Fast approaching may be an opportunity for CCSU students to meet with real, live legislators at the Capitol building in Hartford. Students have received emails from the Student Government Association, asking them to join in on a trip to Hartford April 14 to express their views on tuition increases and the cost of education.
The idea is a great one – why wouldn’t CCSU students want to get involved in the way their university system is represented at the state capitol?
Unfortunately, asking students to complain about the inevitable rise in education costs will produce little or no results after a conversation with legislators – the same people who have to think about plan for mitigating a $500 million plus budget deficit. While education is obviously a priority, legislators have countless things to worry about. In the end, fighting over tuition increases is futile and a waste of time – they are inevitable, as are other education costs like textbooks.
The SGA, and whoever else is responsible for marketing this trip, has to consider this, and probably should have thought up a better purpose for creating a dialogue between students and lawmakers.
For example, the discussion could focus on only the positives of attending CCSU, and why its students deserve more financial aid, or money to fund renovation or construction projects. Or, more importantly, why CCSU needs to hire more faculty and staff to take care of the Registrar vacancies. If students can showcase what we have now and how best CCSU makes use of it, it will be an easier argument made to say that CCSU can do “x, y and z” with more resources. A more difficult task, we know, but in the end it’s one that will reduce the amount of unproductive ranting.
Besides, lobbying is supposed to focus on the positives and why the represented group really needs more money to keep its positive contributions going. CCSU has the opportunity to stand out against the backdrop of higher tuition increase-protesting University of Connecticut students, or maybe even the other CSU schools and their complaints.
Instead, students should read, learn and prepare for what to say and the ultimate presentation that CCSU students can make in front of the Connecticut General Assembly, if they do plan on making the trip in April. Alternately, it would reflect poorly on the university if students – especially the SGA – traveled to the capitol to complain. At the very least they could promote a real conversation about what students think and how the state can make life here just a little bit easier – not expound on the existing difficulties.