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Student Senate passes bill to fund graduate student printing center
The most heavily debated bill at the first full Senate meeting of the year was the bill to fund the graduate student printing center on the fourth floor of Watson Library. The bill passed 66-1-4.
ALANA FLINN
@alana_flinn
Graduate Affairs Director Angela Murphy wrote the bill, which requested $5,000 to reopen and fund printing services for graduate students, following Watson Library's decision to defund the service. She said she had been trying to reopen the
"Printing a dissertation for your committee can cost $60, and that's not including additional drafts for copy editing." Murphy said. "My colleagues and I are expected to pay for this on our own. The University at large has made it clear that funding a small resource on this campus is not an important item on their agenda."
center for eight months.
Murphy said during her speech that $7,500 would be the most appropriate amount to fund the printing center. Madeline Dickerson, student rights committee chair, then gave a speech against the original
COURTNEY VARNEY/KANSAN Student Body Vice President Zach George speaks during a show of hands at the full Student Senate meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
bill, which requested $5,000; she proposed allocating an additional $2,500 to the original bill. All of the money is allocated from the Student Senate Reserves Fund.
"It is necessary that we raise this to $7,500 because we were elected into these positions to help out students at this University, and this is a darn good reason to pull the money from reserves," she said.
Adam Moon, chief of staff, gave a negative speech following Dickerson's and said Student Senate could not give payouts to organizations when administration refuses to fund
them.
"We, as faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, are letting others do the speaking, and students are not really understanding when they come in what the value of a liberal arts degree really is," Kelton said. "Employers are looking for students that can think critically, write well, communicate, solve complex problems, and those skills you can get in the college of liberal arts and sciences."
Murphy said she hopes to have the printing center reopened within the next week or two.
The college also recently did away with a rule that required liberal arts majors to take 100
To regain enrollment, Kristi Henderson, communications director for the college, said the college is taking an active role departments and on social media to market the value of a liberal arts degree to prospective students. Kenton said the college was emphasizing beneficial skills that students may not realize they can get from a liberal arts degree.
For now, Murphy said the $5,000 would be enough until a more permanent allocation of funds can be made.
it buys me time, but I don't know what that time will do in those conversations," Murphy said. "I can't guarantee anyone's response except my own."
Finding value in a University liberal arts degree despite a decline in enrollment
CONNER MITCHELL
@connermitchell0
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Christopher Downing, a 57-year-old San Diego resident, came to the University of Kansas in 1976 as an engineering major focused on electrical and computer sciences. However, during his first year, he realized something was missing in his education. He found the answer in a liberal arts degree.
"I came in as an engineering major, but in high school I wasn't really a math and physics person. I was more of an English and forensics and debate person," he said. "I actually later declared as a history major before I left KU and later came back motivated to finish the engineering degree."
Downing left without a degree in 1981 and later returned to finish his engineering degree. Downing said the reason he was able to work in engineering and build relationships was because of the critical thinking skills he learned in his liberal arts education.
"In engineering especially, there is always an answer you can arrive at and show how you got there," he said. "Liberal arts requires a different way of thinking. You think more about the relationships between things that, on the surface, don't appear related."
However, the College of Liberal Arts has seen a decline in enrollment in recent years. Paul Kelton, an associate dean, said the number of total credit hours students take within the college has declined by roughly 15 percent, and the number of students majoring in a liberal arts field has fallen by around 16 percent since the spring semester of 2009.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences majors include art, humanities, mathematics, linguistics and different sciences.
credit hours inside the college. Kelton said. The requirement made it difficult to double major in a liberal arts department and professional school. Kelton said he hopes the elimination of the rule will help increase enrollment.
Downing said he believes students enter college with the perception that careers in technology are more lucrative and glamorous and that a liberal arts degree is easier compared with a degree in a field such as engineering or technology sciences.
He has worked in engineering jobs since he completed his engineering degree in 1989 and now works independently in project management. He said that while his degrees advanced his career in some ways, the liberal arts path was what set his education apart.
"I have all of this quantitative stuff, and that is great. It gets people a long way. It is essential to an organization. But it is not quite enough without understanding how the pieces of that organization relate, it won't take you all the way there," he said. "Without an understanding of how the world works outside of engineering, it can be hard to make progress."
"People who pursue a professional major are well versed in their field, but not so much in topics outside of their field," he said. "Of course, I will have a greater understanding of psychology than any other field, but because I'm a liberal arts major I will be covering other topics, too, making my knowledge a lot more broad."
Shaun Goodwin, a freshman psychology major from Overland Park, said he chose a liberal arts major over a professional school so he could be knowledgeable about a variety of subjects. Goodwin also has an emphasis in pre-medicine.
Goodwin said his decision to pursue psychology as a major could initially cause financial stress, but he said he believes it will eventually pay off.
"Straight out of college and heading into graduate school, yes I believe it will be financial-
Over half of the graduates employed full time reported earning between $25,001 and $45,000 annually.
For comparison, 63 percent of University business school graduates reported being employed full time by graduation with a salary range of $20,000 to $72,000, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers from the same year.
According to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning, 71 percent of engineering graduates in 2013 were employed within six months of graduation. 2012 graduates make an average of $62,341, according to the School of Engineering's salary survey.
still seeking employment.
"A shrinkage in liberal arts education means students are not as broadly prepared as they could be."
Paul Atchley, a psychology
PAUL ATCHLEY Psychology Professor
professor and associate dean for online and professional education, said it was important to look beyond the economic outcomes of a liberal arts education. He said that students enrolled in liberal arts programs were being trained to be more well-rounded individuals.
"It is not as easy to make an economic case for liberal arts, but ethically it is important to look beyond the economic outcomes and focus on personal growth as well," he said. "A shrinkage in liberal arts education means students are not as broadly prepared as they could be. Liberal arts isn't just about training for a job, but being a better human being as well."
- Edited by Emma LeGault
ly hard," he said. "Saying this, I know psychiatrists do make lots of money, so if I can get a good place to work out of graduate school, I believe I can pay off my student loans fairly quickly and be able to live a comfortable life."
The most recent data from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Destination Survey from 2012-13 found that 68.4 percent of graduates who responded were employed full time. Another 21.7 percent said they were pursuing higher education, while 6.9 percent said they were
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