Several on-campus student employers have noted a substantial decrease in the number of students taking jobs, starting with a large drop last fall.

Robert Frederickson, director of NIU Food Services, said that although student food service employment is up this year, overall rates still are below the usual average.

“We’re having a better time filling positions this year, but it (varies) from hall to hall,” Frederickson said.

NIU Food Service employs about 1,000 students at seven units, including the Holmes Student Center.

The 15 percent job vacancy rate that hit food services last year has dropped off to about eight percent this fall. Frederickson said that while “things are overall better than last year,” the job vacancy strain still is felt.

“We’re hung up on slots vs. people,” he said.

“The average food service worker takes up about three slots, or time periods a week … the strain now is on management personnel to fill in for the jobs that are vacant, such as working in the dishroom.”

Frederickson said the extra work keeps managers from being able to adequately perform their duties.

Another problem is the forced dependence of cafeterias upon disposable tableware, such as paper plates since there are not enough workers to handle the normal dishwashing load.

NIU Student Employment Coordinator Melody Amundsen said the university’s work-study program has at least 30 jobs open yet this semester. Like Frederickson, she said the job vacancy rate has dissipated some this semester from last but “the number now is still a little high.

“I don’t know about the future, but there are not as many students applying now as usual,” she said.

Under the work-study program, which places about 600 students in various jobs throughout the campus, the federal government pays 80 percent of students’ salaries while the university pays the remaining 20 percent.

Some of the Founders Memorial Library’s 280 student employees, who perform such jobs as checking out and reshelving books, are on the work-study program. George Nenonen, library personnel and business manager, said, “There are more job vacancies than ever before (in the library).

“Normally at this time in the semester, we would have filled all positions… It’s very unusual this time of year.”

Nenonen said the library normally gets two job applicants for every job, but the number has dropped to one this year.

“The problem with that is that callbacks are bad,” he said. Many of the students who apply for jobs later change their minds when called back for an interview.

Nenonen said, higher education budget cuts have contributed to job vacancy difficulties because higher tuition costs are increasingly allowing only students from “higher socioeconomic classes” who can afford an education to attend NIU.

These students are more financially independent and do not have a great financial need to work, he said.

However, Nenonen attributes the job vacancy problem also to financial aid opportunities available to students.

“With the current financial aid situation, more students are eligible for loans so they don’t want to work if they don’t have to.”

Thursday: How financial aid changes will affect on-campus student jobs.