In order to keep pace with the growing job market in the city of Boston, Student Employment increased its minimum starting salary to $7 per hour at the beginning of the semester. The wage has been rising consistently over the past few years, as Student Employment has had difficulties attracting students to on-campus jobs.
"We always have to be fair. We're competing with the Boston job market. In order for students to want to work on campus, they need to get a decent pay rate," Student Employment Director Joanne Grande said. "We are bringing up the minimum wage in compliance with Massachusetts' upcoming statewide increase to $6.75, which is scheduled to come into effect in January."
The changes adds an additional dollar to the minimum wage established at the beginning of last year. According to Grande, however, very few students will actually receive more money because of the new policy.
"While it may seem like higher starting salaries would raise interest in on campus employment, the increase is not really affecting hiring. Only 30 or 40 students were not already making this new minimum," Grande said. "Our students tend to have a lot of experience in the workforce before coming to campus, and such experience entitles them to higher starting salaries. We're dealing with a pretty skilled audience here."
The wage increase does serve to make on-campus jobs seem more attractive, however. Dining Services, which has been consistently understaffed for the past few years, saw a rise in the number of students interested in working for them this year. "We're still not fully staffed, but we're not in desperate need like we were last year," Daytime Student Manager Dorian Maynard said.
Dining Services is reviewing its pay schedule, and may raise wages even more. Because of the pay increase on campus, Maynard said that there has been competition among employers for student labor.
Grande did not specify where the funds to pay students more will come from. "I can't really answer that, but the proposal was approved by the vice president. If he approves it, I guess they find the money somewhere," she said.
While departments that hire students can look to the University to support the change in the wages they pay, the increased wages have caused problems for student organizations who hire students. Groups that are self-supporting, such as Tufts Student Resources (TSR) and The Tufts Daily are having trouble balancing their budgets because of the unanticipated labor costs.
The Student Employment Office provides a written pay scale that describes various types of jobs and their allotted minimum and maximum pay increments. Those who have no previous work experience or training, and work with significant supervision, receive a starting minimum of $7. The more experience a student has, the more money he or she is entitled to earn. Students working on specialized projects or who have received extensive training can earn up to $10.50 per hour while working on campus.
Freshman Amy Spindel, who works at the Women's Center, feels that Student Employment is very fair about setting its wages. "My job is very interesting, but if it was an off-campus job, I think I'd probably be getting only the national minimum wage."
"If you think about it, with many of the secretarial jobs on campus, people can sit there and do their homework while still being paid $7.50 an hour," another student said.
Although students working on campus were pleased to be paid more, they still find faults with the employment scene on campus.
According to Grande, for most on-campus jobs, work-study students are given priority because "the employment will help meet the educational needs of the student."
The preference given to work-study students has driven many to look elsewhere for employment.
Freshman Jackie Fields had difficulty finding a job on campus because she is not on work-study. "You think you got the job, and then they ask you if you're work-study. Once they found out I wasn't, they rescinded the offer," said Fields, who is now working late hours in a restaurant in Harvard Square on weekends. "I got a call from Dowling a week later offering me a non-work-study position, but, by that time, I already had my off-campus job."
Student Employment does have a recruiting service for students like Fields who have difficulty finding work on campus. "We have some great jobs, we're only five minutes from Boston. Most students don't know about this service, but we can definitely find anyone a job, whether it be on campus or off," Grande said.
There are approximately 2,500 undergraduate students working on Student Employment's hourly payroll, according to Grande. Of these, approximately 1,500 students are awarded work-study stipends. Some of the most popular on campus positions include website design, computer work, and office assistants.
