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The approximately 5,000 students working on-campus jobs can expect either a decrease in hours or fewer available job opportunities as the minimum wage increases alongside a stagnant budget for employment in departments across campus.
While the minimum wage in Indiana climbed to $6.55 this year, it has yet to have a drastic effect on the amount of work hours on campus, Larry Beck, associate director of the Ball State University Career Center, said.
So far Beck has seen no drop in the number of jobs offered on the Cardinal ViewJobs Web site, and hiring patterns for on-campus jobs are similar to those from this time last year, he said.
"It's about the same as we anticipated," he said.
Beck said it's still too early in the budget year to tell if the increase in minimum wage has any effect on the number of campus jobs available for students. As the year goes on, he said, the Career Center will be looking to see if job hours were cut or if departments would be hiring fewer students.
Within the Career Center, Beck said the budget for student wages hasn't been increased and no extra funds have been set aside for new hires for the semester.
"We're essentially spreading things thinner with the same amount of jobs," he said.
Todd Phelps, assistant director of computer operations and client support for University Computing Services, said campus computer labs also have had to adjust by cutting back on hours because of the minimum wage increase.
Last year the 12 general-purpose labs on campus were open 817 hours a week; this year 706 hours are available, Phelps said.
"We've been facing cuts so we had to make some adjustments," Phelps said.
The inQsit lab in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center basement closed because of the building's renovation construction; the adjacent general-purpose lab in that building is still open, he said.
No other labs have been open in place of the closed lab in the Student Center, which eliminates 40 hours from the department's schedule, Phelps said.
University Computing Services has yet to receive complaints from students about the cut in hours, but the department will do what it can to keep the labs running as steadily and efficiently as possible, Phelps said.
"We'll do the best we can with what we have to best provide resources to students," he said.
Although departments don't have the budget to pay for more student work hours, Robert Zellers, director of scholarships and financial aid, said more students eligible for work-study programs applying for on-campus jobs could help offset the issue of eliminated hours.
"With work-study, wages are paid 75 cents per dollar from the federal government; the university matches the additional 25 cents," he said.
Zellers said Ball State received $565,333 in federal money available for work-study programs, about the same amount awarded to the university as last year.
He said the university usually grants more awards than funds available because some students eligible for work study don't work the full 15 hours a week covered in the monies.
"That number is dependant on Congress appropriations," Zellers said. "The minimum wage increase has no affect on these grants."
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