At Wednesday’s Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) meeting, the Center for Essential Needs discussed the budget-cutting struggles they’re facing and the senate voted to approve funding that would provide six new student internship positions.

Center of Essential Needs faces struggles with budget cuts

The meeting started with a presentation from Diana Karageozian, a clinical case manager for the Center for Essential Needs, who brought up the department’s struggles due to budget cuts.

The Center for Essential Needs supports students through their education by helping them navigate challenges that can impact their well-being and academic success.

The department gets basic need funding from the state each year. Last year, they received $600,000, but were only allocated $40,000 from the division of student affairs this year. The department is not entirely sure why, according to Karageozian.

“So there’s a bunch of stuff between food and books and rental assistance that we can’t now cover with that $40,000 that we thought was going to be $600,000,” Karageozian said.

Karageozian said she understands that the budget is hard in the division of student affairs, but feels it is wrong to take money from a department that gives students a safety net.

“For a lot of our students, it will make or break whether or not they can stay in school,” Karageozian said.

Karageozian said their department helped around 1,200 students last year, with a 70% graduation rate from those students.

“These are 1,200 students with complex lives,” Karageozian said. “With academic challenges, or housing challenges, mental health challenges, substance abuse challenges; you name it.”

Behind the scenes, the department is going through a difficult time, and Karageozian doesn’t feel that it is being heard.

They have lost one case manager, and Fresno State decided not to fill it and will potentially lose the ability to rehire a temp, which would leave them with only two case managers, according to Karageozian.

“Now we can see less people, and as the lead, I have to see people and do everything else,” Karageozian said. “It’s going to be a tough year for us.”

Another difficult thing that students are facing is evictions from the dorms. According to Karageozian, if students haven’t paid or haven’t communicated with the dorms, they will be sent an eviction notice and can get locked out of their room.

Karageozian said their department receives a list each month with the students facing eviction, and this month’s list has 62 students. 

“There’s nothing more stressful than being locked out of your dorm, and that’s what they do,” Karageozian said. “I just think that’s unkind and not in alignment with how we develop a supportive community and a caring community.”

ASI votes in favor of adding six new student internship positions

The student senate approved funding for these new internship positions in order to “support impacted resources and departments on campus,” according to Executive Vice President Maris Prado.

Prado said that student access to jobs and internships was ranked in the top five student concerns through a recent Bulldog Voices survey.

“Interns will be strategically placed in the departments that provide essential support to students but face staffing and/or resource challenges,” Prado said.

The departments include: 

• The Dream Success Center.
• The Jan and Bud Richter Center.
• The Center for Essential Needs.
• The South Valley (Visalia) campus.
• TRIO Student Support Services Program and Student Support Services Veterans.

“The [TRIO] internship proposal was written by [me], a research grant that allocated $10,000 to undergraduate students, also passed, which was developed with President [Camalah] Saleh in collaboration from Vice President of External Affairs Danielle Vu,” Prado said in a statement to The Collegian.

These programs will launch in the spring semester and will allocate $12,000 to participating departments.

Correction: an adjustment was made on Oct. 17 to correct the spelling of the Jan and Bud Richter Center. Two quotes were adjusted to properly attribute them to the correct person.

This story was updated on Oct. 17 at 4:16 p.m. to include TRIO as part of the departments that received new internship positions.