Muleskinner

Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: News

workin' hard for the money­- Jodi Donovan, junior, sprays bowling shoes at the Union bowling ally. She has been working there for two years.

In the November election, Missourians voted to raise minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.50. With about 1,700 students working on campus in various offices and buildings, the wage increase will not only affect their paychecks, but also how many hours they can work.

"I think the increase is good all around," said Jenn Jackson, junior special education major. "I've worked as an office assistant in South Yeater Hall for two years, and this year, I've been working in the communication department for work-study."

Many students work on campus for a variety of reasons: to earn extra money, to gain work experience or to connect with other students and faculty members.

"I make copies for professors, take messages, sort and deliver mail and answer questions that students have," Jackson said. "I also worked in the broadcast lab last semester. I think it's a great opportunity to work for the school; it gives you real job experience."

"We have student workers in almost every office on campus," said Phil Shreves, director of financial assistance. "In academic departments, housing, all over campus...there are a lot of job opportunities to work for UCM."

Shreves said there are two types of student workers: University funded and federally funded. A University funded worker, such as an office assistant or community advisor is paid 100 percent by UCM. A federally funded student who qualifies for work study has 75 percent of his/her wages paid by federal funds and 25 percent paid by the University.

"Departments are very limited with funding," Shreves said. "A department can hire four work-study students and pay the same amount as one student without work-study. It allows departmental budgets to go further."

"In our department, we don't require a work-study student, but we only have one student working here," said Helen Mills, administrative assistant to the dean of education and human services. "We usually hire them at a higher rate than minimum wage, but since the increase, we'll probably start them at $6.50."

However, not everyone is looking at the wage increase as a good thing. Since work-study students are only allotted a specific dollar amount per semester, many students have had to cut their hours.

"I can only make $1,000 a semester," Jackson said. "I went from working 20 hours to 12 hours a week so I don't go over my amount. The department actually had to hire more workers to fill in."

"We're looking at increasing allotments for next year," Shreves said. "Because the wage has increased, we're making adjustments to raise allotments to $1,100 or $1,200 a semester."

Departments that hire work-study students must also allocate funds to pay for the increase in minimum wage. Before the increase, departments paid $1.29 an hour, now they pay $1.63.
"It's a budget issue," Shreves said. "Departments have to find it in their budgets to hire workers."

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