The Vinson Health Center provides immunizations, STD screening and treatment, women’s health, MD visits, diagnosis and treatment, minor procedures and referral and care coordination, Oct. 30. Vinson Health Center will close on Jan. 1, 2024. (Stephanie Garcia)
Amid heavy financial cuts across the board as MSU tries to dig out of debt, several fixtures on campus have closed.
The closing of the Testing Center, the Print Shop, and the Vinson Health Center, will result in the elimination of 10 jobs.
The closure of these facilities will take effect starting in 2024. The Vinson Health Center and the Print Shop will close Jan. 1, 2024, while the testing center will close on April 1, 2024.
The closures come due to the number of students accessing the services provided by said establishments. In the case of the Vinson Health Center, about 4.2 students visited this facility per day, the testing center was more useful to the general community than to MSU students and the print shop was mostly used by Moffett Library, not students.
Considering the student fees and the costs to maintain these three entities, administrators decided that the best option for the savings program and new budgeting project is to distribute these resources efficiently into departments mostly used by students.
The Print Shop provides business cards, magnetic name tags, print signs, banners, retractors, posters, and digital files for printing, Oct. 30. The Print Shop will close on Jan. 1, 2024. (Stephanie Garcia)
MSU President Stacia Haynie emphasized that although facilities are closing their doors, the Vinson Health Center services will continue to be accessible virtually.
“There were far too few students who are going to the Vinson Health Center. And again, with the pandemic, students, and most of us, it’s more convenient to do a telehealth option,” Haynie said.
Vice President Keith Lamb also stressed how difficult it was to make the decision to close the medical center that has been at MSU for more than 60 years, but mentioned that the way students and the community access to healthcare has changed, and MSU must adapt to virtual services to be able to better manage student fees.
“The amount of student fees that were being spent on that didn’t make a lot of financial sense in 2023. To spend student fees on a service that students weren’t accessing didn’t make a lot of sense. That’s why we have decided to make this change. We believe students would access this service more and will certainly be more accessible than a building. That doesn’t minimize the amount of help the health center and its staff have given to the MSU community. They are really good professionals, but again we think this was the best way of administering student fees,” Lamb said.
The testing center provides ATI TEAS, CLEP, HESI A2, proctored exams and TSIA2 assessment, for MSU students and the community, Oct. 30. The testing center will close on April 1, 2024. (Stephanie Garcia)
Haynie later added that this is the same situation that the Print Shop and the Testing Center went through.
“Same with the print shop. The ability to procure printed materials, it’s very different than many years ago when the print shop was created. And while that’s convenient, and they do a terrific job, that’s not the most efficient use of the resources,” Haynie said.
Haynie also mentioned that the Testing Center was more helpful for the general community than for MSU students and highlighted that the priority is to protect the academic core and use the student fees in those establishments that students use the most. “It’s terrific to be able to offer testing options for the general community, but our priority of course is meeting the needs of the students,” Haynie said.
Administrators believe that these decisions, no matter how difficult they were, are the correct ones.
“We’ll see significant savings by August 31, but the hard part is the people. They have done a wonderful job for students and Midwestern, but we have to be good storages for our student fees money,” Lamb said.
