Student Calls School's PR Efforts 'A Waste'
Well here we go. Tennessee students getting their voice out into the news about public relations. Students at Middle Tennessee State University spend time wondering if the government is wasting the money of the tax payers. Gov. Phil Bredesen has made it clear that universities across the state will have to slash millions of dollars. That's why Middle Tennessee State University’s decision to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars on a public relations campaign seems outrageous to some.
MTSU leaders are promoting a fee hike to build a new parking garage. To accomplish this students must vote to approve paying extra for it. The university is spending ten thousand dollars of the tax payers dollars, just to hire a public relations consultant to help execute the campaign.
Students are saying it is a waste. The university’s purse strings are already tight. They say that its college and students already have to keep a tight budget and tighten their belts. They are even asking the board to take another look at some programs and make necessary cuts, and by making those cuts to justify an expenditure like that of a garage and on a marketing firm. The students often question the priorities of the school.
"This project was really too big for any one of us to deal with," said Tom Tozer, director of MTSU news and public affairs. "You need somebody who can kind of stand back and manage it."
Students are saying, "Especially in financial times like this, you have to list everything, your most important expenditures," said Hurtt. "And a $10,000 marketing ploy and a garage, at this point, I don't think ranks very high on that list."
This comment doesn’t sound like the students will ever have much say in what really goes on through out the school. ” University officials are standing by their spending and said this isn't the first time they've hired from the outside for public relations help.”
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I don't understand why they are even putting up a parking garage. If they don't have one now can't having one wait. Why make cost cuts in other areas of the school that are probably being put to good use to create a parking garage.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it doesn't seem that the students have much say. When it comes down to it they would most likely be the ones useing the garage so you would think they would have more of a say. Especially since their tuition are most likely to increase to help fund more areas. I say scrap the garage idea and focus on improving the education.
I would have to take sides with the students on this one. It just seems absurd that the school would even consider this, especially with the economy like it is. On top of that they are hiring more public relations help because they dont even feel they can manage the whole project by themselves. That doesnt sound like a very confident in the people you have working for you. Valley City State clearly needs more parking around campus be we have been dealing with it and will continue to deal with it because it is obviously not a priority at this time.
ReplyDeleteI think that this whole situation is ridiculous and very unnecessary. If they really feel that this whole car garage is important then they should find people to fund it and not use the tax payer’s money for it. And they definitely don’t need to make cuts in other areas which would affect the students. I think that this is really bad PR for the school; they don’t have their priorities set. Mike made a good point about VCSU, the parking lots are not big enough and half the time people have to park a block or two away from the campus. But that’s not an issue right now for us because it can’t be.
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