By Rhyan Henson
The new proposed tuition remission could make the university money, but will diminish the quality of Butler’s education.
Butler is in a network of universities that have a set agreement with regard to employee tuition exchange. The current plan states any employee in the network can send any of their family members to any university tuition free, granted they fulfill the prerequisites.
Currently, Butler faculty and staff only need to work here for nine months in order to get full tuition waived for their family members in accordance with the tuition remission program. The new plan will make faculty and staff work for one year to get a 50-percent tuition discount and three years for a full tuition remission.
This new plan will make Butler less desirable to prospective employees. Highly acclaimed professors could opt to work at another university because the burden of bearing college tuition these days is absurd.
It would be a shame if this new remission plan was the deal breaker that scared away top candidates for a position. The new benefits plan could be the detail that makes Butler a second option to a prospective worker.
That could result in a less qualified person filling the employment void. Butler cannot continue to improve at a rapid rate by hiring B-level talent.
In the past few years, Butler’s student body has increased in population and in talent. The average high school GPA in the freshman class was 3.76 this year. The university needs to continue hiring the best talent it can in order to give the students the education they deserve.
Represenatives of the university travel the nation to raise money and promote the great things going on here. The proposed plan could water down students’ education by scaring away top teaching talent. Administrators need to decide if they want to turn Butler into a business or keep it a university.
Tuition rises annually and students have continued to pay it. In return, these students should get the best available education and not have a diluted product because the best talent will not want to work here.
