President Slabach Holds 2020 Town Hall Meeting

President Slabach addressed student concerns and fielded questions during the 2020 Town Hall Meeting in Nicholas Martin Hall Tuesday afternoon.

In the town hall meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, Slabach addressed an array of current issues, most notably the new credit hour block changes.

“The changes in the block rate just covers the number of hours that are included in the block rate, it does not limit students to take only 16 credit hours, students can still take more than 16 credit hours,” Slabach said.

Slabach went on to say that this should clear up any confusion students may have regarding the university limiting the number of hours a student could take in a semester.

“The block rate is $15,150 that is based on 15 credit hours, if you take 16 credit hours on the block rate, you will only be paying for 15 credit hours, so you will be getting a discount of $1,010,” Slabach said.

Slabach also commented on Wesleyan’s value as a university, citing the low tuition rates compared to peer institutions such as the University of St. Thomas.

“We are the third lowest tuition of all of our peer institutions, we think that it’s all the more remarkable that we are able to keep the rate of tuition lower compared to our peers because we believe that we provide one of the highest quality educations available,” Slabach said.

Lady Rams midfielder Lynzie Moore voiced concern over bringing in quality student athletes due to the low amounts given out for athletic scholarships.

“It’s very hard bring in national titles when already we are having problems meeting quotas of 32 players on teams that require 11 players on the field at one time,” Moore said.

Another student had stated that the smaller and smarter aspect of the university was going away due to these new changes.

Student Alyssa Hutchinson agrees, “I don’t feel like the decision for the new block rate was made with the success of the students in mind, of all 33 degrees listed on the website 20 of them require semesters over 16 hours.

“that means that 60% of students are going to be affected by the block rate change, maybe not this year but next year, and if not next year then the year after that.”