Sacramento State officials fired off an emergency e-mail pleading for Writing Proficiency Exam readers just hours before the test was last administered, but the shortage of graders is nothing new.

Bob Buckley, chairman of the Faculty Senate, sent out the last minute mass e-m to faculty on March 15, asking that faculty sign up to grade exams that students took the next morning.

Readers receive $210 for participating in a one-hour training session and grading exams.

Those interested were asked to contact the WPE office secretary, Bev Reed, as soon as possible.

WPE coordinator Jon Price said that it is not uncommon to have to find people to grade the tests last minute and that even after they?ve signed on, they often do not show.

“There are a tremendous number of exams, and we need a large number of people to grade them,” Price said.

Sacramento State senior Heidi Naden was surprised to hear about the e-mail.

Naden said that she worried that the WPE grading was not being handledefficiently.

“This is a test that students need to graduate, it?s important. This memosounds like they are just throwing whoever they can together last minute.

“They need a better system for such an important exam,” Naden said.

Price said that although the memo did not specify who was qualified to grade the tests, it was geared toward professors and graduate students.

Price is in charge of hiring all of the graders.

“The graders are nearly all college professors,” Price said.