Students are now more likely to work during college than at any other point in American history.
According to the economist Peter Orszag, a majority of college students work while they attend college to pay for the rising cost of expenses. At Ohio University, students have been increasingly drawn to campus jobs to counter tough economic headwinds.
“Learning and Earning: Working In College” by Orszag states, “Not only are students more likely to work today, but they are more likely to work full-time: the share of students working full-time while going to school full-time has nearly doubled, rising from 5.6 percent in 1985 to 10.4 percent in 2000.”
In 2000, he writes, 828,000 full-time students worked full-time compared to 366,000 in 1985. Those numbers have changed over a decade, with rising multitudes of students searching and gaining employment throughout the nation’s colleges.
During the 2010-11 academic year, student employees at Alden Library worked 87,494.38 hours, earned a total of $667,787.59, answered 32,347 questions, checked out 419,956 items, and together with full-time staff provided services to 1,619,846 patrons. Libraries, like dining halls, hire many students for specific and sometimes technical positions.
By 2010, the labor force participation rate (the proportion of the population working or looking for work) for recent high-school graduates enrolled in college was 40 percent, up from 36 percent around 2008; however, the report indicates most students earn money working to some degree while in college.
The participation rates for male and female graduates enrolled in college were about the same (41.1 and 38.9 percent, respectively). Given the slight differences, the campus community has begun to look for ways to improve opportunities for everyone, including in student government.
Student employees at OU are the largest demographic of students without representation in student government. Student employees neither have a voting member nor access to resources that other student groups have.
A significant reason to establish a Student Employee Commission is that other commissions do not adequately represent student employee needs while fully advocating the needs of their constituencies. To date, employees of residence life have a commission working on their behalf, while more than 600 employees in dining halls, University College, recreation, laboratories, libraries, campus tours and elsewhere remain without any formal representation.
With a commission for student employees, greater detail and time will be put toward a single demographic — much like the Black Affairs Commission does for African American students.
In an earlier opinion to The Post, a four-pronged plan was provided to cover the functions of the Student Employee Commission. Among those responsibilities listed were advocating for employee awareness issues especially during budget cuts and defending existing employment opportunities; advancing cleaner and greener facilities where needed and working to increase the number of jobs on campus; publishing lists of open positions on campus every semester and posting them online and in populated areas; and bundling existing resources for employees into one organized body that is accessible to all students.
One supportive student senator said “a Student Employee Commission will work to advocate pay that rivals other state universities and bridge the differences that part-time and full-time employees face.”
Other functions of a commission would include being a resource for students concerned about sexual harassment or discrimination at work.
Another function would be to assist student employees in bridging any gap between working and academic achievement. “Working part-time as a student generally appears to supplant only non-productive activities, such as watching television.
In addition, students who work fewer than 10 hours per week have (only) slightly higher GPAs than other similar students,” states Orszag, who served as director of the Whitehouse’s Office of Management and Budget. According to his published report, full-time employment may impair student performance. Orszag writes that 55 percent of those students working 35 or more hours per week say work has a negative effect on their studies.
“Students working full-time also reported the following liabilities: 40 percent report that work limits their class schedule; 36 percent report it reduces their class choices; 30 percent report it limits the number of classes they take; and 26 percent report it limits access to the library,” he stated.
Full-time employees, as well as part-time workers, have been limited by their schedules; which can lead to a need for accommodations.
A Student Employee Commission is necessary for these and more issues of employees to be heard effectively. A demographic larger than most, employees have endured the twists and turns of a shaky American economy and ever-constant university budget cuts. It’s with the same endurance they continue to advance a proposal that gives them a much-needed voice and seat at the decision table.
Christopher Myers is a senior studying philosophy.
