Allison,
This is a great question and something our department discussed during the fall semester. Virginia minimum wage prior to July 2021 was $7.25 and then increased to $9.50. We used to pay our staff $9.25 which as a result if the minimum wage increase went up to $9.50. As a result of our starting wage being equal to minimum wage, we were struggling to keep our employees or see students apply to our jobs as other on-campus departments were paying $10-$15 per hour. A few months back, we increased our starting rate to $12.00 per hour. Students who are what we call "leads" make a starting rate of $13.50. In addition, each year our students work for us, they receive a $.25 per hour increase. These raises correspond to their work anniversary and are processed on a quarterly basis.
I hope this information is helpful.
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Kelly Meehan
Assistant Director, Communications and Program Development
Student Centers
George Mason University
Fairfax VA
kreid7@gmu.edu------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 01-06-2022 14:37
From: Allison Van Den Berg
Subject: Student pay (and increases since COVID?)
Hi all,
Our department is trying to gather some data concerning student pay and potential raises due to the pandemic. If you could please take a couple of minutes to complete this informal poll, we would greatly appreciate it.
Or if you prefer, you can email me directly at acvanden@ncsu.edu and answer the following:
1) What is the current starting pay for student employee positions?
2) What is the average pay for all of your student positions?
3) Are you considering a need to raise your starting pay since the pandemic? (Or have you already raised starting pay since March 2020?)
4) If yes, how much of an increase are you considering?
I'm happy to share the results if people are interested. Thanks everyone!
Allison
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Allison Van Den Berg
Operations Coordinator
North Carolina State University
Raleigh NC
acvanden@ncsu.edu
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