The Eastern Washington University campus has bountiful resources available for students and community members alike, but staff of the university say that some resources that are available may not be utilized to their full potential.
One department that has much more to offer than what may originally meet the eye is the Career Center.
“Students often come into the Career Center for help with their resumes and cover letters. Mostly just resumes because they often don’t realize how important cover letters are, but we provide a lot more than that,” Romeal Watson, the associate director of employer relations at the Career Center, said.
The Career Center offers dedicated workshops for resume and cover letter building, but the staff are capable of offering more individualized support for students.
“One thing I wish more students would do is meet with us to discuss career options within their major. We can look into the students’ skills and experience and find [careers] they may not have known about, like if you’re majoring in marketing but you’re a great writer, we could help you find career opportunities in technical writing,” Watson said. “We encourage anyone who is wanting to explore career fields to come in and see us. We also have assessment tests that can help highlight your specific skills and interests, if you’re totally lost.”
Another great resource for students who feel disoriented in their studies is the library, and although many utilize this resource for books and study spaces, the staff of the library can assist with many questions that arise in the classroom.
Lynnae Daniels, the STEM and accounting librarian at EWU, said, “The librarian staff is the most underutilized resource in the library. We can help with research, navigating information, and even deciphering your professors syllabus. We have a dozen librarians with specialties in all the different subjects just waiting to help you with your studies. Come see us.”
Daniels also said she noticed many students seem to walk into the library, get overwhelmed, and leave.
“I highly encourage students to explore the library,” Daniels said. “We have equipment rentals for things like calculators, we have interlibrary loans, and a 24 hour chat for any questions that students may have.”
Some students may feel fine in their studies, but may have questions and concerns regarding stress and their mental health. The Counseling and Wellness services department has a wealth of resources for students who would like support outside of their education.
“We offer on-going scheduled counseling sessions for students who are taking at least 6 credits, as well as walk-ins for crisis such as suicidal thoughts, grief and loss, and active hallucinations from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays,” said Jaydin Ludeman, the Health Education Coordinator for Counseling and Wellness Services. “We also have the Let’s Talk program where students can come in twice a week to talk about whatever they need to in a supportive group setting.”
Let’s Talk meets on Mondays from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Monroe 203, and on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Showalter 122.
“We also started offering the Protection Provider Program where students can discreetly be delivered up to 5 contraceptive products to their dorm room for free.” Ludeman said. “We have a wide variety of options such as condoms, both latex and latex-free, female internal condoms, oral dams, and lubricant.”
However, there are many other ways students can obtain contraceptive products even without living on campus. There are free contraceptive products made available throughout EWU campus at the Health, Wellness and Prevention Center at URC 201, the Womans and Gender Education Center at Monroe Hall 207, and in the Pride Center at PUB 336.
Although the Pride Center also provides contraceptives and has ties to the Counseling and Wellness Center, they have many more resources available to LGBTQ+ and allied students.
“This space is used primarily for social education,” Naite Boham, the associate director of the Pride Center said. “We have a switch and other games to help people bond and connect with their community in a safe way. We can celebrate wins together like starting hormones or name changes. These are things that other people outside of our spaces may not understand fully, so it’s helpful to connect with others who can empathize.”
Although the space is primarily used for social purposes, the Pride Center has many other resources that may not be apparent.
“We have books on queer history and theory, a food pantry and kitchenette and legal resources,” Boham said. “We have a computer for students to use, and we can also help students who are victims of hate and bias to fill out the bias reporting forms.”
Although the social education side of the Pride Center is always available for students, Boham said they would really like to see more engagement in the clubs affiliated with them.
“Eagle Pride is Tuesdays at 4 p.m.,QTPOC is a new club that meets Thursdays at 5 p.m., and we have QSTEM which is led by Kai [Reiner] on Mondays at 1 p.m. It would be nice to see more people become involved and connected in these clubs.” they said.
Another social resource available to students is the Multicultural Center. “The MCC is a social resource. It provides a safe place to gather and celebrate culture,” Ka’din Rahman, an EWU student and club representative, said. “We have less students involved this quarter than last quarter.”
Although the Multicultural Center has seen less student engagement this quarter, they continue to offer unique resources to the students of the university.
“We offer financial support to cultural clubs, we are connected to the counseling resources, and John [Hoffschneider] is consistently putting great events out,” Rahman said. “On Feb. 28, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., we will have a black activism event. It will be an open conversation about historic black activists and breaking down what black activism means.”
The event will be held in the Multicultural Center at PUB 329, and students do not need to RSVP to attend.
