Two of the least popular work study jobs at Covenant got a pay bump this year as Facilities and Grounds scrambles to hire more people to take care of campus. The $2 pay raise is welcome and students hope for a campus-wide raise.
“The higher pay is very enticing. I was only able to get a job in either Grounds or Facilities because it is difficult for freshmen to get any other jobs,” said Walker Johnson, voicing a common complaint of new students at Covenant.
Maximus Mueller, also a freshman, agreed. “Freshmen who applied for jobs other than facilities or grounds were turned down at the doors. The pay raise definitely sweetens the deal.”
Facilities and Grounds lost many students with the onset of the pandemic. Since these jobs support every area of campus, their inability to attract students had a critical impact on the college’s staff. The pay raise was intended to change this.
Sandy Collins, a Facilities supervisor in charge of cleaning three buildings, is very pleased with the pay increase for student workers. Her team has grown from two permanent members to seven. Although she believes Facilities remains understaffed, all additional help is welcome.
“I think the pay increase was definitely fair, especially since these jobs are more manual labor and do not allow for time to do homework like other ScotsWork jobs do,” says Ciana Godrey, one of the few upperclassmen who continued with Grounds after her freshman year. Godrey enjoys the hands-on work of maintaining Covenant’s campus. “The higher pay doesn’t hurt!” she adds.
David Perry, a sophomore working in sports broadcasting, also expressed approval for the raise. He argued that since these jobs are “grunt work,” the workers deserve to be compensated for their labor. When asked if the pay raise would cause him to consider switching to either of these jobs, Perry quickly answered no. He enjoys his current position.
In his email announcing the new hourly wage, Dr. John Plating answered a question circling the Covenant community. “Budget constraints prevent us from implementing a campus-wide raise at this point, but our desire is to do just that in following years, with raises like this one being signals of future growth.”
“Would I like the pay raise? Yes. But do I understand that those jobs are more intensive? Yes.” comments Bree Osmundsen, a junior from Jubilee who works as both a librarian and a discipleship assistant. “I was on Facilities freshman year, and I had no time to do homework. At my job now I have time to do homework.” When asked if she would consider returning to Facilities, Osmundsen responded, “The raise would have to be pretty substantial to make me consider switching jobs.”
Overall, Covenant’s student body is in favor of the pay raise for these labor intensive jobs, andstudents eagerly anticipate the cabinent’s expressed desire for a campus-wide raise. In the wordsof Plating, “Please know how important you student workers are to helping the college runso smoothly. You are truly indispensable!”