Student wages stir controversy
By Jesse Baer

A recent article in Swarthmore College’s student newspaper, the Phoenix, reports that Oberlin pays student workers lower wages than any other liberal arts college in the Consortium on Financing Higher Education.
Vice President for Finance Andrew Evans vehemently disputed the figures published in the Phoenix.
“Whenever I ask others [about wages at other colleges], we are always higher than most,” he said. “I challenge each of those numbers.”
The Phoenix article reports that the minimum and typical wage at Oberlin is $5.50, and that the maximum wage is $7. According to the article, the average minimum wage at the COFHE liberal arts schools is $6.75, the average typical wage is $7.25 and the average maximum wage is $8.
In addition to Oberlin and Swarthmore, the Consortium includes Amherst, Bryn Mawr, Carleton, Mt. Holyoke, Pomona, Smith, Wellesley and Williams Colleges, as well as Wesleyan University.
Evans countered the Phoenix with numbers of his own. According to Evans, the minimum wage for student workers at Oberlin is currently $5.85, the median rate is $7.40, and the highest wage being paid is $16.
“The bottom line is, I and the President both challenge what’s been published by Swarthmore,” he said.
He also said that the Phoenix shouldn’t have access to this data.
“I plan to tell our COFHE rep to call the Swarthmore people and ask them how the information came to be public,” he said. “They’re printing information about us. Part of the deal when you join COFHE is you don’t publish information without asking the school.”
Low student wages don’t seem to be a pressing problem at Oberlin right now. According to senior Erica Lee, who runs the Office of Student Employment, students generally aren’t complaining.
“There’s not talk about it,” Lee said. “Nobody complains about wage…Since nobody knows that we get paid so little, we just take what we can get.”
“Most jobs on this campus are around $6,” she added. “Except for the Con. For some reason they get paid a lot because they have special musical skills.”
Evans claimed that the typical rate was closer to $7. He acknowledged that some students are making only $5.75 per hour, but said that this violated College policy.
“It did turn out that we have a few students making $5.75,” he said. “I don’t know why our departments aren’t paying [at least $5.85]. That’s a mistake.”
Oberlin has a chart, suggesting four “levels” of pay, depending on the skill level of each given job. The rates on this chart are less than the rates Evans listed.
“They’re guidelines — individual departments can decide the level of skill that they need,” Evans said. “They pay hopefully according to the chart, [but] if there are skills specific and off the chart, they can pay more.”
“Maybe the [student wage] chart says we shouldn’t pay above that,” he added. “We’re paying double that in some areas, specifically in the area of hiring pianists.”
Not everybody feels so well-paid, however.
“I run this entire office and I don’t get shit,” Lee observed wryly.

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