University Forced to Make Big Ask of Professors Due to Staff Shortages
Hey, professor, hold the mayo!
Short of help, Michigan State University is making an urgent plea to all staff to volunteer in campus dining halls, including faculty.
MSU’s residential services department has already asked 132 full-time employees to work eight hours a week, the Lansing State Journal reported, but it is apparently not enough.
Short thousands of student workers, Michigan State University is asking faculty and staff to volunteer unpaid in campus dining halls. https://t.co/9ua09nBzWk
— Mark Johnson (@ByMarkJohnson) October 19, 2021
“Faculty and staff from around campus are invited to sign up to assist in the dining halls! We have specific needs during evenings and weekends,” Vennie Gore, a senior vice president, said in an email to deans.
“We have specific needs during evenings and weekends. I ask that you share this message with your departments and units.”
Gore provided a link to a criminal background check and tips on how to prepare for the first shift.
Devin Silvia, director of undergraduate studies in the computational math department, said the request was “astounding.”
“I am all about supporting the MSU student community and making sure they have a positive experience,” Silvia said.
“But at the end of the day, I’m doing that in my own career and questioning whether I’m being sufficiently compensated.”
About 4,000 students typically work in dining halls, but only 1,200 were employed at the end of September, the State Journal reported.
Starting pay was recently raised from $12 to $15 an hour.
Gore said MSU is competing with local businesses for workers.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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