After a season of hiatus due to budget cuts, the Oxnard College’s Re-entry Center has re-opened to continue providing helpful services to students.

Under the sponsorship of the Oxnard College Foundation, the Center has awarded five scholarships of $500 each to students for the 2006 Fall semester. Teresa Elenas, the Executive Director of the Re-entry Center at Oxnard College and a member of the Board of Directors of the Oxnard College Foundation, is a main driving force behind the re-opening of the Center.

“I don’t want [the money] to go to labor cost,” said Elenas, who works there on a voluntary basis. “I want it to go to the students.”

The Re-entry Center at Oxnard College was established to encourage and help former students who return to college classes after a period of absence. There are currently 23 students registered at the Center. In conjunction with the Associated Student Government (ASG), the Center has provided $2,000 to the College Library for the acquisition of course textbooks, to be put on reserve under course number and title for students to use in the library.

The center will be available to type term papers, update resumes, and search for employment, both local and state-wide. The Foundation waives the user fee of $50 for those students.

The Re-entry Center also has plans for a mentor program to help guide those students in their choice of classes that are in line with their career goals.

“You must have money to get anything done,” said Elenas. “I do not wish to rouse up hope in people and then let them down.”

Due to budget constraints, the Re-entry Center lacks a full-time academic counselor. As for psychological counseling, two certified individuals have initially volunteered their services, but have since retracted their offers of service because insurance problems.

For more information, contact Teresa Elenas at (805) 986-7633 or (805) 986-5833. The Center is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.