” Dickson said. “It’s one tool.”
Bonni Wattigney, freshman graphic design major from Keller, said the freshman class has the most students transfer out of ACU.
“We want to know what happens to those kids who hate ACU and decide they want to go to Texas Tech,” she said.
Roberts didn’t have an answer but said a group is “focusing on device management,” and also said the university
hopes the initiative will help with retention rates.
Schubert said students will not be able to leave ACU after only a few weeks with their iPhone in hand.
Funding was at the forefront of much of the discussion, with students like Andrew Kinnaman, freshman computer science major from Abilene, who said he didn’t own an iPod because it isn’t cost effective for him. Kinnaman, like many other students present, wondered who would foot the bill.
The university is still in discussion with Apple and AT&T and cannot discuss the negotiations.
Roberts assured students there would be “no out-of pocket costs.”
Some said they worried about the spiritual implications the iPhone initiative could have – both within the community and to the outside world.
“As a university, we’re taught poverty is [an issue], yet we’re handing out $400 iPhones to freshmen,” said Kristen Blanchard, sophomore biology major from Plano. “How is this representing Christians to society as a whole?”
Rankin agreed it could be a concern, but said the fact that students are addressing potential problems will help.
“American culture is ridiculously materialistic,” he said. “[But] some technology can help us help others.”
Matthew Stephens, junior political science major from Livonia, Mich., said silence is a key part of spiritual life, a component of education the university says makes it unique.
“I don’t see this device contributing to that aspect,” Stephens said.
Roberts said because the university is the first to make such a move, it can determine how the devices are used, and Rankin said all eyes will be on ACU.
“All of the sudden, thoughtful Christians can say, ‘We need to say no sometimes,'” Rankin said.
Students also asked about practical applications of the devices for their everyday lives, and Roberts said right now an application called “I am hungry” is in progress for students to order food from Dominos and ARAMARK.
As talk turned to financial aid, students voiced concerned over many unanswered questions – including funding, if the university’s bandwidth can support the system and how mixed classification classes will work with the initiative.
Others worried the technology would exclude, rather than enhance, community, but Dickson cited venues like Facebook and said sometimes technology deepens relationships.
Schubert told students several times the 7-percent tuition increase was unrelated to the iPhone initiative. Schubert said the approximate $400,000 cost of the initiative can be covered by redirecting funds in the university’s $90 million budget.
“This was not on the radar when we proposed the tuition increase,” Schubert said. “It is not being funded in the tuition rate.”
Schubert explained that the university must make priorities and as a result, make choices, including contract non-renewals, when looking at the budget.
“That sounds pretty connected to me,” said John Walker, graduate from Eugene, Ore.
Walker asked several questions, including one about a professor he knew with a doctorate who earns a salary in the $30,000 range.
“How is $400,000 not a big deal?” he said.
Schubert responded that the university invests in many things, the iPhone included. And faculty and staff cuts were not higher than normal, VanRheenen said. However, lower numbers did contribute to a tighter budget.
“When the number of students we’re teaching goes down, then there might need to be an adjustment,” he said.
Schubert reminded students financial aid will also increase with the tuition, with 25 percent of the increase going toward scholarships and aid.
“I know it’s expensive at ACU,” he said. “It’s expensive all over the country.”
The increase also includes a faculty salary raise, Schubert said; Arrington, who is not an executive officer, told students that this year, executive officers – like Schubert and VanRheenen – will not have a raise.
Aaron Escobedo, non-traditional student from Lamesa, said he has spoken with many low-income students – some Hispanic – who cannot afford ACU.
“What are we doing to make it easier for students on the lower-income end?” he asked. “It’s just too much.”
Schubert said ACU cannot be need-blind like an Ivy League university because it does not have the resources and called the situation “a pie bigger than we can eat.”
“We don’t have strong relationships with Hispanic students,” he said, adding that he sees an opportunity for growth.
Schubert said right now the university offers more financial aid to students with a “higher likelihood of success” – students with higher SAT and ACT scores and higher GPAs.
“We don’t want to encourage students to come to ACU if they aren’t good fits,” he said.
Right now, tuition covers about 60 percent of operating costs, and full- and halftuition scholarships increase in cost as tuition rises.
After more than two hours, SA president Matt Worthington adjourned Tuesday’s forum, which had about 100 attendees at the beginning.
Wednesday, discussion of fees continued. Students again asked about the reason behind the tuition increase and contract non-renewals.
“The biggest single expense relates to giving raises to faculty and staff,” Schubert told students.
Other factors include utilities, gas and minimum wage, he said.
As for non-renewals, “It’s not a significant difference from what we experienced in the past,” Schubert said.
Arrington said the non-renewal process was not without thought or care.
“That’s not a friendshipfree conversation,” he said. “Those are just incredibly difficult; those take enormous care.”
And four to five years of a 6-7 percent tuition increase, Schubert said, have not been without benefit. Wireless green areas, more bandwidth, residence hall remodeling, food court renovations and update security systems all come from the increase, he said.
A fixed tuition rate remains under consideration, Schubert said.
Brandon Smith, senior political science major from Olathe, Kan., said even after the forums, he still thinks the perception of the iPhone initiative, non-renewals and tuition increase create a bad perception.
“Something doesn’t logically connect there for me,” he said.
Arrington said the university couldn’t convey the “barrage of information,” much of which is confidential.
Instead, he said, administrators must ask themselves a question: “Do we act honorably and openly enough to inspire confidence?”
The two-day discussion ended with questions over the food court renovations and the policy survey SA sent in February.
With about 200 pages of student feedback and about 200 responses per issue, Arrington said administrators are still sifting through the stack. However, they will consider the responses, he said.
“We wouldn’t have supported sending it if we didn’t use it.”
