With school online and facilities open at limited capacity, many student workers are unsure of where their jobs stand. Students who worked on campus prior to the pandemic have expressed frustration with the university’s lack of communication on the state of their jobs and access to new positions.
Earlier this month, the university laid off 122 employees in an attempt to adjust for a $130 million loss in revenue brought on by the pandemic. Because of this, student workers fear their jobs and opportunities for employment are at stake.
Blü Gengo, a third year drama major at CoPA taking a gap semester, worked at the New School’s call center until the campus closed mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the school closed, Gengo and her coworkers continued to log the hours they would have worked in alignment with their previous work schedules. The school continued to pay students biweekly until the end of May.
After receiving her last payment on May 29, Gengo stopped hearing from the school regarding her job. “They didn’t really tell us how we could continue the job after that or what would be happening with the job, and I don’t really blame them because they didn’t know, but at the same time, they didn’t offer us any help,” Gengo said.
Kaycie Matsukado, a third year photography major at Parsons, had a similar experience working in the photography department at 66 Fifth Ave. Like Gengo, Matsukado was also compensated for the hours that she would have worked throughout the rest of the spring semester.
Yet, she and many of her peers have not heard back from the school regarding the state of their positions or job security.
“I feel like this is potentially a theme that is happening in all facets and tiers of our education and the university,” Matsukado said, referring to the recent employee layoffs. “We as students have been almost desperate for wanting more information, but the information they give is not the information we want,” Matsukado said.
The New School Free Press reached out to Merrie Snead, a university spokesperson, for comment on when students would be alerted about their previously held positions. She responded to our questions in an email.
“Student worker positions at The New School typically conclude at the end of each fiscal year on June 30, and student workers filling these positions must be hired, or re-hired, every year,” Snead said. “Each year student workers must apply for their positions with the hiring College/Department. Any student who held such a position in the past should be in direct contact with their prior manager to determine the status of the position going forward.”
Students have also expressed concerns of transparency when applying to new positions.
Maya Sears, a third year politics major at Lang, held a work-study job as a community assistant in the Stuyvesant Park dorms her freshman year. During the first week of the semester, she applied to several job listings through the New School student job posting site. Sears has not yet received a response back from the school — affirmative or negative — though she has not tried to follow up.
“It’s not accessible,” Sears said. “If I have no lane whatsoever to get a work study job, how is it on me to try really hard and work around this system?” Sears gained her first work study job by applying in person, but no longer considers that an option due to limited access to campus buildings and resident halls.
Charis Huling, a senior communication design student at Parsons, is currently working in Kerrey Hall as a Community Resource Assistant — the new title for the Residential Assistant position, though the role has not changed. Huling has worked as an RA since the summer of 2019. In January, she applied and secured a position as an RA for the Fall 2020 semester, but had to reapply in July since the pandemic changed the living circumstances in the dorms, and of previously committed RAs.
Huling said that she knew she was prioritized for the CRA application process in July, as priority was given to seniors that have worked as an RA before and presumably needed access to the facilities at the University Center. However, she did not find out she secured the position until a week before move-in.
“It was very last minute,” Huling said. “They didn’t tell me until seven days before move-in that I would have to quarantine for 14 days in a non-hotspot state.” An exception was made and Huling quarantined in her dorm.
The lack of transparency on behalf of administration regarding the state of student jobs exasperates the uncertainty of this time for student workers and adds to the threat of financial insecurity.
“I would have liked the school at least to maybe offer at least advice or another opportunity as far as having a job goes because I need that money to survive,” Gengo said.