WTAMU’s Student Support Services lost federal funding in August and was removed from the campus. The termination of the program carried ramifications across campus. Between upset students and frustrated faculty, the end of SSS came during an unexpected time. Some students at WT still do not understand why or how this happened.
“We received excellent comments from this past evaluation,” Dr. Wade Schaffer, associate vice president of academic affairs, said. “For whatever reasons, perhaps politics at the federal level, we were not given additional grant money.” Funds are given during August so the director may plan for the academic calendar year. Around August 10th, the Department of Education told SSS it would no longer fund them. This left SSS with only two weeks to close down their operations.
“The university was not looking to kill this program or defund SSS,” Schafer said. “If we knew this was going to happen, we could have extended our monetary allocations further.”
The university is already notifying students involved in the program. After identifying key people to absorb SSS, certain individuals are willing to help tackle the increasing load.
“Max Seymour, director of educational services, is increasing the number of tutors available,” Dr. Schaffer said. “Amber Black, student success center manager, is reaching out to students. And Denise Skinner, director of career and counseling services, is providing test taking strategies.
The equipment that SSS bought and used is now property of the university. A possible idea is to use the ‘computer bank’ located near Classroom Center 109 as an open access lab. The lab would serve all students on campus.
“Right now, we only have four computers open for the students to use in the Classroom Center,” Dr. Schafer said. “If we opened up the ‘computer bank’ others would be able to maximize the proficiency of the area.”
Melody Graves, an IDS instructor and former SSS employee, is willing to apply for another job on campus, but is still weighing her various options.
“The termination of SSS is a loss to the university,” Graves said. “However, I believe WT is utilizing other departments to enhance the learning community for our students.”
The office space SSS occupied has already been filled. The realignment helped bring together the departments of First Year Experience, and allowed tutoring services to further expand their reach.
“It is sad to know that our co-workers and friends are no longer working at WT,” Black said. “All we found out, at the last minute, is that we weren’t getting the funding, so it’s hard for me to understand why the Department of Education would not fund this program.”
