A decision by the university to raise the minimum wage for student workers to $8 per hour began nearly two years ago with a proposal by then sophomore representative Hannah Maniscalo.
The Student Government Association passed legislation in the fall of 2021 calling on the university to make the change, but, said SGA vice president Nathan Marshall, that was just the beginning. What followed was a year and a half of meetings, research and discussion with several departments on campus, including the Office of Finance and the Office of Human Resources, that involved 2021-22 SGA president Bekah Jones, 2022-23 president Lindsey May and Marshall, who served as treasurer last year.
Marshall said the last year’s SGA leadership team took the proposal to the university leadership and it eventually wound up at the Senior Leadership Team, which is headed by Dr. Phil Schubert, president of the university.
The result was in increase in the past minimum wage from $7.25 an hour across campus, which gave a raise to nearly a third of student workers. This is the first time that ACU has paid a minimum wage above the national minimum wage. The annual cost of the change will be about $30,000.
“This was the first time that student wages have been included in the annual SLT discussion regarding employee wages, and the SLT had a commitment to continue including students in this annual discussion moving forward,” Marshall said.
Maniscalo, now a senator, said they were hoping for a raise to $9 an hour but were happy with the progress.
“After working a campus job for minimum wage my freshman year, I felt it was important we work to increase the campus minimum wage,” said Maniscalo, senior international relations major from Houston. “Many students have to look off campus for jobs and end up in work spaces that just are not as flexible as they need to be.”
The goal of the bill was to make on-campus jobs accessible and reliable for students in an economy where off-campus jobs normally pay higher wages. Marshall said on-campus jobs have many benefits, such as flexibility, convenience, experience and community-based relationships within the workplace.
SGA president Alli Dimmitt, senior political science major from Naples, Florida, said she hopes this change has a positive impact for students.
“This change is a personal success because it means that students around campus are getting paid at a more competitive rate, getting compensated at a higher amount and that SGA used its platform well,” Dimmitt said. “I hope this impacts the students through alleviating even just a small amount of stress they may be experiencing because of finances.”
