As Oregon’s seven public universities seek greater flexibility from the state’s higher education governing body, student leaders at those institutions simply hope to have a voice in the process.
Thus far, however, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus among student body presidents as to whether they are being heard.
On Sept. 19, student representatives met at Portland State University with university presidents, administrators and Oregon University System officials to discuss the specifics of what the institutions hope to accomplish in their requests for autonomy, while also expressing concerns of their own.
“We feel we should have been included earlier in the process,” ASUO President Rachel Pilliod noted early in the meeting.
And while the meeting was an opportunity to help remedy the exclusion, some felt the hourlong discussion did little.
“I felt like I was getting the typical head pat — ‘Oh! Look at the cute student talk,’” said Bridget Burns, Oregon State University’s student body president.
Pilliod said she went to the meeting hoping to get an overall sense of clarification and added that she wanted to find out how much room was left for collaboration.
“I saw (the meeting) as constructive, but I see it very much as a starting point,” Pilliod said.
In June, the presidents of the seven Oregon University System institutions sent a letter to the board asking for autonomy from the system, citing the freedom as a way “to survive in today’s environment.”
At the meeting, Oregon University System Chancellor Richard Jarvis said he hopes an agreement can be established and submitted to the board by Oct. 18.
The issue of tuition was of chief concern for many of the students at the meeting. If the universities are granted autonomy, the institutions would be able to set their own tuition rates. With budgets being cut all around the state, some are worried that universities will raise tuition, forcing students to pick up the tab.
And while university presidents listed many reasons why students shouldn’t worry, Burns, who had hoped to discuss setting a range for tuition increases over the next few years, didn’t feel she was given adequate answers.
“They answered, but they just gave me party line,” Burns said. “I felt like I was heard, but I wasn’t being listened to.”
University President Dave Frohnmayer noted that tuition is less than half the overall cost for most students to attend college, while others said it would be impossible to raise tuition drastically.
“We’re all in competition,” Eastern Oregon University President Phillip Creighton said. “If we price ourselves out of the market, we will lose.”
Burns, the most vocal student leader at the meeting, said Tuesday that she will fight autonomy “every step of the way.”
At this time, Pilliod said that ASUO has no “formal opinion” on whether it supports the University’s attempt to seek autonomy from Oregon University System, but she said the issue is of importance.
“There’s definitely a reason to have concern when talking about making decisions that change the Oregon University System,” Pilliod said.
And while no one is certain of what will happen, most realize that any decision will ultimately come down to compromise.
“This is a work in progress,” Frohnmayer said during the Sept. 19 meeting. “We’re all working on a moving target here.”
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