Students’ voices are loud and clear about one issue this semester. The lack of student employment. Numerous students across different departments on campus have been laid off, struggled to find a job on campus, or faced significant changes regarding the student employment system at Wheaton since the beginning of this semester. The cuts to student hours, in addition to the challenges from the changes surrounding student employment are angering many students, especially those seeking experience or financial compensation.
A former MAP day event hosted in the Filene Center by Career Advising
The allocation of hours for student employees have deceased significantly in more than one area of service. The Fab Lab, MailRoom, the Permanents Collection, the Dean of Students Office, and other Innovations Spaces have lost student employees this semester. A big factor contributing to the outrage of laid-off students is that many of them were not given notice of the layoffs prior to the start of the semester, resulting in struggling unemployed college students.
After being contacted for inquiry on this subject, administration denied any decrease to the budget for student employment.
Provost Jonathan Millen answered in an email stating that, “The budget was not reduced and roles were allocated where there is most need on campus.” This answer might be sufficient for some, if the multitude of layoffs in departments stretching from either end of the campus weren’t hugely impactful on students’ lives.
Suzi Robinson, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the college, said, “The college has invested additional staff to improve the system for sharing student employment opportunities.” Contrasting this are the many complaints about the lack of student employment opportunities and the process of job-hunting on campus.
After being laid off this semester from their job as an assistant at the Fab Lab, Dee Mejias ‘26 said, “I don’t have any source of income at the moment. I’m applying to other campus jobs, but I haven’t heard back.”
Mejias received an email this semester on Aug. 25, one day before classes officially started, from the Manager of Innovation Spaces and Programs Brandon Witter, notifying Mejias that,“Our hours that I am allowed to allocate for student employees in the Innovation Spaces have been significantly cut,” wrote Witter.
Witter wrote in that same email, “This forced me to cut the team in half, resulting in some difficult decisions about who will be working in the Lab this semester.”
Mejias is far from the only student who is now unemployed. Luke Droese ‘28 was startled when he heard about the potential layoffs for student positions in the Dean Of Students Office last semester. It wasn’t until he sent an email inquiring about his employment status to Susan McNary, executive assistant for the Vice President for Student Affairs, after seeing his former position available on Handshake, a career and employment service that Wheaton utilizes for students.
“It’s put a lot of mental strain on me in terms of need now, I need to find another job again,” said Droese.
Beside from the financial and mental strain that unemployed students bear, these layoffs also affect future careers and experience.
Meghan Lafferty ‘27 planned to intern with Prof. Leah Niederstadt in Wheaton’s Permanent Collection, which contains more than 8,000 artifacts with rich history, according to Wheaton’s Permanent Collection website. According to Lafferty, the allocated hours have decreased to 30 hours per week split between the remaining student interns.
“I was really upset. I’m a junior with zero experience in the field,” Lafferty said. She spoke with The Life and Career Design Institute (LCDI) about using a stipend to fund her internship at the Permanent Collection, but has not had luck with that proposition, saying “I don’t trust LCDI.”
Layoffs aren’t the only thing preventing students from attaining on-campus jobs. The recent switch from contacting department employers directly to Handshake has contributed to students almost never receiving a response after submitting a job application.
Benji Gonzalez ‘28 is more than frustrated with the lack of communication from campus employers, saying that it’s “less personal and less human in a way” because of the transition to Handshake.
After applying to 12 jobs on campus, they only received correspondence from two.
Gonzalez recognized the mental effects of “radio silence” from most employers, saying, “It also gives you imposter syndrome if you’re doing well and submitting a good application. It makes you doubt yourself to not get a reply.”
These issues coincide with many layoffs of professors and faculty this semester. The big picture cause of these cuts remains to be determined, as administration denies changes to the budget for student employment.
As Lafferty put it, “I would really like to graduate with some experience.”