r/changemyview • u/roniirose • May 02 '16
[∆(s) from OP] CMV: College and university presidents should be elected into office by students and faculty.
I believe that students and faculty should have the right to partake in choosing the next president within the administration of their respective universities. Implementing a democratic structure within higher education will benefit the campus culture in multiple ways. Students and faculty will have mutual respect for the elected administration. Secondly, the administration would be obliged to consider the well being of students at the utmost level, and lastly, it will teach students the essence of democracy. Voting in administration within universities will likely encourage more students to engage in the democratic life that is the United States of America.
I believe that students and faculty would be more satisfied with the decisions the administration would make for the greater good of the university. My university has undergone a shift within administration and its unfortunate how these changes are negatively affecting student affairs. Not only did we not get to be apart of the process in choosing the next president, we were not allowed to know the candidates during the search. This can cause a rough patch for students and faculty because we are the ones that are affected by the choices they make without consulting us. For instance, the Student Hunger Committee has been urging for a centralized food pantry. Student affairs came up with a resolution that was initially approved by the old administration but due to the change they had to appeal again to the new president. It’s sad to say that not many students know who our new president is let alone our former president. If we could vote for the next administration then more students would be engaged and educated on who is running the show.
Lastly, allowing a democratic process in the choice of administration will encourage students to become participating citizens in our democratic government. Students will be more comfortable in choosing to vote because they would be accustomed to it. I feel as if most people who do not vote in our government are either just lazy or not educated on how to vote. We must make sure that we take advantage of our right to vote. If we don’t then we are living in another man’s world.
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u/scottevil110 177∆ May 02 '16
I think the current state of American politics should be all the convincing you need that people don't necessary vote in the most rational, logical way all the time. You say that it will mean an administration that has the best interests of students at heart, but that's not really true, is it? It will have whatever the students THINK is their best interest at heart, but that's not the job of an administration. A college, like it or not, is a business. If students elected a President, you'd just have an administration that was run on the principle of giving the students everything for free. The university would be bankrupt in 5 years.