Multicultural Center loses GA position

Students who had been planning on applying for a graduate assistantship at the Portland State’s Multicultural Center will have to wait until next year to do so, due to budget constraints.

Jon Joiner, director of the Multicultural Center, said the assistantship positions are not being offered for the 2007-08 school year because the funds needed in order to pay for the positions were not included in the Multicultural Center’s original budget proposal to the Student Fee Committee (SFC).

“This is our first attempt to beef up staff,” Joiner said. “It is an honest attempt to serve the PSU community.”

Joiner said after the Multicultural Center submitted their initial budget proposal to the SFC, they submitted a supplemental budget proposal to request funds to pay for the positions.

The supplemental proposal was submitted too late, Joiner said, but there will be money set aside in their 2008-09 budget proposal for the positions.

“We are absolutely, positively going to include it in next year’s budget,” Joiner said. “We felt it was important we had something like that [assistantship positions].”

Shirley Hewitt, a PSU graduate student studying theater who applied to for an assistantship with the Multicultural Center, said she was disappointed that the positions were cancelled.

“I was looking forward to working with the Multicultural Center,” Hewitt said. “I love learning about different cultures and I know they spread awareness of them. It’s a great thing to help with.”

Hewitt also said she would apply for the position next year.

“You never know,” she said.

Graduate assistantships are similar to part-time employment. Graduate students in these positions generally receive a monthly stipend and have their tuition paid for. Assistantship positions are viewed as an apprenticeship for further academic or professional careers, and assistants are usually assigned to jobs related to teaching, research and administration.

Each year, student groups such as the Multicultural Center have to file a budget proposal for approval by the SFC. The SFC allocates over $12 million in student fees to student groups on campus, including athletics and the Vanguard.

Since its inception in 1992, the Multicultural Center has focused on collaborating with various student groups, helping them organize events and find sponsorships through assistance from community volunteers, in addition to the regular staff.

Bernie Philip, the coordinator for systems development at the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, said that there are about 700 assistantships available to graduate students in an academic year.

PSU has a majority of master’s enrollments compared to other public universities in Oregon, according to the Oregon University System.