Medill students were surprised to learn this week they would no longer be receiving U-Passes to subsidize their travel costs to and from Chicago for a required class.
In previous years, student enrolled in Journalism 301, Enterprise Reporting in Diverse Communities, were given passes for unlimited Chicago Transit Authority rides. This fall, students have instead been given six CTA passes per week, each with enough fare for a one-way El ride, so they can travel to the city for two classes in storefront newsrooms and an additional day of reporting.
Medill did not make the decision to stop distributing U-Passes, said Michele Bitoun, senior director of undergraduate education and teaching excellence.
“We learned this summer that CTA won’t give us U-Passes for just a portion of our students,” Bitoun said. “We’d have to buy them for all of them.”
However, Bitoun said there have not been any discussions about providing U-Passes to all students.
“We’re looking at it as an academic need,” Bitoun said. “We wanted to pay for what we were requiring in a class, which is going downtown to these storefronts.”
Bitoun said Medill was “testing” the new plan to provide individual CTA passes each week during Fall Quarter.
“We feel very strongly that we didn’t want students going to the storefronts twice a week without helping them financially,” Bitoun said. “It’s a great learning experience for them, and we want to support that.”
Bitoun said she did not know if Medill would be able to increase the number of CTA passes distributed to students each week, due to financial constraints.
Medill sophomore Jenny Starrs is enrolled in 301 this quarter, and she said the new policy might limit her reporting in Edgewater, where her class is located.
“It will be a burden on my finances and my classmate’s finances,” Starrs said. “We might see its effect in our classwork. It could interfere with our reporting.”
Bitoun said Medill was trying to work with the students in providing this new option.
“The other side of this is we could just tell students they’re on their own,” Bitoun said. “We really don’t want that to happen.”
Jamie Toplin, a Medill sophomore also enrolled in the course, said she has not been affected by the change yet.
“It’s the first week of class,” Toplin said. “Tomorrow will be my first trip to the city outside of class.”
However, Toplin said the new passes might become “frustrating” when working on final projects that require more reporting.
Students have also raised the issue that they now may have to pay out-of-pocket for transfers on the El because they no longer have unlimited rides. Bitoun countered that concern, explaining that 301 students do not have to purchase books.
“You have to buy books for other classes,” Bitoun said. “Those are very costly too.”
— Cat Zakrzewski
