In the past three years, Sacramento State has seen an immense amount of budget cuts in nearly every part of the university. Valuable services like the University Reading and Writing Center, which offers free student academic services, are among the programs greatly affected – much to the dismay of students who use the program. 

The University Reading and Writing Center provides an unbelievably valuable opportunity on campus for the students willing to utilize the services it offers. Funding may be limited, but for the select students aware of the center, its value is unmatched.

Unfortunately like many programs on campus, the center was suffering because of the severe cuts. This semester, Associated Students Inc. contributed funds to ease the center’s suffering, though the damage done by the cuts is still evident.

In response to the cuts, ASI conducted a poll asking students where funding should be funneled to ease the budget crisis. Students polled said academic services was where they felt money should be used and as a response, ASI contributed about $5,500 to the writing center.

“We lost one of our graduate associate coordinator positions and 25 percent of our paid tutoring budget over the last three years due to the budget woes,” said University Reading and Writing Center Coordinator Daniel Melzer. “Thanks to ASI’s help, we’ve been able to recover some of those paid tutoring hours. But we don’t have enough hours to help every student who wants help. We currently have to turn away one out of every six students who wants an appointment with a tutor.”

Academic services like those offered by the University Reading and Writing Center are vital resources to students. Without funding support from Academic Affairs, that allocates $15,000 a year of the state lottery funding it receives, the center would not be able to operate and provide the services and tutoring it currently offers.

The center offers much more than just tutoring. For many students the services in writing and editing skills paramount to succeeding in university course work are worth the centers’ weight in gold. But the center offers so much more including, aid in conducting research, organizing papers, critical reading and idea development.

“As class sizes grow due to budget cuts, instructors will have less time to respond to students’ writing, and the Reading and Writing Center is the primary place on campus where students can get free help from well-trained tutors,” Melzer said.

The center is an opportunity to get one-on-one collaboration with upperclassmen and interns who have experience in taking writing intensive course work and passing with exemplary grades. The center not only offers aid to students in search of academic help, but also caters to those looking for employment and experience.

“Students play an important role in supporting the Reading and Writing Center,” Melzer said. ”The center also employees 30-40 paid student tutors and student interns, so it provides valuable employment and tutoring experience to students in a variety of majors.”

The center has made an impact as a vital component of the services offered to students on this campus – that much is evident. What is not clear however is how the university plans to ensure that services like those offered by the center will survive future cuts. 

The demand for the center is apparent. The students support it by staffing its position, requesting aid for funding and utilizing its assets. The future of the center and its position on this campus however, is not as solidified as the students demand to keep it.

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