University of the Cumberlands Student Newspaper Spring 2024
Issue 4
March 28, 2024 Inside A1 A3 A4
News Sports Lifestyle
Sports
Lifestyle
UC Tennis
Women’s Day
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PHOTO BY SUMMER MILLS
Changes Are Made
Striking Conversations Started by Travel Money BY: SUMMER MILLS EDITOR IN CHIEF
University administration heard students’ opinions in an effort to raise the amount of meal money each person receives while on university-approved trips. This belief resonated with many people. After displaying the ideas in varying forms, from writing to graphics to videos, the administration chose to listen. The newspaper and many other clubs on campus have received $7.00 a meal for traveling. Depending on the day and whether there is breakfast at the hotel, the amount would go from $21.00 to $14.00 since the implication is that students will eat at the hotel. The amount has been the same for over 20 years. Many students and faculty have reached out with their thoughts on the opinion piece about this topic published in a previous issue of The Patriot. One student says that she “used to skip breakfast when [she] went on school trips so
[she] could [use] that money towards lunch/ dinner.” Another student who worked with the newspaper before notes that he had “always thought of this during [his] time [here].” While students are outspoken, it could be hard to gauge what faculty think about the situation. The wondering did not go on for long until several faculty approached newspaper staff and mentioned how much they agreed with the article. Even some faculty members experienced similar issues and did not know the extra steps they could take to meet their financial needs. After meeting with the administration, it has become clear that they will reimburse students for money they spend over the allotted $7.00 and that everyone “should know this.” To get money back, students must bring their receipts back from trips and give them to their sponsor or coach. Afterward, the sponsor will
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turn them in to finance to get each person’s money back. The specific limits to how much finance will reimburse are not set but could be in the future. Going forward, Quentin Young, the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the University of the Cumberlands, says, “We will also be increasing the non-receipt meal mon ey amount in the coming academic year. This update will hopefully address some of the need[s] of departments requesting adjustments for ordinary travel.” This move will certainly help sponsors and students decide their needs for future trips. Different standards may apply to sports and clubs. Many people do not travel with the university outside of sports. Therefore, distinguishing guidelines for smaller organizations can be more challenging for the school. The CFO says, “Some academic trips may be more expensive than the local area. While this type of student academic travel is limited in frequency, we do rely upon departments or club sponsors to request travel dollars that are appropriate and reasonable for students to travel with.” The majority of clubs have individuals buying their meals. However, some sports teams have their coaches buy one type of meal for every athlete. The financial needs vary due to these differences. The administration will work to ensure that everyone is up to date on the guidelines for traveling finances. Young says, “The Finance & Budget Office will be communicating to academic departments on how they may request appropriate travel funds for students when the need arises.” Clubs and sports should be aware of everything that has to do with their budget and expenses. Going forward, everyone should know that staff and students can get their money back. Individuals should keep track of how much they spend on these trips. When the department and clubs make the budget for each year, they must ensure enough money is requested to cover trips and amenities.
Eight Weeks Too Quick
BY: ALLY KENNEDY
Language Courses at the University of the Cumberlands
is borderline impossible. Spanish and French are the only languages offered here at the UniSTAFF WRITER versity of the Cumberlands. These languages are essential but can be severely challenging to learn when students have a larger workload in a shorter time. There is, however, a simple fix. The university should require world language classes to be in 16-week increments. Although the University of the Cumberlands participates in bi-terms, certain classes span 16 weeks. For example, there are art classes that surpass the eight-week timeframe. While a few world language classes are offered for 16 weeks, every language class should have the same opportunity. Layne Schooley, a student at the CumGRAPHIC COURTESY OF LACIE DEGOUGH berlands, believes that “Learning a new language is difficult and takes a lot of time to study.” While the University of the Cumber- She continues, “There are so many different lands is like other colleges because it has two rules and irregularities that I’ve had to memosemesters a year, the academic schedule is rize in both French and Spanish. I think that it unique to other schools. Instead of having 16- would be best to have the language courses as week classes, each semester has bi-terms. This 16-week classes instead of eight. Having the setup allows students to take more classes but chapters spread out more also helps with longhas downsides. With most classes only being term memorization because we aren’t moving eight weeks long, it forces students to learn from one section to another at breakneck speed.” much quicker than 16-week classes at othWhen talking to Spanish Professor Jener universities. While this seems to be work- nifer Marsh, she mentioned that she has taught ing well, there are a few problem areas, mainly eight- and 16-week courses. When asked which the World Languages & Cultures courses. she believed was better for students to learn While learning a language is difficult from, she replied, “It has been my experience enough, trying to learn a language in two months that the 16-week length is usually better.” She
explained that when asked to do an interview, she researched and learned about spaced and massed learning. While talking about these different learning methods, she explained how this applied to learning another language and how there were studies that backed the information. Spaced learning is spread out over time, while massed learning is learning in a shorter time. She mentioned that research indicates that spaced learning is more retainable for students, especially when taking classes about language. When asked if she thought eight weeks was too short to comprehend all the information in class, she responded, “It’s tough. Some students are okay with the eight weeks. They do fine, but I think some would benefit from having the 16 weeks.” She continues to say that the World Languages & Cultures department has a mix of these classes but overall, she thinks 16 weeks is the way to go in this department. Learning a new language can be highly challenging for some students. Students and professors both agree with that. Sometimes, eight weeks is not enough time to fully understand a course. Since some classes are already 16 weeks, it would make sense for all World Language & Culture courses to be that way. Although eight-week classes seem to work most of the time, there should at least be options for classes students deem difficult.
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