A hypothetical consideration of Illinibucks

Considering a hypothetical allocation of “Illinibucks”, one could imagine countless conveniences these tickets might offer a student on our campus. When I first read the scenario, my mind went to the ways in which Illinibucks might be allocated. For example, would students receive a lump sum of Illinibucks credited to their account upon their enrollment? Or would each student receive a fixed amount at the start of each semester? Perhaps the quantity of Illinibucks might be scaled up each year, based on seniority standing, or in proportion to the number of credit hours a student is taking. Another option would be using Illinibucks as a reward system, so that students received them at the end of their semester based on the grades they achieved.  

Since the scenario is hypothetical, we can imagine any one of these systems being implemented. It’s important to note that the method of allocation might influence the incentives of the system. If students earn their bucks in some way, they might place a higher value on them and spend them more carefully. If bucks are simply granted as an allowance, students may be less careful in their usage. Further, we can imagine that many students who struggle with budgeting would spend all their Illinibucks during their freshman year if a lump sum system were used.

Moving on to the uses for these Illinibucks, the most advantageous use for students seems to be if they could ‘buy’ themselves a better registration time slot. It is common knowledge that earlier registration affords better class selection, preferable scheduling, and reduced stress associated with registering. As students near the end of their collegiate years, they often need (or prefer) a very specific course to complete their degree, and they could use their Illinibucks to ensure the earliest registration slot possible so that they were guaranteed a seat. 

Other uses for Illinibucks might be more casual, like obtaining priority service in campus-affiliated stores and restaurants. Personally, there are many times when I stop in the bookstore on my way to class to grab Starbucks. During the ten-minute passing period, these lines are invariably long and you are almost guaranteed that the process of standing in line, ordering, and then waiting for your drink will take longer than the time allotted. Waiting in this line, I’ve witnessed many caffeine-deprived students forced to weigh the trade-off of coffee v. class. (For the sack of academia, I won’t comment on which option usually wins out…)

This is going to seem like an off-topic ramble, but I promise it relates to my previous paragraph.

If you’ve ever been to one of Disney’s amusement parks, you’re probably familiar with the ‘fast pass’ concept. If not, I’ll provide a brief description. The fast pass concept was introduced as a solution to impatient vacationers, sleep-deprived children, and stressed-out soccer moms. At its debut, fast pass holders could obtain a guaranteed time slot for a specific ride, so that they were able to roam the park, return to the ride during their time slot, and ride without any wait. One catch to this program was it required the fast pass user to make two separate trips to the ride, and they were only able to hold one fast pass at a time. In our techy world, Disney has since improved upon this concept by incorporating fast pass technology into the magic bands that all its park users wear on their wrist. In combination with the Disney parks app, users can now obtain fast passes at the click of a button and can plan their whole day of adventure to minimize wait times and maximize their fun.

I would propose a similar concept for the implementation of Illinibucks. Arguably every student on this campus has a smart phone. Incorporating an Illinibucks app, or even as a feature of the Illinois app already in existence, would enable students to track their balance, check waits at local establishments and take advantage of their bucks. While the Starbucks app already has a mobile order feature, it is frustratingly not compatible at any of the on-campus locations. Integrating this feature with an Illinibucks app would be another advantage of the Illinibuck system. As far as I see, it would be a win-win-win. Students could get their coffee, teachers would have better attendance, and the profits of the on-campus Starbucks would increase. (We can easily generalize this concept to any campus establishment.)

Briefly considering potential flaws of an Illinibucks system, if prices were not set accurately, students would not use their bucks, and things would be no different from how they are currently. Continuing with the Starbucks example, if the cost of my soy latte suddenly doubled with the use of Illinibucks, I would opt instead to pay with my Starbucks app and get the associated rewards, because this transaction would be more valuable to me. Unless of course Illinibucks were a “use it or lose it” situation, in which case I might care less about the cost, because I am out nothing. On the other hand, if prices were too low and everyone was ordering their coffee on the Illinibucks app, wait times might be as long, or longer, then they are now. In both cases, the costs of implementing the system would outweigh the benefits. In economic terms, deadweight loss would occur because of the misguided prices.

Assuming Illinbucks were a success, the university may try to broaden their applicability and usage on campus. Considering this future presents topics of ethical debate which would need to be accurately assessed at that time. For example, if students could use their Illinibucks to get priority office hours, those with the most bucks might monopolize professor time. A system in which Illinibucks provide unfair advantages or potentially hinders learning for any students would not be appropriate for the university, whose central focus is education. Rather, any proposed Illinibuck system would need to be Pareto Optimal; an improvement for all.