IUSA falls short

The IU Student Association voted unanimously Tuesday night on a resolution to support the decision to raise IU's admissions standards. In bringing the resolution to the table, IUSA implied its support of IU President Adam Herbert's decision to raise standards at IU-Bloomington. Earlier this month, Herbert charged Interim IU-Bloomington Chancellor Ken Gros Louis with the task of beginning IUB's effort to raise the bar. \nIUSA scrambled to stamp its approval on an initiative already being implemented by the Bloomington Faculty Council in an attempt to bolster its own credibility with the student body. But is this really its purpose? IUSA would do better to provide a useful service to students instead -- by making students aware of the implications of raising admissions standards and how the process will be carried out. \nThe task of raising admissions standards will not be easy. Herbert, in charging Gros Louis with raising admissions standards, set forth no clear parameters for how that end will be achieved. IUB could raise the minimum numbers for standardized test scores and high school Grade Point Averages. We could set aside more funds for scholarship programs like the Kelley Scholars and Wells Scholars programs in an attempt to enroll the best and the brightest. We could add an essay to the admissions application. Students need to be aware of the choices confronting administrators charged with the task of raising standards.\nIf admissions standards are raised, there will undoubtedly be some students at IUB who no longer meet those standards. Changes could affect how financial aid is rewarded, as well. Many public universities that raise admissions standards enroll a higher number of students from out of state, refusing more in-state students as a result. Higher admissions standards could bring about positive changes on campus as well. Higher standards could improve the prestige of the school, attracting better students and professors, as well as more funding to improve academic programs at IUB. \nDo IUB students actually want higher admissions standards? If anyone should know, it's IUSA. When faced with such a controversial initiative, IUSA has the responsibility to inform students and determine the will of the student body. IUSA can't represent the will of the student body to the administration if students don't know what's going on.\nIUSA did bring attention to the admissions standards initiative when it passed its resolution in support of it Tuesday night. But before the resolution was passed, IUSA should have made sure that students were aware of the issue and had pledged their support to the initiative. \nMany students on campus are not aware of how higher admissions standards will affect their lives or their families. The administration hasn't been clear about its strategies for changing admissions policies. But as our voice to the administration, IUSA has an obligation to find out how admissions standards will be changed, and to inform students of the facts. Only then will students have a voice at this University.