Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: News

Finding a job in the current market is pretty tough, and it could be getting tougher for students on Eastern's campus this summer.

University administrators are working on a proposal that could cut up to $1 million in university spending on student employment. If the current proposal is submitted and approved, it would encourage all areas on campus to rein in institutional work study spending, said James Conneely, vice president for Student Affairs.

Student employment comes in two forms at Eastern: institutional work study and federal work study. Institutional work study funds come directly from the university, while most of the federal work study funds come from the federal government. Eastern's federal work study budget would be unaffected by the proposal.

Conneely said the university has been overspending its budget for student workers, a trend that cannot continue because of the current economic climate.

This year, Eastern's budget for institutional work study was approximately $1.04 million, according to statistics from Karen Neubauer, Eastern's executive director of budgeting. With approximately two months left in the fiscal year, Eastern has already spent more than $1.92 million, according to statistics from Conneely.

Last year, Eastern budgeted $898,500 for institutional work study but spent more than $2.13 million.

The proposal would increase the institutional work study budget by $200,000 to approximately $1.24 million.

But that increase would come with an asterisk: no more overspending.

Conneely said if the proposal passes and the new budget numbers are accepted and approved, then Eastern would attempt to keep institutional work study spending at the actual budgeted level.

Based on this year's spending to date, Eastern could spend more than $2.3 million on institutional work study by the end of the fiscal year on July 1.

That means Eastern could be cutting the actual amount spent on institutional work study by more than $1 million next year.

Eastern has nearly 1,500 students employed through institutional work study, according to statistics from Student Financial Assistance. A cut of $1 million is approximately 46 percent of the actual amount spent on institutional work study. If Eastern cut the total number of institutional work study employees by 46 percent, approximately 690 student workers would lose their jobs.

Seventeen of Eastern's student workers are employed in the Technology Commons in downstairs Powell. Cutting the number of student workers in the Technology Commons would likely diminish the quality of services provided as well, said Charles Woolum, Technology Commons supervisor.

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