Ohio University’s Center for Legal Services is in dire financial straits with what officials say is no obvious way out that could lead to the center closing in as soon as five years.
The organization, which provides legal advice or representation to about 1,000 students every year, has not broken even since the 2010-11 academic year, said managing attorney Pat McGee.
“We’re eating into our reserves,” McGee said. “At some point in time, we’re going to have to make decisions about what we can do about it.”
Solutions are unclear because the center’s budget troubles mostly lie in the way it is funded, through an optional $12-per-semester fee that students can now waive easier than they ever could before.
During the 2011-12 academic year, when OU implemented “PeopleSoft,” an online student information system, it changed the way many interact academically and financially, students could and still can waive optional fees by simply checking a box.
Before then, five options existed: canceling by phone, letter, in person, by email or a more complex online waiver system. Now only the PeopleSoft waiver exists, said Sherry Downs, OU’s bursar.
The center lost $68,859 the year the PeopleSoft system went live, according to budget records, which also show that income dropped 19 percent during the same period.
The university can’t encompass the center’s fee in the General Fee — a fund students provide — because state law requires students to choose to support the program, McGee said.
Center officials slashed its budget by $69,000 last year and raked up “supplemental income” by charging students $16,443 in legal fees — only to lose $9,258 by the end of the academic year.
Legal representation for an underage alcohol charge would typically cost a student up to $250 who didn’t opt for the university’s service.
When established in 1997, the center’s budget was built around having 12,500 students, McGee said.
Only 9,785 students have enrolled this semester — 2,715 short of what the center needs to meet its expenses — opted into the system and paid the $12 fee. The fee has increased to adjust for semesters, but officials believe some students interpreted as a fee increase.
The Bursar’s office added more information to the webpage so students can better understand the service.
“It’s still very encouraging for students to waive it,” McGee said.
Downs and Chad Barnhardt, assistant dean of students, who deals with presenting these optional fees to students, said they believe offering an easy way for students to waive optional fees is “transparent.”
“It’s not something we can hide from students,” Downs said.
Keith Wilbur, first-year student trustee and a member of the center’s student-run Board of Directors, said that students don’t understand what the service entails.
“I’m hoping that by increasing enrollment (in paying the fee) and awareness, we can get more students in there,” Wilbur said.
@WillDrabold
dd195710@ohiou.edu
This article appeared in print under the headline "Student Legal Services lacks funds"
