Student workers have been approved for a one dollar raise by the the Ventura County Community College District Board of Trustees, in a 5-0 vote on Feb. 16.
Student workers will now start out at $10 per hour versus their old starting salary of $9 per hour, according to BP 7270 Student Workers contract.
Vice Chancellor of Human Resources Michael Shanahan appreciates student workers and feels that they’re an asset to faculty.
“Essentially what [the raise] does is give folks a somewhat competitive opportunity to make money while they’re going to school,” said Shanahan. “That’s always an opportunity to help faculty or staff.”
Moorpark College employs 406 student workers as of last week, according to College Business Services Manager Darlene Melby.
The raise took effect immediately after Jan. 1 of this year in compliance with the new law in California, which made the minimum wage in the state $10.
According to the revised student workers contract, positions are classified into four different positions: student aide, student assistant, student specialist and student specialist II.
Starting salary for student aide is $10 per hour and maxes out at $10.50. The salary for student assistant starts at $10.50 and will max out at $11. Student specialist starts at $11 and maxes out at $11.50. Lastly, student specialist II starts at $11.50 which maxes out at $12 per hour.
Every 800 hours that a student works, they are eligible for a 25-cent raise until they max out when they reach 1600 hours.
The only suggestion on the bill was from Student Trustee Ilse Maymes, who wanted to make changes to how potential students can find the information.
“I got a lot of feedback from students, who said that they don’t know where to go to find student worker positions,” said Maymes. “If there could be something in the portal or some way that they could go to find out about these positions that would be helpful not just for the students, but also for staff because they could have more students to choose from.”
Shanahan also said that there could be a possibility of higher paying student worker jobs.
“We will be looking at other student roles, just as an FYI,” said Shanahan. “I’ve heard from a couple of the colleges that they have a role in mind that may pay a little more.”
