Money appropriated to add on-campus jobs a smart move by university

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The job market has been difficult and exclusory to college students for several years and, finally, Central Michigan University is attempting to help unemployed students.

The university has appropriated $250,000, mostly from reserve funds, to create 100 new on-campus work study jobs.

The announcement was only regarding the creation of these jobs, not what the jobs will be, in what department or departments they will be in, or how these jobs will be made to be sustainable.

The decisions should be made in a way that will get these jobs in place as quickly as possible. This should not become a dangling promise, “These jobs are going to be put in place really soon, we promise,” for months and years.

One of the main reasons for the addition of these work study jobs is the difficulty of finding a job in the outlying community surrounding the university. The university should be lauded for paying attention to the problems affecting the students that do not directly involve the university and doing something about it.

Some people may argue creating 100 jobs is not adequate for remedying the student unemployment problem. However, there are only so many functions on the campus that need to be completed and creating even 100 new jobs could potentially be difficult. Expanding the university with things like the College of Medicine will create some new student positions, but that will likely not account for all 100.

Student Employment Services Manager Jon Goodwin said part of the process at this point is determining which departments are in the most need for added employees. The addition of these work study employees could potentially just grease the wheels and help the university run a little smoother where there are kinks.

The addition of these new employees will not just benefit the students who would receive these jobs, but the university, which would benefit from the manpower in its operations.

The board of trustees and President George Ross should be lauded for this wise business decision, as long as they are able to follow through and make this work as a long-term plan.