Thursday, January 15, 2009

MARCH Fee for non-Marquam Hill Students

I have been working with the Graduate Council and other "Powers-that-be" at OHSU to waive the MARCH Center fee for students that are not based on the Marquam Hill Campus or CHH, and therefore at a huge disadvantage to employ their required membership. But since I am a student on the Marquam Campus, I do not have a good means to know if students based elsewhere are still getting billed $139/term. I have one source based at the VGTI (West Campus) telling me that they have no MARCH bill this term, which is very good news.

If you are a non-Marquam Hill/CHH student and DO have a $139 bill (visible through ISIS login), please post a BRIEF comment below with your name and program; if you are not being billed, no comment is necessary. While I'm at a loss to do anything directly about those that are still getting billed, I can at least amass evidence to pass along. But hopefully this issue has been resolved...

Finally, I realize that many of you on the Marquam Campus remain upset that this fee is required, but that battle has been fought and lost for the time being; please reserve any posts here dealing directly with non-Marquam/CHH students still getting billed.

Much appreciated,

Dustin Johnsen
GSO President

9 comments:

c true said...

I am a west campuser that doesn't have a bill this term. I assume this means we no longer have membership to March Wellness? Is there any way we could pay the fee if we wanted to keep our membership?
-cadence true

d. said...

Yes, just contact MARCH. You should receive the same rate as everyone else.

-dj

Anonymous said...

I am on the hill. But just get rid of it in general. I don't go to the gym but do have to pay.

Insane if you ask me.

Good luck with it!

Anonymous said...

I am a part-timer on the west campus, but spend up to 75% if not more of my time on the west campus. Given that I also live in the NE, I already have to pay astronomical gas bills that are not compensated (and my only alternative is to spend over 4 hours commuting on the max and bus). While I understand that there are a number of people that appreciate the existence of the wellness center, I don't feel like people who do not and would not use the center should have to pay for it. I think this is especially true for those of us that already have to pay for uncompensated work-related expenses.

Anonymous said...

I think a lot of students on the hill are willing to lend whatever support we can to the people at the West Campus, but let's keep focused. It's kind of beside the point where you live and how much gas you buy--that's your choice to live in the NE if you spend so much time in Beaverton.

Also, it's important not to draw bright lines between people who do and don't use the center. Keep in mind that many students who do use the center might still prefer a different gym membership (based on location/price) if it was a choice.

The key point is that it's unfair to force students to use this membership, and it's especially unfair for students who are so far away.

The purpose of student fitness center at universities across the nation is to work as a sort of wholesale fitness buying group through combined purchase power. Not to provide the most expensive possible workout! The old fitness center--ghetto as it was--was totally underutilized, and I don't know if anyone bothered to do any market research but I would never have guessed that MW would ever be much utilized by students. Which it isn't.

Since I already got started, I'll just also say that for a center that receives major funding from students their hours aren't all that student friendly.

Anonymous said...

I am a grad student at OHSU whose advisor moved out of state, so there's no way I can use the MARCH center. However, I still received a bill this quarter.

Anonymous said...

I am a West Campus student not charged the $139. However, if I want to use March Wellness, I have to pay $60/month, the sign-up fee of $120 is waved.

Anonymous said...

Here's a reason OHSU might want to get rid of this EXTREMELY unfair student fee. People are contacting the Oregonian (which just looooves to write nasty articles about OHSU's financial problems) about this little problem. The reporter contacted seemed to be VERY interested in the story.

Anonymous said...

We the students are subsidizing the March Wellness failed attempt to market themselves to the old and rich in the surrounding condos (which too have notably failed).

Because we're on a contact, March feels no need to offer services and promotions to the students. Take a look at their classes sometime, how many of them are actually targeted to people in their 20's and 30's? Swimming classes for the arthritic? Pain relief with acupuncture? Chinese brush painting? Really? REALLY?

To them, we have no voice. The students are a steady stream of income that they can effectively ignore.