2008 Woodie Awards
Writing Center closes door
Attempts to find money to reopen underway
John C. Osborn
Issue date: 8/22/07 Section: Campus
- Page 1 of 1
Unless funding can be found, the university's Writing Center will remain closed. The decision to keep the center closed is not yet final.
In order to save money in the midst of budget problems, Paul Mann, communication officer at Humboldt State said that Interim Provost Bob Snyder didn't allocate any money to the center in order to save money.
Snyder said at last Thursday's Fall Convocation that he favored program elimination to across-the-board cuts.
According to the Writing Center, at least 1,300 students visited the center for assistance, about a third of them from the College of Natural Resources and Sciences. About 40 percent of the visits were new students.
Barbara Goldberg, an English lecturer who ran the center, said over the past five years the center served 6,651 students.
"The total cost to hire tutors at the customary level of service for 2007-08 would be only $9,600," Goldberg said in an e-mail. "That is for the entire year."
Susan Bennett, chair of the English Department, said since many new students used the Writing Center; its closure was an issue of retention (how many students stay at Humboldt State next term).
"They might not come back [to the university]," she said.
It could become a problem for students who took first-year English composition classes elsewhere, then come to Humboldt State and have a writing issue. If the center stays closed, Bennett said, then students have no place to go for help.
Attempts to find money to keep the center open are underway by Kenneth Ayoob, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science.
"I'm trying to see what we can do to come up with the funds," he said, adding he knew how important the center was for students.
If money can't be found, the center may find a new home in the planned Learning Commons in the library building.
Wayne Perryman, chair of the Learning Commons Task Force, said the plans are still in a developmental stage.
"We don't have any specifics yet," he said.
Ideas for the commons include a 24-hour Internet cafe and a "one-stop shop" for student services and programs scattered across campus.
It will take at least a year to make real any ideas, Perryman said The Writing Center could become part of the commons, but nothing is solid yet.
"There's a possibility," he said.
John C. Osborn can be reached at jco11@humboldt.edu
In order to save money in the midst of budget problems, Paul Mann, communication officer at Humboldt State said that Interim Provost Bob Snyder didn't allocate any money to the center in order to save money.
Snyder said at last Thursday's Fall Convocation that he favored program elimination to across-the-board cuts.
According to the Writing Center, at least 1,300 students visited the center for assistance, about a third of them from the College of Natural Resources and Sciences. About 40 percent of the visits were new students.
Barbara Goldberg, an English lecturer who ran the center, said over the past five years the center served 6,651 students.
"The total cost to hire tutors at the customary level of service for 2007-08 would be only $9,600," Goldberg said in an e-mail. "That is for the entire year."
Susan Bennett, chair of the English Department, said since many new students used the Writing Center; its closure was an issue of retention (how many students stay at Humboldt State next term).
"They might not come back [to the university]," she said.
It could become a problem for students who took first-year English composition classes elsewhere, then come to Humboldt State and have a writing issue. If the center stays closed, Bennett said, then students have no place to go for help.
Attempts to find money to keep the center open are underway by Kenneth Ayoob, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science.
"I'm trying to see what we can do to come up with the funds," he said, adding he knew how important the center was for students.
If money can't be found, the center may find a new home in the planned Learning Commons in the library building.
Wayne Perryman, chair of the Learning Commons Task Force, said the plans are still in a developmental stage.
"We don't have any specifics yet," he said.
Ideas for the commons include a 24-hour Internet cafe and a "one-stop shop" for student services and programs scattered across campus.
It will take at least a year to make real any ideas, Perryman said The Writing Center could become part of the commons, but nothing is solid yet.
"There's a possibility," he said.
John C. Osborn can be reached at jco11@humboldt.edu
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