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This post is authored by Maria K. Giannopoulos,   Vice Chair of the Associated Students of Madison at the  University of Wisconsin-Madison. She can be reached at  mgiannopoulo@wisc.edu  In an article  published by the Chronicle of Higher Education earlier this week, Anil Wadhwani of Northwestern and Jonathan Green of Cambridge describe how the Northwestern University administration is giving students a voice in the college budget process. To some, giving students a voice regarding the use of their fees may be a no-brainer, but at many institutions administrators and staff unilaterally decide the distribution of fees and ideas for student services. The authors cite "shortsighted vision" and high student turnover as possible reasons to limit student engagement in the fee process. But at Northwestern, administration finally realized that despite these potential issues, student input was valuable and attainable. In Wisconsin, our conception of stud...

Several elements in today's news caught my eye.  Here are things worth watching more closely... ... A Tennessee bill that would link Temporary Aid to Needy Families to poor children's school performance. Senate Bill 132, which appears to have legs, would cut up to 30% of a family's cash assistance if a child in the family failed to meet satisfactory academic progress in school.  This approach is consistent with a policy trend towards individualizing societal problems and blaming victimless children and their families for collective failures to protect "we" the people. ... Trends in student fees . While most of the country is tracking rising tuition, how many people realize that institutions can fairly easily raise revenue while escaping scrutiny by leaning on fees? What are the links between rising student fees and efforts by colleges and universities to " pay for the party " that they think upper-class students demand? ... Year Up . According to a new ...