Cover story: Finding balance and Yale's best job

During the University's nearly three-century history, a Yale degree has been associated with traditions of financial and professional success. Yale students came to New Haven to train themselves for success in places like Wall Street and Madison Avenue. While Yale has always employed some undergraduates, most students have been able to focus on forthcoming financial rewards instead of on conjuring up enough capital to make it through four years in the Ivy League.

After 30 years of spiraling tuition costs, however, as well as concerted efforts to diversify the student body and what Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, terms a new "maniacal" pursuit of extra-curricular activities, the obligations of the typical Yale student have drastically changed. One of the most important manifestations of this transformation is the growth of employment opportunities for cash-strapped students on campus.

The `maniacal' schedule

"I've never known how people here balance things the way they do," Brodhead said. The dean is no stranger to balancing academics and work. As an undergraduate, he was employed in the economics and English departments after his father lost his job. Brodhead added that in the last 20 years, Yalies have significantly increased the amount of time they dedicate to activities outside the classroom.

There is cause for concern in this trend, according to the dean. He said in some ways, the hectic schedules of today's undergraduates are "glorious," but also stressed that students need to "have time to reflect on what they do and why it's important."

While working even five hours a week can drastically reduce a busy student's free time, many students working on campus are compelled to do so by work-study requirements included in their financial aid packages. "Yale College packages self-help in all financial aid awards," University Financial Aid Director Donald Routh explained. As a result, students on financial aid receive priority in employment during the first two weeks of the term.

According to Routh, there are plenty of jobs available for students. "We have not had a job shortage in six to eight years and, because of an $800,000 increase in our federal work-study funding to support America Reads and and other community service initiatives, we have an unusual array of opportunities for financial aid students with federal work-study eligibility," he said.

Finding these jobs, however, can be a frustrating experience if you don't know where to look. While jobs in the dining halls and CCL are prominently listed in the student employment center, finding more unconventional jobs takes a little more perseverence and luck.

Working off the beaten path

Luck was certainly with Lucy Schaeffer, JE '99, when she literally stumbled onto a golden opportunity. "I went to Hendrie Hall and got very discouraged by reading tags advertising boring library jobs. On my way out, I saw a random sign [requesting a dogwalker]," she said. "Basically, I have the best job on campus. I get paid $10 an hour to walk wherever I want with a fat, friendly yellow lab named Swift."

When the newly appointed Davenport dean, Susan Wennemyr, arrived on campus, she needed someone to walk her dogs as well. Sarah Calvert, DC '99, answered the call and now walks the pets every weekday morning for a half hour. "I can get to know the dean and it's very good pay," she said.

Unconventional job opportunities go beyond animal care. Osagie Obasagie, DC '99, was going to Payne Whitney gymnasium to lift weights so often that he decided he wanted to work there. Obasagie inquired about vacant positions, and soon found himself working at the fitness center. "I spot people and pick up their weights," he said. While Obasagie added that jobs at the gym "can be monotonous work," he maintained that he is happy with the position due to flexible hours and good pay. Many Yalies respond to table-tent requests from graduate departments, requesting researchers and subjects for tests. Laura Desimone of the Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy explained that she is currently looking for a full-time assistant to work on an "evaluation of school-based initiatives." The psychology department is constantly looking for student subjects to take part in paid experiments. Psychology graduate student Kristi Lemm, GRD '00, said she is looking for male subjects to participate in a study "about gender, and how people make judgments about things related to themselves." Lemm said the typical pay for experiments is $8 per hour.

Yasmin Best, DC '99, frequently takes part in psychology experiments to earn spending money. One experiment included "a sensory test where I put my hand in gloves and felt different wooden shapes." She said the best way to hear about experiments needing subjects is from friends or by "hanging out in SSS."

While psychology experiments will not normally fulfill a student's obligatory work-study requirement, those who want a little extra money are generally happy with thesecash sources. "I would recommend it to anyone who needs cash but doesn't have the constitution or committment for a real job," Best said.

Making money the old-fashioned way

For students looking for more conventional jobs, employment opportunities abound. The University's libraries hire droves of students every semester. Upon arriving on campus from South Africa as a freshman, Gideon Maltz, JE '00, decided to venture to Sterling Library's annual jobs fair. "There were tons of people there, and they basically hired everyone," he said. While starting salaries in the library system generally begin at Yale's minimum wage of $6.30, Maltz said a student can "rise up to more respectable jobs and higher pay."

David Valdez, DC '01, started looking for a position in CCL before classes started. "I applied during orientation programs," he explained. Valdez said he enjoys his new job, but not all library workers have such a positive experience. "At the best of times it's boring, and at the worst of times it's deathly tedious," Maltz said.

As the importance of technology has grown on campus, so has the demand for student computing assistants (CAs). Competition for the limited number of positions is strong. "The pay is very good, and it goes up with experience," Jensen Harris, PC '98, said of the $8 per hour starting salary. He explained that CAs generally work 20 hours per week--even more at the beginning of the year, when freshmen are purchasing their computers.

Positions as masters' aides and freshman counselors are popular options for employment within the residential college system. Nicole Lai, DC '98, snagged a job with her college master when she "opened the door to the office and was tapped by the master's assistant for the position." "The hiring process is very random," master's aide Cody Couch, JE '99, said. He explained that some students were "hired because their mothers constantly called, and we thought they would answer the phone and save us the hastle of taking a message."

A select group of upperclassmen is chosen each year to serve as freshman and ethnic counselors. Rachel Easterly, PC '98, explained that she became interested in becoming a counselor when she herself was a freshman. "I had a horrible relationship with my frosh counselor, and I thought that I could do so much better." The job is "part of who you are, wherever you are [on campus]," she said.

Asian-American ethnic counselor Simmi Singh, CC '98, agreed. "I like to offer my friendship and myself as a resource if it's helpful to anyone."

Importantly, even these more conventional jobs can lead to greater employment and networking opportunities. Harris used his experiences as a CA to land a summer job with Microsoft. "A lot of the things I learned as a CA helped me at Microsoft," he said. "I already knew what problems people would have with the programs." With their proximity to masters' teas, formal dinners, and study breaks at the master's residence, masters' aides, too, enjoy opportunities to gain important contacts in administrative positions. "It's a great way to get to know the staff and the master," Lai said.

Opportunity or Burden?

Despite increased employment opportunities on campus, some students criticize the University's work-study requirements and financial demands that oblige students to work long hours. Students on financial aid may have a more difficult time committing to academics and extra-curriculars if they are forced to work to make up for chronic cash shortages.

Coalition of Students for Financial Aid Reform (COFAR) member Julio Gonzalez, CC '98, said there is need for significant reform in the financial aid system. "There is a problem in the assumptions of the system," Gonzalez said. He explained that when parents are not willing to pay for their child's education, "students end up getting put in the center of the debate between the University and the parental unit."

Brodhead conceded that he was "sympathetic" to criticisms leveled by students, but he maintained that University aid packages "assume a combination of effort." He said the student and his or her family are expected to "make an investment in [the student's] education within limits. Challenge these assumptions, and we enter a different universe."

COFAR coordinator Jamie McLaren, ES '98, said he agreed that "people who want to be here are going to have to work." The quantity of work students must take on is at the forefront of his organization's agenda. "[Employment responsibilities] shouldn't keep students from excelling in academics," he said.

With the University's budget finally back in the black, McLaren said he hoped the University would either raise the level of financial aid awarded to each student or increase the wages paid by work-study positions.

As students begin their new jobs this month, undergraduates will once again attempt to balance academic, extracurricular, and financial obligations. While the toll that these committments take on individual students continues to be debated, few see Yalies reverting to lighter schedules in the near future. As Brodhead put it, "if people are driven over the edge, they don't come forward here."

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