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The recent minimum wage increase in Albuquerque could cost UNM up to half a million dollars.
Terry Babbitt, associate vice president of Enrollment Management and overseer of student employment, said the increase may cost UNM $400,000 to $500,000 during fiscal year 2014. He said the exact amount depends on the number of hours student employees work, and the department expects to identify the exact amount by July.
Babbitt said UNM still has no specific plan on how to obtain these funds. However, departments will be responsible for making up the difference however they see fit, he said.
The minimum wage increase in Albuquerque was a ballot measure approved by voters last November by a 2-1 ratio. The measure raised the minimum wage in the city from $7.50 to $8.50, and took effect Jan. 1.
Babbitt said the extra expense itself won’t mean fewer student employees.
“There are a little more than 3,000 students working on campus,” he said. “We don’t expect it to change.”
Babbitt said that although the University expects to spend more because of the wage increase, the increase will minimally affect individual departments. He said this is because most student employees are already paid more than the new citywide minimum wage of $8.50 per hour.
Departments can hire more work-study employees to deal with the minimum wage increase without affecting their budgets, because the University pays only 30 cents per dollar of work-study employees’ salaries, Babbitt said. The remaining 70 cents per dollar come from federal funds.
But Babbitt said each department will be responsible to find funds to maintain their student workforce.
Walter Miller, associate vice president for Student
Services who oversees student employment in the SUB, said 85 percent of all employees in the facility are UNM students. He said the facility does not expect to cut costs to be able to pay its student employees’ salary increase.
Instead, Miller said the SUB plans to raise revenue by renting spaces to non-UNM groups. He said the SUB also plans to look at how it can manage its budget more efficiently.
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“We’re going to be looking at all our expenses just to better see how we control our dollars.”
Camila Valdez, a student employee who works as a front-office assistant at Johnson Center, said student employees working in the center began earning the new minimum wage in January. Valdez said the increase was a good move by the University that will help student employees immensely.
“I think it’s good that the University has to do that rather than have us sign contracts saying that we were not going to get the wage hike,” she said. “I think student jobs are one of the best things a university can do for its students.”
UNM President Robert Frank said the University is working to provide more job openings on campus for students. He said the University is trying its best to maintain the competitiveness of student salaries.
“Many students work while taking courses at UNM, and we have a number of employment opportunities on campus,” he said. “When we can employ students, we offer competitive wage for campus jobs. This is only right and it improves their chances of success.”
Babbitt said the University aims to maintain competitive student salaries to attract more student employees on campus.
“We would rather our students have employment in the educational environment than somewhere off campus,” he said. “We must have competitive wages to make that possible.”
