@OHMomof2 I don’t think any college owes anyone a “resume enhancing” job, including my own. The point is to get these kids much needed money. I’m sorry if some don’t see these jobs as good enough for their resumes.
Well it’s not the college’s money, it’s the federal government paying. And that is a stated goal of the federal work-study program @collegemom9
@OHMomof2 It may be but as many have said here most work study jobs are not “resume enhancing” at any school. I don’t see why anyone feels the need to turn their noses up at a job. If they don’t want it they certainly don’t have to take it. And this is coming from someone who receives a good deal of financial aid as well as work study.
I also think you’ve missed the “whenever possible” part. There are simply not enough jobs to go around in students’ majors.
It’s both. The feds kick in ~2/3rds, with the school paying the rest.
sry, but that is incorrect. There is no federal requirement that the work study job contain educational value. (It may be a recommendation, but not a requirement.)
If it’s 2/3 federal money, that means that it’s my money, and I do not see why my money should be subsidizing custodial services for the wealthiest university in the USA. I have no problem with my money going to enhance the earning capabilities of kids from poor homes - it’s both ethically positive, and has a positive impact on my quality of life. But to save a bit of money for a university with an endowment that equals the economy of a small country? No freaking way.
I’m always surprised that people who get angry at poor people for getting government aid, because “they should work for it” never have a problem with rich entities and individuals getting government aid. Somehow, people who find it immoral that the government gives money to the poor kids, without the kids working for the money, manage to justify the government giving free money to Harvard to help them get their toilets cleaned.
No, I am absolutely correct. You simply do not understand the meaning of the sentence, nor the context. This is not a guideline for the use of the funds, this is a statement as to the purpose of the funds. The statement means that the government has created the program for the specific purpose of encouraging community service and work related to the student’s course of study. Therefore, it is up to the university to use the funds for these purposes. Since Harvard used the funds to subsidize their janitorial services, they misused the funds.
Another quote from that webpage:
Anybody who actually believes that Harvard does not have any other employment for these kids than cleaning toilets is either deeply delusional, or actually believes that it is educational for poor kids to clean toilets, so they never forget that they are worth less than the rich kids who do not need this type of work. Oh, and they believe that so much, that they are willing to pay their own money to make it happen.
I have no problem with the kids doing any type of labor, so long as it fulfills the purpose of these funds
I’m sorry but the vast majority of work study jobs out there do not relate to anyone’s course of study. Schools employ students in dining halls, rec centers, etc using federal work study funds. Thank God they do or there would be a lot less work study jobs (as it is students are not guaranteed these jobs). I would think if all of these schools were misusing these funds we’d be hearing about it. The guideline specifically says “whenever possible”. If jobs are created that pay students $13.50 an hour and it involves scrubbing toilets or cleaning off dishes I’m all for it.
So it’s only Harvard you get aggravated over? The fact that Work Study recipients at Southwest State or Never-heard-of-U have been doing janitorial work- weekly- for over 20 years doesn’t bug you, it’s just that it’s Harvard? And that the WS kids at Southwest State get gapped in their aid- so that their WS funds are used to cover the bill which at Harvard gets paid from need based aid, i.e. by Harvard-- that doesn’t bother you? And that the WS kids at Southwest State in addition to their 10 hour WS job are also covering shifts at the local diner every weekend- because that’s the money that goes to pay lab fees and books, oh-- and since the kid’s aid won’t cover a meal plan (and the parents can’t afford it), without the staff meal at the diner before and after every shift, the kid wouldn’t eat all weekend, that doesn’t bother you?
There are many, many inequities in the financial aid system which impacts low income kids. The fact that Harvard is using a work crew before orientation- and that it qualifies as work study- is barely a blip on the radar of inequities.
Kids becoming victims of predatory colleges to get bogus degrees in Travel management or Recreational Studies or Court Reporting-- this doesn’t bother you, fraudulent behavior on a massive scale (many of these for-profit colleges are owned by private equity firms- and believe me, they know a cash cow when they see one)? Kids wake up one day at age 23 and they’ve taken out loans for a degree which qualifies them for nothing???
My local gym is filled with kids handing out towels in the locker rooms who got degrees in Recreation or Sports Management at one of these for-profit institutions. They make the same twelve bucks an hour as the high school kids. Except the HS kids still have their Pell eligibility and don’t have loans to pay back.
Sorry- can’t get upset over Harvard. Bigger frauds to worry about. Let’s start with Pell.
If any college is using Work Study funds to pay students to clean the toilets of their peers that’s a poor use of funds. We can do better.
As the old saying goes, you are perfectly entitled to your opinion, but not your own facts.
But since cc is not a debate club, I’ll leave it at that. 
fwiw: per the DoE:
[quote]
A school… may employ a student to work for the school itself, including certain services for which the school may contract, such as food service, cleaning and maintenance…"/quote
https://ifap.ed.gov/fsahandbook/attachments/1213FSAHbkVol6Ch2.pdf
Nearly every employee I’ve hired full-time in my area (IT) for the last decade or so has been a previous work study student. It’s sort of like a farm system and has worked very well for us.
Oh boy.
My understanding of the federal work study program: the funds are awarded to the student (but administered by their college), to help them get a job (by paying 2/3 of their wage), to help them earn money to pay their expenses in college. The are jobs that are offered to students by the college (all students, not necessarily just WS students, although college departments like to stretch their budgets by hiring WS students whenever possible). The WS students can apply to any jobs that the college offers… whether they get a job depends on their qualifications, and supply and demand (and thus the timing of their application for the job).
Some subset of “College X” students qualify for federal work study funding. College X employs students in a wide variety of capacities, as do most other colleges. Just one of those many job options happens to be Dorm Crew, which may involve cleaning the bathrooms of other students. Some of the students who qualify for WS funds choose to take the Dorm Crew jobs, over other options because it pays more, has more flexible hours, or some other perk, or maybe those jobs are all that is left by the time that student searched for a job…
What’s the big deal?
Oh, it’s Harvard…
First of all, not all colleges are as rich as Harvard. In fact, no college in the USA is a rich as Harvard (Cambridge, on the other hand…). The term “whenever possible” means “whenever possible”, not “you can ignore it if you feel like saving money that you don’t really need to save”.
Most of the jobs in dining halls, libraries, rec rooms, etc, help build skills that are needed but not taught, as well as soft skills. So you have jobs that require filing, and organizing, customer service, etc. All of these help build up experience that helps on the job market that is open for for college graduates. Cleaning toilets does none of these.
@blossom Harvard just happens to be the college in the article. Any private college which has students being paid federal funds, earmarked for supporting poor students, to do work for which the college would otherwise need to use their own funds, is a problem, Public colleges are somewhat different, since essentially any money they spend on things like office work is public money, and any work the kids do is essentially, work for the public.
I could not care less that it’s Harvard, though I do find it interesting that there are people who jump to Harvard’s defense as though the richest and more powerful college in the USA is a poor downtrodden entity whose entire purpose is to uplift the oppressed, provide food for the hungry, and shelter for the homeless.
I’m finding this thread very interesting if only because I seem to be of two participants who actually knows people who have done dorm crew.
There’s so many ways to respond to the outrage. I think it was @blossom who noted how wonderful the FA is at Harvard. I can’t rave enough about the quality of the free (and paid) enrichment, research, and service programs, but instead I will respond to the assumption that students learn nothing in dorm crew.
Large scale cleaning involves skills, but one reason my kid did it for four years is because it quickly gave them supervisor responsibility with more pay. Someone had to stay on top of things, teach freshmen routines, and coordinate among buildings. Yah, it was not rocket science (that was the summer fellowships). Still she wasn’t bored, and she came home and taught me some nifty cleaning tricks ala hints from Heloise?
Once again, to be very clear, it’s a year long job. There’s a big push in fall before students move in (it’s a paid pre-orientation choice, where the others are not paid or cost money) and again in spring when students move out, but dorm crew cleans individual student bathrooms all year long.
This may not change your opinion, but this idea that it’s only before/after the school year has popped up more than a couple of times in this thread and it is not correct.
Many…many freshman work student students do NOT get the top of the line work study jobs. Many work in dining halls, or at the call center. Or the like. Sure, they would prefer to work in the library desk, or for a professor, but very very often those jobs are held by upperclassmen. It’s the way it is.
Like i said…I worked in the dining hall and I was plenty grateful to have the job. That was my freshman year. My sophomore year, I landed a great job as an undergrad assistant for a very well known professor in my major. I worked for him for three years.
I never saw this as a “class” thing…and never will. I was grateful to have a job.
@Ohiomomof2 is not me, @thumper1 .
In any case, I’m not sure what statement of mine you are replying to. I agree that first years generally get worse jobs than more senior students.
Not necessarily. Students can sign up for only Fall Clean up and/or only Spring Cleanup and/or only Post-Commencement. One does not have to participate all year. It’s flexibility is one of its selling points (I guess).
But one thing I have not seen on this thread is that Dorm Crew is not limited to just work study students, i.e., those with financial need. Any H undergrad can sign up to make a few bucks.