Central Michigan University is preparing for the July 1 minimum wage increase.

But that doesn’t mean it is fond of the third change in 18 months, which increases the current wage of $7.15 per hour to $7.40.

The university is set to spend an estimated $128,000 per semester to pay minimum wage employees, said Director of Media Relations Steve Smith. The amount equals an additional $8,000 per pay period.

The 2008-2009 room and board rates were also adjusted with the wage hike in mind, said Associate Director of Residence Life Shaun Holtgreive.

Student Employment Manager Jon Goodwin said Residence Life employs 2,200 students, 1,200 of which work for Campus Dining. It is the largest employer of students on campus.

“We took the number of hours that students need to work and used that to come up with our increase,” Holtgreive said. “We used a gross dollar amount that we used for student wages and it reflects out that way.”

The CMU Board of Trustees approved a 6 percent room and board increase on April 24, resulting in incoming students paying $7,668 for a standard room and an unlimited meal plan.

The average student wage is $7.21 per hour, Goodwin said. The university currently employs 1,580 students, but during fall and spring semesters, the number jumps to around 3,800, he said.

“We haven’t seen any decrease in the number of student employees,” he said. “In fact, this year they were up a little bit.”

The state’s minimum wage last increased in July 2007, when it jumped to $7.15 from $6.95. But the university was perhaps hit harder by an October 2006 increase from $5.15 to $6.95.

Residence Life had to cut back student hours after the first increase, Holtgreive said, but all the necessary cuts have been made, and the department has adjusted accordingly.

“We haven’t cut any student hours, we’ve just increased their wage,” he said. “There were no cuts in student labor hours because of the increase that’s going to occur in July.”

Another hit

The second-largest employer of students is University Recreation, another department that has been hit hard by recent wage increases.

URec was given $90,000 to cover the two previous hikes, and with another looming, Director Stan Shingles said the department will be affected again.

“There’s no secrets, minimum wage is having a huge impact,” he said.

Shingles said the hike affects the pay scale. After July 1, he said more employees will be making minimum wage.

“We don’t have the resources to create as many differentials,” he said.

URec employs about 300 students, including sports officials and fitness leaders. The rising costs contributed to the increased membership rates for community members, Shingles said.

“Part of the costs have to be passed off to the consumers of those programs,” he said.

Assistant Dean and Director of Student Life Tony Voisin said the increase is good for students.

“It’s beneficial to put more money in their pocket and soften the financial blow of an ever increasing cost of college,” he said. “But you don’t get any extra money to cover a wage increase. You have to make do with the same budget that you had.”

Goodwin said he does not expect the number of student employees to fluctuate, but hours might as the increase takes affect.

“I don’t see how we could operate without our student employees,” he said.

editor@cm-life.com

E-mail the author: defaultuser