2008 Woodie Awards
No Ordinary Group
New Massachusetts PHENOM Group Fights For Public Higher Education in Massachusetts
TIM DIXON
Issue date: 4/23/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
It costs a lot to learn at UMass Boston. Annual in-state tuition runs a little more than $5000, while student fees round out to be a somewhere less than $800 a year, and don't forget the textbooks skyrocketing to be between $500 and $750 a semester. Don't fret; help is on the way.
The Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM), the first statewide organization to bring together students, faculty, parents and alumni from all 29 of Massachusetts' public college and university campuses, will go to the State House's Gardner auditorium on April 25 at 10 a.m. in order to air their grievances about the future direction state government will have regarding public higher education.
"We want to show up in large numbers, hopefully, and tell them that we think higher education should be a higher priority in the state then it is," said Alex Kulenovich, who serves both as a member of PHENOM as well as UMass Boston's current Student Trustee representative.
Recent cuts in funding towards public higher education concern Kulenovitch, but he aspires funding to reach a level they once achieved in past years in Massachusetts.
"Right now it is floating around 4 percent of the budget, and it used to be a lot higher," Kulenovich said. "I am hoping we can nudge things in a better direction, maybe get a little more funding then is currently proposed."
PHENOM will meet with state legislators to promote a set of five principles they believe will help improve the condition of public higher education. The first principle is to "fund public higher education so it can serve the Commonwealth," and to one day reach a point of budget financing that will better help improve the Massachusetts public higher education system.
The second principle is to "make public higher education affordable" with respect to costs ranging from tuition, fees, and textbook costs, so that poor, working-class, and middle class people could better afford a college education. A third aim is also to "make public higher education accessible to all," and that not race, class, disability, nor age should deter Massachusetts' residents from attending college.
The Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM), the first statewide organization to bring together students, faculty, parents and alumni from all 29 of Massachusetts' public college and university campuses, will go to the State House's Gardner auditorium on April 25 at 10 a.m. in order to air their grievances about the future direction state government will have regarding public higher education.
"We want to show up in large numbers, hopefully, and tell them that we think higher education should be a higher priority in the state then it is," said Alex Kulenovich, who serves both as a member of PHENOM as well as UMass Boston's current Student Trustee representative.
Recent cuts in funding towards public higher education concern Kulenovitch, but he aspires funding to reach a level they once achieved in past years in Massachusetts.
"Right now it is floating around 4 percent of the budget, and it used to be a lot higher," Kulenovich said. "I am hoping we can nudge things in a better direction, maybe get a little more funding then is currently proposed."
PHENOM will meet with state legislators to promote a set of five principles they believe will help improve the condition of public higher education. The first principle is to "fund public higher education so it can serve the Commonwealth," and to one day reach a point of budget financing that will better help improve the Massachusetts public higher education system.
The second principle is to "make public higher education affordable" with respect to costs ranging from tuition, fees, and textbook costs, so that poor, working-class, and middle class people could better afford a college education. A third aim is also to "make public higher education accessible to all," and that not race, class, disability, nor age should deter Massachusetts' residents from attending college.
Be the first to comment on this story