Blog 5: Illinibucks

An "Illinibucks" system would likely be highly complicated to set up and implement, with the extremely large size of our student body and the University system only exacerbating the problem. Since the prompt was fairly open-ended on the specifics of how an Illinibucks system would work, I will make some assumptions. As was said in the prompt, I will assume that Illinibucks can only be used to move ahead in the many queuing situations around campus, with the University administration setting the price for moving ahead. I will assume that each student is given an equal allocation of Illinibucks, although other systems of allocation could possibly exist, such as upperclassmen being allocated more Illinibucks than underclassmen or making the Dean's List meaning an extra allocation of Illinibucks for the next semester. I will also assume that the Illinibucks method of gaining priority overrules other types of priority, i.e. someone using Illinibucks during class registration would jump ahead of the honors students. In the hypothetical Illinibucks system that I imagine, if two students use their Illinibucks at around the same time, the first student to use them moves to the front of the line, while the second student has the option of paying just the base price to be placed just behind the first or "bidding up" and paying extra to be placed in front of the first student. The second option will cause a sort of "fast lane" line of Illinibucks-paying students to develop in front of the regular line. For resources on campus that are limited in supply, in many cases the Illinibucks will result in an effective transfer of some amount of that resource from non-Illinibucks-paying to Illinibucks-paying students, as inevitably the students using Illinibucks will receive some amount of that resource that would've gone to other students otherwise.

            As was said in the prompt, the Illinibucks will be used only for moving ahead in queuing situations. The situations that would make good candidates for this include the priorities given when registering for classes online, physical lines at the Union Bookstore, and entry into the various events on campus, such as football games and concerts. The situations that will be the most popular candidates for Illnibucks usage will likely be the ones where the desired goods are limited in supply and running out is a concern, such as registering for classes, so the Illinibucks help you to obtain goods that you might not have been able to otherwise. Situations where supplies are usually considered not likely to run out, such as the line for new I-cards in the back of the Union Bookstore, would likely be less popular candidates for Illinibucks usage because using them in those situations only saves you time, while using Illinibucks in situations where running out of resources is a concern both saves you time and results in an effective transfer of a limited resource to you. Using the Illinibucks in one situation versus another could be considered to have an opportunity cost. An exception to the aforementioned rule might be the checkout line at the Union Bookstore, since, while supplies are limited, the line does not determine who gets the supplies -- once you are in line, the supplies in your basket already are effectively yours. Going through the jumble of people in the basement to grab the books you need off the shelves determines who gets the books. If a queuing situation was created for getting books in the basement, jumping ahead in that line would likely be more popular than jumping ahead in the checkout line. The most popular use for Illinibucks, however, would likely be gaining priority during course registration. A student registers for all their classes at the same time, meaning a single purchase of priority will help a student get all the classes they want for the next semester, with likely a more favorable schedule (such as no 8 a.m. classes) than they would have had otherwise. This purchase can also lead to more favorable outcomes like graduating early due to required courses getting finished in a more timely manner. As most students are presumably attending the University primarily to take the required classes and graduate, course registration is where many students would benefit the most from Illinibucks. Because of my priorities, course registration would be my first priority when budgeting my use of Illinibucks, and getting entry to events with limited seating such as football games would be my next priority. I would be unlikely to use my Illinibucks in situations that do not result in a transfer of limited supplies from others, like the bookstore checkout line. Those situations would only save me time. Other possible good candidates for Illinibucks would include lines at dining halls and signing up for housing, as both of those situations involve lines for limited and desirable resources, i.e. food and desirable rooms in housing, respectively.

            Pricing the use of Illinibucks would have to be done carefully. Setting prices too low in terms of Illinibucks would allow too many people to use Illinibucks in too many situations, resulting in little benefit obtained from use of Illinibucks since many people would be gaining priority. Allowing students to bid over each other to get ahead of people that used less Illinibucks would make mitigate the inefficiency of this situation, as the people that want to move ahead in priority the most (and are therefore willing to spend the most) will be able to move ahead of the students that want priority less. Setting prices too high would also result in little benefit being obtained by students, as Illinibucks could only be used very sparingly and a student would hardly ever be able to obtain benefits.