Changes have been made to prevent the loss of student employee hours in the technology labs that occurred at the end of the spring semester from happening again, Tom Bonvillain, director of Academic Computing, said. Administrators cut the hours of the computer lab in Betsy Cheramie Ayo Hall last April due to the lack of use by students.

Several student workers and the Student Government Association accused the administration of “mishandling of funds,” but records back up the decision to cut hours in the lab.

“We did have to expend a large amount of funds at the beginning of the spring semester in order to get several projects running,” Bonvillain said. “I also had an employee who had to take maternity leave which caused me to allocate additional money to make up for that shortfall.”

The money used to operate the computer labs on campus is collected from students by technology fees paid for in tuition. Technology fees can range from $5 to $60 depending on how many hours the student is taking.

Records show that only one student used the Ayo lab the week before it was closed.

“We closed the lab because it saved us 12 hours a week and it was not being utilized enough to say that we needed to hold it open,” lab manager Nicole Perero said.

“We work with the SGA through the technology committee,” Bonvillain said. “Our goal is to see that the labor is spread evenly.”

“We try to give student employees as many hours as we can, but there is a limit to how many hours are available,” Bonvillain said. “It’s a tough balancing act.”

The administration freed up more money for student workers by shifting half of the professional staff, or non-student workers, to the operating positions and do not expect to experience the same problems this semester.

“Before, the budget was extremely close. There were no (allowances) for any unforeseen things happening,” Bonvillain said.

Not all involved, including student workers and the SGA, believe these problems were handled correctly.

Tech fee money ran short about half way through the semester according to former SGA president Jaret Hubbell.

“In my opinion, proper management of the money and allocating who was where would have been able to take care of this problem,” Hubbell said.

Several student employees whose hours were cut signed a petition and presented it to the SGA. The SGA in turn developed a resolution recommending the administration review the use and management of the technology fees every midterm and make changes if necessary.

“We had to call an emergency meeting for something that had been in the budget for the entire year,” Hubbell said. “Our question is why do we have to call an emergency meeting to change the budget to pay for the rest of the semester?”

“This is the second time this has happened in the last four years, and we want to know why,” Hubbell said.

Bonvillain has sent a letter to current SGA president Damian Breaux assuring him that steps are being taken to prevent a cut in student employee hours from happening again.

“I understand they dealt with it the best they could, but better planning can prevent this from happening in the future,” Hubbell said.