Work-Study Positions Receive Boost in Earnings

Guest Contributor, Parker Coe

Students who work on campus throughout the school year and during summers saw an increase in pay for their work-study positions.
This news comes after months of nationwide financial instability brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when a great number of college-aged students saw themselves not benefiting from a government stimulus package.
“To date we have on-boarded 190 students who are considered work-study students being paid $10 an hour at E&H,” Lee Svete, Director of the van Vlissingen Center for Career and Professional Development, said. “Considering COVID-19, this is remarkable.”
Students usually work no more than five to six hours per week in their student employment job. The hours can vary based on student schedule, obligations, and employer needs.
For summer student employment, students are required to work 40 hours per week.
Reactions to this bump in work-study pay have some members of the college community reflecting on past experiences.
“I wish they had bumped up the pay while I was working,” former student employee Dakota Morris said. “I only made $7.25 my second year and $7.50 my third year working at the weight room front desk.”
Current student employee Logan Tomlinson looks ahead, however,
“I am excited for the increase in pay just because it is hard enough with class, football, and training, then having to work a minimum wage job with a small number of hours just for a little extra money in my pocket,” Tomlinson said.
Adria Hayden, Assistant Director of Student Employment, details that students who seek to become work-study students should check their Self-Service records, contact the van Vlissingen Center, or contact the Office of Financial Aid to see if they first qualify; in some instances, a student’s financial aid award inhibits a work-study position with the college.
The following steps would then be to build a profile on E&H Connects, the job sharing and professional development site used by the van Vlissingen Center, to make sure all work-study forms and student employment contracts are completed, and to complete a mandatory online Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) training program.
After completing those steps, a student would be eligible to receive payment on a bi-weekly basis and benefit from the boost to student wages.