G C C E lV a q u e r o G CC_ElVaq
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e l .va q u e r o . g c c e lva q . g c c Wednesday, October 2, 2019 Glendale Community College Student Newspaper
Volume 114 | Issue 2
Student ID Fees: A Matter of Ethics? ANALYSIS GCC quietly changes the process for ID cards after potentially not being in compliance with state regulations
Anahit Sydney & Gabriel Ponce Staff Illustrators
By Eian Gil Staff Writer If you’ve noticed a change in getting your student ID this year, it might be that you weren’t asked to shell out $10 for it this time. As of July 1, 2019, Glendale College will no longer charge for student IDs. In fact, the school should not have been charging for them in the first place. The issue of our school possibly breaking state regulation was first brought forward by a local Burbank blogger, who runs the site semichorus.wordpress.com, in late August. The blogger’s reporting eventually got picked up by the Los Angeles Times last month, leading to our college’s admission of fault and the subsequent policy change. College students are known for their ability to stretch a dollar thanks to the growing cost of pursuing higher education. Unfortunately, for students who were here before this semester, those $10 you’ve spent on an ID in the past were essentially stolen. The California Community College Chancellor’s Office has been tasked with creating guidelines for community colleges around our state for years, and if you take a look at the
updated student fee handbook, it becomes apparent that GCC has been charging students unrightfully for years. In section 4.4 of the handbook, it’s stated that: “ … student ID cards do not fall under the definition of ‘instructional materials’ and thus, charging a fee for a student ID card cannot be justified.” Along with this standard for college policy, there is also a devastatingly clear warning to schools, urging that districts should “ensure that all of their materials describing optional student ID card fees clearly describe the optional nature of the fees.” The latest student fee handbook quoted above was released in 2012, meaning GCC should have been aware of the guidelines set and was negligent in their commitment to their students. With an estimated 3,000 new students registering every semester, GCC has been questionably farming its student’s cash for years now. Although most students only acquire their ID once in their time at GCC, those new students seriously contributed to the profits made from ID sales. According to Drew Sugars, the Dean of Communications and Relations at GCC, roughly $65,000 was collected each year the ID fee was in place. With this figure, it’s reasonable to estimate that from the
time of publication of the student fee’s handbook in 2012 to the official policy change around the end of August this year, GCC collected around $390,000 from ID sales alone. Keep in mind that these ID cards only cost around a dollar to make, El Vaquero found, especially in such huge quantities to account for the thousands of students. When approached by the Los Angeles Times for confirmation, Sugars portrayed the situation as a simple oversight in the article, mentioning how glad he was it was brought to staff’s attention. Despite the claim of ignorance, it could easily be argued that the school was aware of this policy since it was set, and has been avoiding accusations of wrong-doing through the language used to explain the process of obtaining an ID. Before changes were made to the website, the ID section of the college’s student page stated that: “All students are asked to purchase an ID card.” The subtle difference in posing the statement as students having an option could be what has kept this issue from blowing up as it has the past few months, since it can technically be interpreted as adhering to state regulation. Obviously most students see themselves as not
having the option to choose between free or paid IDs, especially when they’re in line to take their photo right beside waiting cashboxes. When asked for comment by El Vaquero, Sugars acknowledged the confusing language on the website and provided additional information on the issue. According to Sugars, GCC actually planned to stop charging for student IDs a few months ago, in an effort to help students save money as part of “The GCC Promise.” He also explained that the Times story was what prompted a review of school services, and the eventual policy change, stating that: “The LA Times story prompted the decision to immediately stop assessing the fee prior to the Student Fees and Tuition Governance Committee approval.” [“Student ID Fees” continued on page 2]
In This Issue News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Editorial/Opinion. . . . 5 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Entertainment . . . . 7-8