RAVEN LIRIO; News Writer; liriorv@plu.edu
Recently, Pacific Lutheran University’s Office of Residential Life officially announced a substantial change in student stipends for next year—all stipends will be converted into scholarships.
This is a result of recent changes in government regulation regarding employment laws and work hours. These new laws were created to protect workers and provide proper compensation for all work hours, including overtime. Over the past few years, these laws have been tightening up, and PLU, along with other colleges and universities, are currently trying to find ways to work around these new conditions.
Since most stipend positions have odd work hours that cannot be measured accurately, there are issues in providing the correct amount of compensation to these students by government standards. Therefore, Residential Life has decided to change out stipends and provide money in the form of leadership scholarships.
We understand that people are going to be impacted by this change and some of that is just the nature of change and some of it is this specific change will cause people to need to manage their money differently.
-Tom Huelsbeck, Vice President for Campus Life
Similar to the Rieke Leadership Award, PLU has opted to provide students scholarship aid for their service to campus life at the university. Instead of receiving bi-weekly payments into student bank accounts, these scholarships would be provided at the beginning of each financial period during the school year.
“We’re not changing the cost to a student for being here nor the amount that they would receive for being in this role,” said Associate Vice President for Campus Life Tom Huelsbeck. “The change is when they get the award.”
Residential employment positions, including Resident Assistants, Community Assistants, Resident Assistant with Additional Duties, Community Assistants with Additional Duties and positions in Residence Hall Association and Associated Students of Pacific Lutheran University, will be immediately affected by these changes in the fall of next year. For students in Residents Hall Association and Associated Students of PLU who start their official terms in April, Residential Life is still in the process of finding a solution for new students who apply this year.
While these changes impact many students on campus, Huelsbeck is currently working the best he can to prepare students for the shift.
“We understand that people are going to be impacted by this change and some of that is just the nature of change and some of it is this specific change will cause people to need to manage their money differently,” said Huelsbeck. “Under our current model, we always have RAs that are seriously taxed and struggle with that initial payment even to the point of being placed on financial hold. This change will help many of them tremendously.”
One of the challenges these new changes will pose for students is the effect this will have on financial aid packages. For some students, this change may result in a loss of need-based financial aid which is an issue that needs to be addressed individually. For others, this may affect the way students received loans and some of the money they receive may now be taxable. A select few students may be able to get refunds from their student accounts to use as cash, but the vast majority of students must now find ways to finance themselves with no direct income being added into their bank accounts.
Students have a maximum of 20 hours that they can use for on-campus employment and since these positions would no longer be considered an official job, one offered solution would be to find another position on campus for income. However, this solution presents its own problems.
“My biggest concern is how I’m going to finance myself while finishing my degree and not get overworked,” said Hinderlie RA Nayonni Watts. Especially with degrees that require a lot of time commitment like nursing or music, finding another job just isn’t as plausible. Huelsbeck said that Residential Life cares deeply about student well being and is still trying to work with students to help find ways to alleviate these fears and are always open to hearing suggestions.
With these new changes, Huelsbeck has also stated that new financial literacy lectures are currently being discussed to help students manage their money better. While these talks would benefit students affected by the stipend change, the hope is to also provide resources to students that are getting closer to graduation to help prepare them better for the future.
While finance is one huge concern for all students, RHA Sustainability Director Daniel Hatchet expressed his own concerns on how this would affect future recruitment for positions. “I am worried about how this switch will negatively affect the diversity in who applies for RHA and RA positions,” said Hatchet. The fact that many students may choose not to apply since they will not be paid directly is a given, but again financial aid strain may prevent potential candidates from running even though they would be a great fit for the position.
My biggest concern is how I’m going to finance myself while finishing my degree and not get overworked.
-Nayonni Watts, Hinderlie RA
First-year Leah Foster-Koth is currently in the process of applying to be an RA next year and attended the recent informational session hosted by Residential Life. She admitted that “this change doesn’t change my decision to be an RA at all because I applied to be an RA for the position, but I understand that it’s different for everyone.”
There are multiple elements that are at play and no situation is exactly the same. Students who are applying for any of the affected positions are encouraged to speak to financial aid services as soon as possible to work out a solution to ensure that students are not losing money and being compensated for their work correctly.
While most of this change is set in stone, Residential Life is continuously reviewing ways in which it can help students with the shift. They are open to suggestions andsaid that they would love to hear other concerns that may arise with the change. Residential Life has already released a few FAQ sheets to applying RAs, ASPLU and RHA, but hope to expand these to include new concerns that are voiced by students.
If you are interested in learning more or contributing to the conversation, Residential Life encourages you to talk to one of them so that they can answer your questions and work with you to find solutions.
“We welcome anyone to come talk with us. We’re happy to do our best to listen and understand,” Huelsbeck said.
