less money mo’ problems

So, here’re some updates to my post last week about the state of student employment.

First and foremost: If you’re a student who’s having difficulty getting work because of these sudden changes, especially if you’d been promised a job before the changes were made, make an appointment with Glendi Gaddis ASAP.  SFS has always been open to discussing your aid and working out hardships.  It worked for me (yes, I got my jobs back!).

That being said, I haven’t really changed my mind about this whole thing overall.  This was still poorly-planned, rolled out without sufficient notice, and is, as of my writing, still tangibly, negatively impacting plenty of my coworkers who are trying to figure out their eligibility for the jobs they were promised.

I am, however, glad that the college seems to be genuinely making efforts to accommodate those of us who were negatively impacted.

Two explanatory e-mails (below the jump) were sent out hours ago to various communities of the College of Arts and Sciences.  One was sent to students, the other to faculty/staff.  One wonders if these changes also affect the Law School and Grad School (and if not, why?); these e-mails were only sent to CAS (I don’t intend this to be a Fox-News-style we-can-lie-if-it’s-a-question question, but an actual honest inquiry).

TL;DR: so far, D- for rollout, A-ish for catch-up.

To students:

from sfs@lclark.edu>

to cas-students <cas-students@lclark.edu>

subject Student Employment

Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 3:47 PM

Because of some confusion and misinformation about changes to the student employment program,  Student Financial Services has prepared the following Q and A.  If this does not address your questions and concerns, please contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss it further.

Warmly,

Glendi Gaddis

Director of Student Financial Services

***************

Why is Lewis & Clark changing the way student employment is done?

The Enrollment Management Group in the College of Arts and Sciences asked Student Financial Services to implement some important changes in our student employment program this fall.  Rocky economic times have affected the ability of many families to finance the costs associate with enrolling at a school like Lewis & Clark.  Applications for assistance have increase and more families are demonstrating higher levels of need than we have seen in the past.  Our top priority is to ensure access to a Lewis & Clark education–a commitment we’ve upheld this current academic year by increasing the total amount allocated to financial aid in the college’s budget nearly 10 percent.  The changes in the student employment program are another important part of how we are helping students finance their Lewis & Clark education.

What’s the change?

All funds available for student employment, whether their source is the Federal Work Study (FWS) program or the institution’s own operating budget (LCWS), will be awarded to students through Student Financial Services. Approximately 1,070 students have received work study awards for the current academic year. To make sure there are positions available on campus for the students who have been offered work awards, departments have been asked to hire only students with a work award.

How is the change being implemented?

We are aware that many supervisors made hiring commitments to students before these modifications to the student employment program were fully communicated and before students knew if they had been awarded Work-Study. For this reason, as we move through implementation over the course of this year, we will work with supervisors on a case-by-case basis. Financial realities dictate that not all students can be offered work on campus, but we want to be sure that hiring commitments supervisors made to students can be honored to the extent possible.

What if I don’t have a work award?

There are opportunities for students without work awards to work on campus. Bon Appétit,  Barnes & Noble bookstore or specialized areas such as ASLC or SAAB are able to hire students without a work award. You can also look at off-campus jobs in the area which are posted on-line at http://www.lclark.edu/offices/student_financial_services/student_employment/. Students wishing to pursue internship opportunities should contact 3CE at  (503) 768-7114.

How do I get a work award for next year?

Work awards will be distributed through the financial aid process for 2010-2011. Students wishing to be considered for a work award should submit the required financial aid applications by the priority filing deadline of March 1. More detailed information about the application process will be available in December.

What if I have other questions?
If you have general questions about student employment, please contact SFS at (503) 768-7090 or sfs@lclark.edu.  We want to help!

From: Office of the Provost [mailto:provost@lclark.edu]
Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 1:55 PM
To: cas-staff; cas-faculty; cs-employees@lclark.edu
Subject: Student Employment

To the Lewis & Clark faculty and staff,
To ensure that students are given the work-study opportunities they need to finance their Lewis & Clark education, and to make sure that we do not lose out on available federal work-study funds, the Enrollment Management Group in the College of Arts and Sciences asked for some important changes in the way our student employment program is implemented this fall.   We believe these changes will benefit the institution and, most importantly, our students.

• All funds available for student employment, whether their source is the Federal Work Study (FWS) program or the institution’s own operating budget (LCWS), will be awarded to undergraduate students through Student Financial Services. With the advent of this change, departments should initially seek to hire students who have an Employment Request and Authorization (ERA) form produced by Student Financial Services, documenting that the student has received a work-study award and is eligible to be hired. Approximately 1,070 of our 1,900 undergraduate students have received work study awards for the current academic year.

• Student employment allocations are now listed as a single line item within departmental budgets.   Departments may use these funds to pay students with either FWS or LCWS awards and are relieved of the administrative burden of monitoring two separate budget items for student employment.

• In order to maximize federal resources, more students who demonstrated financial need have been awarded funding through the FWS program.  As a result, approximately 880 students currently registered for the fall semester have received a FWS award, an increase of 225 students over last year.

On August 25 and August 27, Chris Logan, Student Employment Specialist, conducted supervisor training sessions that included information on these program modifications.  Additional training sessions will be offered in September.   During this transition period, departments that have made a good faith effort to hire students from the pool of students currently awarded work study but have been unable to fill positions are encouraged to contact either Glendi Gaddis, Director of Student Financial Services, or Anastacia Dillon, Associate Director, for assistance.
I want to extend my thanks for your understanding and cooperation. I know that many supervisors developed an approach to hiring students that worked with the way student employment has been administered in the past, and that change of this sort can be frustrating.  I also know that this campus community has rallied around our top-priority commitment to the principle of ensuring access to a Lewis & Clark education during these economically difficult times—a commitment we’ve upheld with our nearly 10 percent increase in financial aid for this fiscal year. I hope this change in the work-study procedures will be seen in the same light: it is an important part of how we are helping our students finance their Lewis & Clark education.
Thank you all for helping to make this work for our students.

Sincerely,

Mervyn Brockett

Associate Provost