By: Daniel Johnson, Staff Reporter |Graphic By: Jonathan Gamboa
A proposal to match student work study wages to the new city-wide minimum wage was passed unanimously by the Governing Board, said Director of Communications & Media Relations Brad Moore.
The new minimum wage, approved in the Nov. 2 general election, did not apply to state employees, work study students included.
There had been some question about whether CNM would be able to pass the raise on to student employees.
Administration and the Governing Board decided that student employees should get the same raise as the rest of the city,” said Moore.
The pay rate for a Student Employee I will go from $7.50 to $8.50 per hour, and the pay rate for a Student Employee II will go from $8.10 to $9.10, said Moore.
Physics Major Sarah Thomsen said she has been a student employee for almost two years and this is the first raise she has ever heard of.
“I think a student employee should have their wages raised with inflation because it would be nice to take my son to the movies every so often, but I also know that, as a work study, I am not meant to make a lot of money or have what a person would call a real job,” said Thomsen.
Psychology Major Nathan Mallom said with the social security tax going up and the whole fiscal cliff issue he is happy to receive the raise.
“I am very grateful to the board for budgeting out the raises because if they did not a lot of student employees might end up down in the dirt or struggling to survive,” said Mallom.
He said he is concerned that CNM may have to downsize the number of students employed.
“If the school does not budget out the amount that has to be paid to a student right then I am afraid of losing my job or financial aid,” said Mallom.
A s s o c i a t e Vice President of Enrollment Services Eugene Padilla said students do have a limited amount of financial aid, but the raise will not put them over this semester because the 7extra dollar is coming out of a separate fund.
“No student employee has to worry about losing their job for lack of funds,” he said.
In the future, a student will have their financial aid award adjusted accordingly to include the extra $1 per hour earned as a student employee, said Padilla.
Financial aid awards and student employment eligibility will not be affected by the raise, he said.
Office Technology Major Debra Gallegos said it is wonderful that the school is looking out for the students since everything else in the city is going up in price.
“The school has allowed students to better survive, since they have limited incomes,” said Gallegos.
Thomsen said it is awesome that the school is giving a raise to the student employees since they really do not have to.
“Props to CNM for the raise since it will help pay for my son’s daycare and food for the house,” she said.
