Although they could make more money elsewhere, many NIU students choose to work on campus.

About 40 percent of NIU employees are students.

Jason Dictow, a senior biology major, works as a tutor for the Access Pal office. “It is pretty convenient for me, I can make my own times to work,” he said.

Working on campus can be helpful for many students and the Student Employment office can assist students in finding jobs on campus.

The office, located in Swen Parson Hall, offers listings of departments needing employees. Solveig Quinney, student employment coordinator, said the departments send the office a list of the jobs available. The students go through the lists and call the department. The department then conducts interviews and does the actual hiring.

Ken Mundy, NIU payroll supervisor, said, “Basically we employ about 1,000 students during the summer. That increases to 3,500 students in the fall.” This fall, approximately 500 new students have been added to the payroll.

Among the departments that traditionally hire many new students is food service. Phyllis Roush, Holmes Student Center food service director, said, “We hired about 38 new students in the Blackhawk cafeteria, production (kitchen), the Pow Wow and the Dug Out.”

But, like many areas in the university, budget cuts have affected student employment. The cutbacks have caused a 2 percent reduction in all areas of food service in the Holmes Student Center.

“We have cut back on the number of hours worked. We are being more creative in staffing our student employees,” Roush said.

Quinney said some departments are not able to hire the number of students they want. But she says there are still some jobs available on campus.