Summer student employment funding restored
Administration allocates $450,000 to maintain normal levels of employment until June 30
Ben Kleppinger
Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: News
Students worried about summer student employment at Eastern can breathe a sigh of relief, after an e-mail was sent from Eastern President Doug Whitlock announcing that summer student employment from May 11 to June 30 will be funded at approximately the same level as last year.
Administrators announced Thursday that most departments on campus would receive $1,346 in student employment funding from May 11 to June 30 - enough for one 20-hour-per-week student.
Vice President for Student Affairs James Conneely said until he got approval for an extra $250,000 in institutional work study funding, there was no money left for student employment because the budget was so over-spent.
Friday morning Whitlock sent an e-mail to the Eastern community announcing that an extra $200,000 would be added on top of the $250,000 Conneely requested.
"This should allow summer employment to proceed in keeping with the original plans of the various units," Whitlock wrote in his e-mail. "EVP Moberly has recommended to me that this be done, and I am approving this as well."
The original announcement on Thursday came with just a little more than a week left before it would have gone in to effect, leaving many on Eastern's campus confused or surprised.
Conneely said many people probably didn't understand the severity of the situation because "they didn't have the budget in hand."
When asked why many employers on campus weren't informed sooner about the institutional work study overspending, Conneely said, "I don't know, to be honest with you, why that wasn't communicated."
Conneely said three to four years ago each department had an allotted amount to spend on student workers, but during the last two years, "people just kept hiring."
Last fiscal year, Eastern budgeted $898,500 for institutional work study but spent more than $2.13 million, according to statistics from Conneely and Eastern's Executive Director of Budgeting Karen Neubauer.
This year, Eastern budgeted approximately $1.04 million, but as of Monday had spent more than $1.92 million.
Conneely said in order to get student employment spending under control, he wants to go back to the previous system, where each department had a specific allocation they could spend.
"It's obviously not working right now," he said.
Administrators announced Thursday that most departments on campus would receive $1,346 in student employment funding from May 11 to June 30 - enough for one 20-hour-per-week student.
Vice President for Student Affairs James Conneely said until he got approval for an extra $250,000 in institutional work study funding, there was no money left for student employment because the budget was so over-spent.
Friday morning Whitlock sent an e-mail to the Eastern community announcing that an extra $200,000 would be added on top of the $250,000 Conneely requested.
"This should allow summer employment to proceed in keeping with the original plans of the various units," Whitlock wrote in his e-mail. "EVP Moberly has recommended to me that this be done, and I am approving this as well."
The original announcement on Thursday came with just a little more than a week left before it would have gone in to effect, leaving many on Eastern's campus confused or surprised.
Conneely said many people probably didn't understand the severity of the situation because "they didn't have the budget in hand."
When asked why many employers on campus weren't informed sooner about the institutional work study overspending, Conneely said, "I don't know, to be honest with you, why that wasn't communicated."
Conneely said three to four years ago each department had an allotted amount to spend on student workers, but during the last two years, "people just kept hiring."
Last fiscal year, Eastern budgeted $898,500 for institutional work study but spent more than $2.13 million, according to statistics from Conneely and Eastern's Executive Director of Budgeting Karen Neubauer.
This year, Eastern budgeted approximately $1.04 million, but as of Monday had spent more than $1.92 million.
Conneely said in order to get student employment spending under control, he wants to go back to the previous system, where each department had a specific allocation they could spend.
"It's obviously not working right now," he said.
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