In recent years, the SHSU Student Legal and Mediation Services office has provided students with free scantrons.
Students could visit the Legal Services office and receive up to two free scantrons during their visit. This relieved student of the stressfully waiting in line at the campus bookstore minutes before an exam to purchase a package of scantrons. As of Fall 2017, however, the Legal Services Office has decided to no longer provide this service to students due to budget issues.
“Student Legal & Mediation Services spent approximately $6,000.00 last year on Scantron purchases. With this cost savings, our office has explored the possibility of providing a beneficial service for students that are otherwise generally inaccessible to them, but can help them with issues relating to identity theft and incorrect information in their personal history,” Director of SHSU Student Legal and Mediation Services Gene Roberts Jr. said.
Roberts says Legal Services is in the process of finalizing the details of this service and an announcement will be made in the spring semester.
When the BearkatOne Card office found out the free scantron service would be no more, however, they decided to step in.
“SHSU Legal Services were considering reducing or eliminating the program in order to allocate funds to other programs and services. When we heard this, we reached out and asked if we could take over the program instead of it becoming obsolete,” SHSU Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Kristy Vienne said.
Roberts believes this free scantron service is better suited for the BearkatOne Card office, as it aligns more with the services provided there than at Legal Services.
“It made better sense for Scantrons to be distributed through the BearkatOne Card office because every student has a BearkatOne card and every student has a greater degree of contact with the BearkatOne Card office. The BearkatOne Office also has a need to make sure that cards are active and functioning. Having the BearkatOne Card office provide Scantrons means that more students will have ready access to Scantrons,” Roberts said.
With the introduction of this new service at the BearkatOne Card office, students can receive up to five free scantrons a week with an active BearkatOne card. This new stricter scantron limitation, Dr. Vienne feels, is practical and provides students with the resources they need.
“With 5 we keep down any potential waste and help be mindful of budgets related to student programming. Ensuring students have what they need but we limit potential waste or loss of scantrons,” Dr. Vienne said.
Sophomore and Interdisciplinary Agriculture major Michaela Yost says that picking up a scantron is no longer an inconvenience to her.
“With the BearkatOne Card office offering free scantrons this semester, I have found that the hassle of remembering to get them is nonexistent. Being able to get them whenever needed is such a great thing that the campus offers. It is also in a very convenient location for me, being that most of my classes are in the Pirkle building,” Yost said.
Dr. Vienne says the BearkatOne Card office plans on continuing this program for future semesters.
For more information on this service or to obtain free scantrons, visit the BearkatOne Card office in the Estill Building, Suite 230.
