The original headline and article contained errors and have been changed. See the bottom of the article for additional information.
The graduate student government is planning to place two fee increase referendums on the spring ballot to provide additional funding for the financially struggling Graduate Writing Center.
The center, which formed in 2006 and is located in the Student Activities Center, offers resources including writing workshops and individual appointments for graduate students. To meet increased demand for services, the center has exceeded its budget for the past three years, said Marilyn Gray, the coordinator of the Graduate Writing Center.
Reserve funds gathered from previous surpluses have made up for the deficits, but this year is the last year the difference can be offset, she added.
“At a certain point, (the center will) have to pull back,” Gray said. “If you’re trying to target different needs of different groups, it’s impossible to tailor services to so many groups with limited funds.”
To make up for the expected shortfall, the Graduate Student Association plans to place two referendums on the spring ballot. The first would tie the current $4 quarterly per graduate student fee that funds the center to inflation, while the second would increase the fee by about $1 or $1.50, said David Zeke, president of GSA.
The goal of the proposed referendums is to make the writing center financially stable, he said.
Last spring, the election failed to garner enough voter turnout for a similar referendum – a measure that would have increased quarterly graduate student fees by $5 to provide additional funding to the center, among other graduate student resources – to be considered. A majority of graduate students who did vote last year rejected the referendum.
Zeke said he thinks the referendums this year are more likely to pass because they propose smaller and logically sound fee increases.
Tying the center’s funding to inflation would provide a long-term solution to the funding problem, said Nicole Robinson, GSA vice president for academic affairs who also oversees the Graduate Writing Center Oversight Committee. If students approve only the straight fee increase, the center may not be sustainable again in about seven years, she added.
The center employs 17 writing consultants and one programming assistant and has two rooms available for appointments, she said. A lack of sufficient space, staff and general resources relative to student demand for the center’s services already limits the center’s ability to provide standard outreach to students, Gray said.
Robinson said she thinks the writing center has grown as much as it can under current conditions, and that it will not be able to satisfy certain graduate student requests if students do not soon invest in its services. If neither referendum passes, the Graduate Writing Center Oversight Committee, composed of graduate students, UCLA faculty and administrators, will choose what services to cut funding from to make up for the deficit, Gray said.
Feedback about the center has generally been positive from the majority of GSA department councils, and many students are in support of the center, she said.
Arlene Reyes, a graduate student at the UCLA School of Nursing, said she thinks the center’s services extend beyond writing support and address broader aspects of graduate student life. Reyes said she thinks paying an extra dollar to support the center would be fair.
But some GSA department councils have said they do not support increasing fees for the center because it is used disproportionately by students in certain graduate schools, Robinson said.
The vast majority of students in the UCLA Anderson School of Management – the largest graduate school on campus – do not use the writing center’s services, said Patrick Smith, vice president of financial development for the Anderson Student Association. Smith said he thinks students at the Anderson School of Management should not have to pay for a resource they do not use.
Last year, the Anderson Student Association encouraged graduate students to vote against the referendum on the spring ballot, and the association plans to maintain its stance if the referendums are put to a vote again this year, Smith said.
“It’s ludicrous to put (the referendums) before the students again,” he added.
Zeke said he plans to bring the referendums to the GSA forum for a vote next week. If approved, GSA will bring the referendums to Chancellor Gene Block for approval before placement on the spring ballot, he said.
Correction: The graduate student government is planning fee increase referendums to help fund the Graduate Writing Center. Also, the quarterly per graduate student fee that funds the center is $4.