Student-run businesses should not have to pay advisers

10/24/12 7:00pm

 

In light of the recent demands to waive the fees for advisers and rent made by the coalition of SRBs to the Office of the Dean of Undergraduates, the Thresher believes there is certainly more the administration could do to foster and support SRBs on campus. 

Rice's SRBs are a vital part of Rice's culture, both socially and educationally. Besides contributing to Rice's awards in entrepreneurship and quality of life, these businesses offer work-study jobs to students who may not otherwise be able to pay their tuition, as well as serving as on-campus job opportunities that make coming to Rice enticing to many prospective students. Most importantly, they serve as learning experiences for students to get leadership and management experience to prepare them for business in a way that books simply cannot. These businesses give students the chance to be innovative and try to solve real-world problems - and similar to positions in the college system, they give students the opportunity to fail and learn from their decisions. 

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Having some sort of adviser is important for these businesses' success, but this person's fees should not have to come from the businesses' earnings. An adviser's suggestions can vastly contribute to the learning process these businesses offer, which makes it a fee the university should be happy to pick up. The point of an adviser is to help guide successful business plans, so they should not strain struggling student companies. Rice can afford to pay those who serve in advisory roles, and this small investment in SRBs will help the businesses to invest in themselves. 

One issue involved with waiving these fees is what SRBs would do with the extra funds they would gain by having adviser fees waived. Businesses should put forward specific proposals to outline what sorts of events or products this revenue would go to in order to justify administration funds that might otherwise sponsor other kinds of student activities. 

While real-world businesses are not forced to pay for an adviser, they do need to pay rent. Paying rent is a normal business cost that needs to be budgeted in all business systems. While Rice should endeavor to keep these prices reasonable, businesses need to feel some sense of responsibility for their space and its cost. 

Charging for a business adviser is unreasonable and not a part of real-world business practices, so the administration should immediately stop its policy of forcing SRBs to pay for their advisers. However, businesses also need the real-world experience of paying rent and establishing a viable enterprise under realistic parameters. Businesses and the administration need to be able to work together to restructure Rice's business environment in order to maintain the tradition of SRBs, which is important to Rice's identity and student life. 

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