A large black hole engulfs a ceiling corner of the African Studies student resource center, there are still water stains on the walls from previous rainstorms, and the faded carpet has not been replaced since the center first opened decades ago.
A portion of the Student Excellence fee is supposed to be allocated to the five student resource centers as well as the multicultural center on campus, according to the breakdown of the Student Excellence fee on the Cal State Long Beach website. However, since the implementation of the fee in fall 2011, only the multicultural center has been receiving these funds.
Dean of Students Jeff Klaus said it recently came to his attention that the multicultural center had about $70,000 surplus funding and that some of it can and should go towards funding the student resource centers.
“[From] my understanding is the money that was allocated was for the multicultural center and only the multicultural center,” Klaus said. “So that’s the only reason funds did not flow in [the] direction [of student resource centers] as quickly as we would have liked.”
Associated with La Raza student organization, the Raza resouce center is one of the five student centers affected by the lack of funding from the Student Excellence fees. La Raza faculty adviser Alfredo Carlos Marquez said he thinks that the reason the centers have not been receiving funding is due to a lack of understanding of the fee allocations.
“One of the troubling things about it all is [Student Life and Development faculty] don’t know the process of figuring out how to spend the money,” Marquez said. “The fact that [we] had to go to five people, and they kept saying ‘I don’t know, go ask this person…’ They’re the ones who are in charge of the money, and they don’t know.”
Humberto Munoz, the treasurer of La Raza and a social science credential student, said that someone from the Students for Quality Education for Students organization informed him that the resource centers qualify to receive funding from the Student Excellence fees.
After talking with Klaus and Brett Waterfield, the director of SLD, Munoz said SLD coordinators Anna Nazarian-Peters and Maggie Munoz-Perez went to each student center to ask students of each respective center what they needed.
Perez and Peters submitted a list of the student centers’ needs last Tuesday. Resource centers asked for items including computers, furniture, office supplies and refurbishment of the physical centers that totaled about $48,000, Munoz said.
Kameron Lyons, a senior psychology and communications major, said that the African Studies resource center needs new infrastructure.
“The center is like having our own safe zone,” Lyons said. “What’s the point of students coming here to have a safe zone if it’s not working? Things have been broken for a while, and they need to be fixed.”
Lyons said students in the African Studies resource center prioritize fixing holes in the ceiling tiles, leaks and getting new carpet when asked what they need funding for.
“These are things that should have already been proactively done,” Lyons said. “We shouldn’t have to ask.”
Klaus said he is waiting on infrastructure pricing to come back from facilities management. He said asbestos resin could add to costs and prolong the process.
“We should be able to address all of the small-to-medium range needs students wanted either by the end of this academic year and certainly shortly into the new year because well have new funds,” Klaus said.
Munoz said the Raza resource center’s main concern is getting new computers, furniture and office supplies.
“Every semester we ask if there is any money to use to improve the student centers…” Munoz said. “Now that students are questioning it, they’re taking action.”
The other three student resource centers include the American Indian student study center, the Asian Pacific student center and the LGBT resource center.