After two forums with President Hodge in the last year, SFS has decided to take a more active role on campus, promoting a living wage for employees.
After the conclusion of a second meeting with Miami University President David Hodge Feb. 7, Students for Staff (SFS) is using the rest of this semester to look for new ways to spread awareness and education about a living wage. And many on Miami campus are forced to hear them - loud and clear.
One new tactic for the group to make a more visible presence on campus by holding marches outside.
"The reason you see us so vocal outdoors now is because the things we were doing inside didn't work," said senior and SFS member Ben Spanner. "We're not some unorganized group yelling outside of Shriver. We've done the research and we're spreading awareness."
Robert Winslow, a junior and member of SFS, said that the group is mainly focused on learning more about the issue and helping inform students.
"Our group is encompassed by the word 'education,'" Winslow said. "The more we know about the issues the more we can spread the word and the more people know about this, the more they will do to help."
After expressing concern that their proposals to Hodge for a living wage research committee weren't working, SFS adopted a new design: research and education.
"The direct route with Hodge didn't work," Winslow said. "He looked at all the research we gave him and in our last meeting decided there wasn't a problem so now we're shifting gears to a more public campaign."
The group is attending various university sponsored meetings and forums to learn and study all aspects of university policy and structure. They've made several presentations of their findings to courses with relevant class material.
"We've approached the administration and been honest with them and now we're giving them a chance to be honest with us," Winslow said.
SFS has also created a public Web site. While it is still under construction, it will keep interested parties up-to-date on the group's campaign.
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In a university staff meeting about healthcare costs March 21, Melissa Thomasson, associate professor of economics, encouraged staff members to shift insurance costs onto third parties such as other employers, to become empowered to make cost-conscious decisions and to be more concerned with their wellness.
Several members of SFS were in attendance and many employees stopped to talk to them on a first name basis, thanking them for all the work being done on their behalf.
Yet SFS has not yet taken an official stance on this new insurance information.
"There are so many staff members who can't speak up themselves, they fear getting fired," Lee said. "We as students don't have as much to lose, we pay to go here. In a way it is our responsibility to speak up on their behalf."
On-going living wage debate
The heart of SFS is their belief that Miami needs to adopt a policy in which all employees will be paid a living wage. Yet it is the definition of this term that is the main point of contention.
"A living wage is a wage that would allow a full time staff member to afford their basic needs," said Stephanie Lee, a junior and member of SFS. "It is about healthcare, food, clothing and necessities. It wouldn't be based on family size; it would be an averaged dollar-amount wage."
In response to the living wage proposal, Hodge said that the university provides a dollar amount higher than the local definition of a basic living wage.
"Cincinnati and Dayton have defined the basic living wage, in dollar terms, as just over nine dollars an hour," Hodge said. "We start out at a minimum nine dollars an hour and our average wage is 13 dollars."
According to sophomore SFS member Will Runyan, the group is pushing for more than this.
"That number is an average," Runyan said. "Miami still pays a number of its employees sub-poverty level wages. Starting wage is nine dollars an hour. At a public institution like this, no employee should have to have a second job just to make ends meet."
Hodge said he and other administrators want Miami to be viewed as a place where employees will be rewarded for their work.
"We want to be the employer of choice," Hodge said. "We want people to want to work here and feel rewarded for what they do."
Hodge said that in order to be the employer of choice, Miami provides competitive wages, good benefits, opportunities to move up in the system, free tuition to the family of staff members and job security. He said these points are why there are 25 applications for every available position in the staff.
If it were to be considered, financing the change to a living wage is another issue under consideration.
Kerry Nordström, a senior member of SFS, emphasized that the money to transition to a living wage policy would come as a result of budget redistribution since tuition shouldn't be raised to provide the extra money.
With regards to Miami's policy under the previous administration, a letter signed by former President James Garland, former provost Ronald Crutcher and vice president for finance and business services Richard Norman was sent to the Miami faculty in fall of 2003 stating that wages should be based on the work provided instead of the worker's needs.
The letter also said, "One would have to have a beanbag for a heart not to be troubled by the fundamental inequities of life, and for those of us who live and work and study at an institution that espouses humane values, it is especially troubling to find these ugly inequities on our own campus."
It concluded that in the bigger picture, while it is wrong that a professional basketball player earns more money than a teacher, Miami cannot unilaterally change this.
"I like the impulses of what (SFS members) are trying to do," Hodge said. "I share the concern for the staff; it is just a question of how we get to where we are supposed to be."
Ultimately, SFS would like to see a research committee formed to study and recommend a path to proceed on in order to allow every university employee to earn a living wage.
"So right now we're taking it to the streets," Spanner said. "We're working with human resources to research, creating this Web site, and working with the union to get more employee membership, basically being more vocal."
SFS meets at 5 p.m. every Friday in 109 Harrison Hall.
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