Despite having more on-campus work experience, many student employees now make salaries similar to those of their new coworkers as a state-issued minimum wage increase took effect in December.
State Issue 2 raised the state minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.85, forcing OU to refigure budgets. The university did not have the funds to provide similar raises to all students.
Sophomore Carlyn Lynch, a new hourly employee at The Front Room, said some of her coworkers were disappointed about not receiving raises.
With the old system
every quarter you got a raise and I think it's disappointing that that opportunity is not even available anymore she said.
The problem led Bill Decatur, vice president for Finance and Administration, to form a committee of administrators and Student Senate members to formulate consistent student employment pay scales, according to an OU news release.
Because the university did not think the issue would pass, it was discussed minimally, said Jim Kemper, associate vice president for Human Resources.
After the issue passed Nov. 7, the university formed the Minimum Wage Project Planning Team to review who was affected by the change and how to implement it. This group finished its work in December and student workers received raises Dec. 24. A one-time allocation from the General Fund will cover these pay raises. The payroll department said OU employed 4,500 students paid on hourly or monthly cycles during first quarter.
Along with hourly workers, the university employs about 780 Federal Work Study students and 330 PACE students, the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships reported. Both groups of students are finding their schedules adjusted for university departments to stay within budget.
It won't cost the departments more and the students won't lose money
explained Kemper, who was the Minimum Wage Project Planning Team chairman. But the departments will lose work. They'll have to find someone to do the work the students would've done.
He added that each department will be responsible for future budgets and determining how many students they can afford to hire.
But increased wages are motivating more students to try for positions. Lynch said she applied for The Front Room job because the minimum wage went up.
I didn't want to work for $5.15 an hour
she said. As students
we don't have time to work full time. When it's $6.85 an hour
it's worth (it).
Changes to the legislation that would have required all university employees, including OU President Roderick McDavis, to keep a timesheet and might have exempted the school from the increase delayed a third committee set to examine the law's record-keeping aspects. Neither change remained in the final legislation.
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Emily Grannis
