President George W. Bush unveiled dramatic changes in the work-study system on college campuses as part of his plan to expand AmeriCorps last week. A leading national community service organization, Bush's new plan would increase AmeriCorps by 50 percent. Brandeis students can expect to be affected by alterations in the monetary distribution of work-study jobs under this plan, specifically in relation to an increase in non-profit work-study dependence.
Work-study jobs were created as a way for the federal government to give employment opportunities to college students with financial need. Currently, a minimum of seven percent of all work-study jobs must be filled through off-campus non-profit community service. Bush's new plan would dramatically increase this minimum to 50 percent, shifting at least half of all work-study employment off-campus.
The Washington reaction
Bush's proposal was met with mixed emotions. Leslie Lenkowsky, chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service, has called this change only one tool that would be used to "encourage colleges and college students to become more active in community-service work. We want to encourage more colleges and universities to take service learning more seriously across the board."
"I am encouraged that the president has called on Americans of every generation to serve their communities," Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said.
But Kennedy also questioned the plan, saying that the provision would serve to encourage only low-income students to do community-service work without doing anything to urge students from wealthier families to volunteer. He also said he worried about how colleges, especially smaller ones, would be able to find the resources to develop a high-quality program for providing work-study options in public-service areas.
The campus impact
At Brandeis, reaction mirrored Kennedy's skepticism. Currently, 93 percent of work-study employees work on-campus. According to the Student Employment Office, the government allots $600,000 annually for Brandeis work-study recipients - a figure determined based on past financial aid data. Kerri A. Luca, student employment coordinator, sees the potential change as "a big burden on the office (of Student Employment). The benefits of on-campus jobs were for students to be able to fit work in with their studies. Students don't necessarily have the means to shift on-campus jobs to off-campus community service. Student Employment doesn't have the resources right now to make that switch either."
Luca also questioned whether non-profit organizations could afford the switch. Under current work-study mandate, each non-profit organization pays 25 percent of its work-study employees earnings. Luca said many of these non-profits struggle to allocate those funds now; such a large shift in student employees could only further complicate the fiscal situation.
Keeping the majority of the federal money on-campus may have advantages to the Brandeis community. Without work-study recipients filling the numerous on-campus positions with federal money, Brandeis would be forced to use its own funding for the same employment. Not only would this take jobs away from students, it would cost Brandeis at least half of the $600,000 it receives every year. "I agree in an increase in volunteerism, but in other ways. Why limit it to work-study? Why limit it to students who receive it as to those who do not? Why not promote it on-campus?" Luca said.
Brandeis students have worked in both Boston and Waltham non-profit organizations, including the Museum of Science, ARC, the Watch, JumpStart, and on-campus at the Lemberg Children's Center.
Students can work at any non-profit location, and some positions are posted online at the Brandeis website. Usually positions are filled directly with the organization, Brandeis grants approval after reviewing a new organization's proof of tax- exempt status.
Starting in the 2002-2003 academic year, students will be able to work at for-profit organizations if directly related to their major.