Students Not Dollar Signs: A Deeper Look into Capitalism on the FSU Campus

By Latisha Lewis, Dominique Elias, and Andrew Beachy

This article has a companion piece that also investigate money on campus. Read the side article here: Students Not Dollar Signs: Struggling with Money on Campus

Students in the United States are the highest population in debt averaging at 1.2 trillion dollars and that number is steadily rising with no reprieve in sight. Walking around campus, one could wonder, asking themselves the simple question why do things cost what they cost? As students we don’t ask enough questions, we just accept the dollar signs we are expected to pay. Many say that our educational system is an institutional scheme that we all have to buy into or we will never amount to anything. One thing that is for sure is that we will amass thousands of dollars in debt that our own country can’t even ensure will ever be paid back in full, let alone even a career that could allow us to do so. We become prisoners to a system that we were taught from such a young age is the only way. Many argue our education should be free, simply a right for everyone, but that can only exist in an ideal utopian world. However, whenever you do begin to ask questions about your tuition, mandatory fees, your meal plan, or the simple cost of books at the university store, it becomes knowledge that is not usually disclosed or some huge secret.

Paying Your Bills: The Billing Office

Jacquie Broadwater takes a second
to pose for a picture

Along their other money concerns, students at FSU will almost always have to work with the campus Billing Office in order to actually pay for their schooling. Students also might have the visit the Billing Office to clear up any holds that might be on their accounts. As one of the faces of the Billing Office that students often see, Jacquie Broadwater sometimes has to work
with frustrated students who might think that the institution is just there to make money off of them.

Jacquie, an accounting clerk in the Office for three and a half years, sometimes hears that complaint. She clarified the situation, saying “We are the ones who take in the money, but that money goes straight to the departments or to the appropriate accounts. She continued, saying “We can understand that it is frustrating sometimes. We do try our best to help [students] understand that [the university policies] are just something we have to abide by.”

That doesn’t mean that Jacquie doesn’t sympathize with the students. “Students’ accounts are very important to us,” she said. “If you do have a balance on your account, it does hold you up from getting a transcript or registering, so it’s really important that student take care of their accounts. We do strive to help students as best as we can. We’re not there to be negative or hold them back or keep them from getting their degrees.”

"We do strive to help students as best as we can. We’re not there to be negative or hold them back or keep them from getting their degrees."

Sometimes students might wonder why the cost of tuition keeps going up, and again they go to the Billing Office to vent their frustrations. As Jacquie put it, FSU only has minimal say in the determination of costs. “[The costs are] determined through the Maryland’s Board of Regents. The costs get approved by them, so it’s not something that we get too much say in deciding. Adjustments to costs need to be approved by a power higher than FSU itself,” she said.

Still, there doesn’t seem to be a good way for students to voice their concerns about the rising costs of attending FSU. As one freshman put it, “I just pay what they tell me to pay. It’s not like I can ask any questions.” In response, Jacquie said “In our meeting with the new president, that was an issue brought up by some faculty and students who had questions regarding the cost of attendance. Students can come to us, and we can address their concerns to our higher department, or they could go to the Board of Regents’ website to express their concerns.” [follow the link to visit the website of the Board of Regents]

The campus bookstore, a sight that
many students are used to.

The Better Alternative: Amazon vs. Campus Bookstore

Katelyn Massey, a sophomore at FSU, blatantly expresses her problems with the bookstore, saying “The bookstore overprices. It costs almost the same amount to rent a book as it does to buy one.” She goes on to say, “I paid $140 for a book and only received $40 back at the end of the semester.” She just wants to know where the revenue collected from books goes on campus.

Assistant Manager of textbooks and store operations, Kenneth Emerick was determined through his interview to diminish the “bad guy” stereotype of the bookstore. The book store really does not control the specific books chosen. The professors of FSU compile a list before the end of eveyr semester requesting specific texts for their class. As a result, when students register for a certain course they can see the mandatory text list on their paws account, which is determined by that professor of that class. “Students think that we control the brands, type, and especially editions [of the books that is offered in the bookstore], but that is not the case”.  

As the buyer, the university store first looks to see if the professor “wants a book to be new or used”. If the book is new, we first look at the retail price that the publisher is selling the book for. Then we get in contact with the publisher requesting a certain amount, “usually trying to see if there are any discounts that can be applied since we usually have to buy large amounts”. The amount of books that we buy from the publisher is determined by “the demand of the class”. Even if there is now a discount that transpires between the university store and the publisher “we still sell it to the students of [Frostburg State University] at a discounted price. “Used books are a little different”, the university store looks at the wholesale price which is determined by 20% market price and demand of the book. The university store in return will sell the book at half of its retail price.

"The university store's goal is not to trick or finagle students out of their money. Our ultimate goal is to get the best price while continuously remaining convenient for students."

Books that come with access codes have now become a popular style of book amongst faculty of the science and math majors. “The only problem with that is that books with access codes cannot be purchased used." “Once an access code is used it cannot be used again and it makes the book useless”. Access code books are usually the most expensive. However, the Ebook program has not been a “hot commodity amongst students, which is surprising”. EBook are the electrical virgin of a paperback text. Students just access their books online. In the past 5 years, the University Store has had to come up with innovative ways to stay “relevant and fair” due to a decrease in sales due to their heavy competitors. The “rental program is [the university store's] most competitive platform. They started the rental program to encourage students to start back at being customers at the store. The university store “has the best interest of the students” because the store, according to Emerick, actually causes the store to “lose money”. It takes “the book to be rented three times in order for the store to make a profit”.   In addition, the university store hired a programming company to revamp the book store website to the point where now when you look up the required book listed for a class, “the university store now shows you the other competitors and their prices”. From that exact page “students can click on the other vendors and their prices and buy the book from their website”.  The university store "wants to help students succeed in school and their pockets”.

"The university store's goal is not to trick or finagle students out of their money. Our ultimate goal is to get the best price while continuously remaining convenient for students."

To view the bookstore's prices and compare them to other retailers, follow this link: Price Compare

Michael Glenn at his desk

Money and Meal Plans

Student Katelyn Massey expresses how she feels about dining, saying “All of the prices are excessive. Usability is inconvenient. Why should they tell us when to use our meal plans when we pay for them?” On the other hand, Massey is fond of the meal deals that were offered this school year.

She goes on to say, “I feel that we should be able to get a full meal with our meal equivalency at Appalachian station as well as Subway.” Massey criticizes that the meal equivalency for some meals are bigger than others.

Furthermore, Massey explains to me what she feels is a struggle meal. If she is out of bonus bucks, Massey has to purchase a meal with no drink.

Michael Glenn is the Director of dining services here at Frostburg State University. May 23 of this year will make it exactly two years from when he began the position.  Glenn points out that dining service prices are contractual and set years ago. Furthermore, he explains the somewhat complicated procedures that have to be taken yearly to set prices. He says the CPI (consumer price index) is figured out in December and Chartwell’s contract stipulates they use the food away from home category. Glenn then states, “By contract we are allowed to change prices yearly.”  Furthermore, he says, “We try to stay consistent with the year’s national pricing.”

"All of the prices are excessive. Usability is inconvenient. Why should they tell us when to use our meal plans when we pay for them?"

Chartwells has several chain establishments on campus: Chic-Fil-A, Moe’s, Subway, and Starbucks. When questioned about how the prices for these establishments are created he says, “We try to stay consistent with the year’s national pricing, we try to see where our prices match up with these same locations nearby.” He elaborates on pricing, “Subway primarily belongs to the Chartwells so we are allowed to set this pricing, but Chic-Fil-A’s pricing is the same as the one in the Country Club Mall. Moe’s pricing matches the one in Hagerstown and Starbucks' matches one outside as well.”

Glenn admits there is a spike in debit and cash usage when meal plans aren’t usable. Still, there is more revenue collected during meal hours there because a large percentage of Appalachian Station’s income is collected from meal plans.

Granted, Glenn has worked at campuses other than FSU and he believes that, “Pricing is consistent with most of the schools in Maryland; some of the meal plans at Towson are much higher.”

Students at FSU have a certain number of meals per week, and the meal plan that a student purchases dictates how many meals are at their disposal weekly. However, if these meals are unaccounted for, they do not roll over. Glenn tells me, “It’s contractual how the university says the meal plans are built. Now that we know number-wise what to expect we can plan; if meals rolled over it could create service issues.”

Nevertheless, Glenn’s department has implemented meal deals at participating places on campus. He believes it has been very beneficial to students. Moreover, Glenn only receives around one complaint a week. There is also a monthly director’s dinner where students are able to meet and discuss their concerns with dining faculty.

For more information about meal plans nationwide, follow this link: College Meal Plans

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Nationally students are struggling with the cost of attendance; therefore, we are avid to vote for politicians who advocating for free college and student loan help. Moreover, student’s stressors are enhanced with worries of how to pay for books and meal plans. However, faculty such as Jacquie Broadwater and Michael Glenn are lending helping hands to make the experience easier. However, we believe the problem is extremely widespread and needs to be tackled at a federal level.