College student’s ears have become attuned to this magic word: free. With the cost of tuition, housing, bills and more weighing on the minds and wallets of students across the country, anything free or cheap is something worth knowing about. All students know their tuition pays for classes, but what about the extras? Here are all the services, free or inexpensive, available to all students in their tuition and fees.
UNR is a moderately sized campus, and with safety as one of the university’s top priorities, students have access to free transportation around campus after dark. Campus Escort is available to all students from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Campus Escort’s office is located on the third floor of the Joe Crowley Student Union within the ASUN Center for Student Engagement, but rides can be requested more easily on their new mobile app: Nevada Campus Escort, by calling (775) 742-6808 or requesting a ride online on their website. All that is needed to ride is a valid student ID.
Along with their ride request service, Campus Escort runs a nightly shuttle to popular locations in and around campus including student apartments like The Republic, Highlands and Sterling Summit. There is a Sunday shuttle that picks students up next to the Downunder Café and drives them to multiple shopping centers with a variety of grocery and department stores. Campus Escort also provides shuttles to and from the airport during school holidays.
Another extremely helpful service for those students with cars: Campus Escort will help jump dead batteries for free!
A membership to the university’s new state of the art Fitness Center, complete with an indoor track, stadium stairs and basketball courts is included in tuition fees for all undergraduate students. The E.L. Wiegand Fitness Center is located right across from the Joe and is open from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday. Included in the membership is a multitude of free drop in classes like Reformer Pilates, CrossFit, Barre, Zumba, Self Defense and more. Registration for drop-in classes is online 24-hours in advance. There is also a five-week beginner’s fitness course called Cubs Corps, designed to get students up to speed with fundamental functional movements and strength and conditioning exercises. There is a $50 fee, but it is refunded if the five-week program is completed with no more than three absences. Talk about motivation!
The Student Health Center, located in the Nell J. Redfield Building in the northern part of campus, offers a wide variety of healthcare services to students for free or for a minimal charge. Some services include primary care visits, free STD testing, sports medicine services and immunizations. Most services can be accessed with a same-day appointment made by calling the health center at (775) 784-6598. Other services such as the psychiatric and counseling services require an advance appointment.
Next door to the health center is a full-service pharmacy that fills prescriptions from the Student Health Center as well as other local medical providers for a reduced cost. It is recommended that students have supplemental medical insurance to access this and other services with minimal charges.
Also included in the cost of tuition is free career services and counseling offered by the Career Studio. The career center helps advise students in choosing a major, finding jobs and internships, and deciding to go to graduate school. The studio is located on the second floor of the Pennington Student Achievement Center in room 208 with drop-in appointments available from Monday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The studio also provides free help with creating resumes, cover letters, personal statements, and even mock interviews. Students can also access money management counseling in the career studio.
For all things tech, the @One located on the bottom floor of the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center is the place to go. Not only are there more than 100 PCs and Macs with all the latest software downloaded, the @One provides specialty printing services and equipment rental to all students. Ever dreamed of owning a DSLR or GoPro? Rent one at the @One along with a variety of accessories such as lenses, lighting, and audio equipment. The @One is also home to multimedia rooms students can reserve to work on special group projects. Some rooms include a 4K room for high-tech productions software, a P3 room to practice presentations, and even a video conference call room. Along with these various services, the tech experts at the information desk in the @One can help with general software questions and more. Students can also rent movies, headphones, music CDs and storage devices at the Multimedia center at the back of the @One.
Pack Provisions, formerly known as the ASUN Food Pantry, is a free service for all students that provides access to perishable and non-perishable foods, meals on campus, school supplies, hygiene items and more. Located in the Center for Student Engagement on the third floor of the Joe, all that students need to do to access these services is bring their Wolf Card and fill out a short informational form. The Center for Student Engagement is open during Fall and Spring semesters Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Along with providing students with daily necessities, Pack Provisions puts on special events like Mobile Monday, a free farmer’s market style event that brings free fresh produce to students on campus. The first Mobile Monday is on September 11, 2017, at Hilliard Plaza, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
It’s no secret college classes can be difficult. The university knows this too, and included in every student’s tuition fees are valuable tutoring services and academic help every student should take advantage of. From one-on-one tutoring appointments to group sessions with a PASS leader that sits through each class with you, there is an abundance of options to help through every class! The tutoring center, located on the third floor of the Pennington Student Achievement Center, also puts on review sessions and walk-in labs. The center is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There are individualized tutoring sessions for more difficult subjects in the math center located next door to the tutoring center and the writing center. The math center offers a complete computer lab with up-to-date mathematics and statistics programming, and even graphing calculators available for students to rent on a semester basis. The writing center assists students in all things writing. From creating outlines, fixing first drafts, and mastering different writing styles.
The university also offers a Chemistry Tutoring Center located in the Chemistry Building (CB), Room 316A. No appointments are necessary to use this free tutoring service, and students can work with graduate teaching assistants who help teach the CHEM courses. The Chem center is open from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
All of these services are paid by every student’s tuition, so make sure to get your money’s worth and use them.
Emily Fisher can be reached at efisher@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.