Samantha Chaffin
Editor-in-Chief
In last week’s issue of “The Bengal,” you may recall our front page story detailing changes being made to student employee regulations, specifically regarding the number of hours students are able to work each week.
These changes will take effect as soon as July 1 for some departments. Many students and departments are already scrambling to find a solution to the many problems this will cause them.
The changes limit student employees of ISU to 19.5 hours per week, period. This means many students will be forced to find additional or alternative employment off campus in order to make up for lost hours.
Students, like myself, who hold a stipend position as well as an hourly position at the university are now maneuvering uncertain waters, as we are still unsure how this will be handled.
At least one newly elected ASISU senator may not be able to serve as a senator, depending on where these regulations end up after all is said and done. But don’t we want our student representatives to be as immersed and involved on campus as possible? Won’t these regulations be detrimental to that goal? Should student leaders really be forced to choose between leading and working?
What the newly imposed regulations don’t take into account is the fact that many, if not most, student employees at ISU work to make ends meet. We work to pay rent, bills, tuition and car payments just like everyone else.
Working on campus makes our lives significantly easier as we have less commute time and we have the leisure, in most cases, of working around our class schedules and being able to put school first. This is a benefit that can’t often be found when looking at off-campus employment options.
In addition to the struggles students will now face, departments will also see difficulties.
Departments not only have to hire more student employees, but they must decide how they will allow coverage if a student is sick or otherwise unable to work on a given day.
Most students will want to work the maximum 19.5 hours in order to pay bills, but what happens if a student is sick and can’t work a shift? Student employees are maxed out on hours and therefore can’t pick up those shifts, leaving the position empty for a shift.
Clearly, most departments can’t allow this to happen. Therefore, to combat this issue, student hours will in many cases be cut even further in order to leave room for students to pick up those additional shifts.
Now, 19.5 hours has become 15 or even 12.
Students working the full 19.5 hours at minimum wage are only making just over $141 a week. That means students are making approximately $565.50 per month, all before taxes.
Speaking for myself, I know I cannot survive on that amount.
Now imagine student income at 12 or 15 hours ,and the predicament we are in should become clear.
I hope that students and departments alike will take an active interest in these regulations as they are being formed, and I hope the university will take time to consider the effect these regulations will have.
In a worst-case scenario, students may have to choose off-campus work over certain courses or all courses in order to make a living, which could ultimately harm the university as a whole.
