It's all about resources.
If a department doesn't have them, it can't provide them to students.
When architecture students want to cut a piece of wood in half, they can't do it themselves. They have to have Fred Mahinfarahmand do it for them.
Mahinfarahmand is one of the School of Architecture and Planning's limited resources - he is the only one capable of running the model shop.
Problem is, he works from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. - when most students have studio time, said Kim Maxwell, architecture student. The frustration of trying to get access the model shop has caused students to defer using it, they said.
"It's rather limited to student use, and it has been for quite a few years," said Roger Schluntz, dean of the architecture school.
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The shop supports design and studio instruction as well as Physical Plant needs.
Schluntz said the resources the school has make it impossible to provide full-service use to students.
"A lot of times we're here late and overnight," Maxwell said. "I know it's unreasonable to have the woodshop open, but to know we don't have that flexibility is really aggravating."
Mahinfarahmand said for years, he was given the opportunity to allow students to call him at all hours of the night to access the shop, but that all changed the beginning of this semester.
"They used to call me and let me know they need the shop," he said. "The soonest or nearest time I had, it was theirs. There was not a limit, and now I have a limit - it is not my choice."
About 40 students joined Mahinfarahmand outside one of the architecture school's three buildings Wednesday to protest managerial abuse.
Mahinfarahmand said it is psychological torture to have to report to his supervisor every day when his shift ends and to be denied access to the shop after hours.
He said he fears every day he could be fired.
Aside from helping students, he said he has about 12 other duties.
"I want to know where I'm standing," he said. "I don't know what I'm doing - what I should be doing."
Schluntz said if the model shop was closed, and Physical Plant did not need it, then Mahinfarahamand could certainly be let go.
"But that hasn't been put on the table as I know of," Schluntz said.
Students at the protest said they want to know where their fees are going and why the administration has not given them clear answers. Students are charged a $15 per credit hour special fee that goes mostly toward computer networking and support.
Schluntz said before he began as dean, departments received a university-wide operational budget cut, which most deans haven't recovered from.
The budget cuts have resulted in limited resources that affect faculty as well as students, Schluntz said.
He said unless student fees are raised, or a balance is created in the budget, the school will continue to see limited resources.
"They are sufficient to do the things we have to do, but not the things we'd like to do," Schluntz said.
