Student workers are everywhere on campus: at the library’s learning curve, at Cafe 2020, in your classes as TAs, and at the gym’s front desk. They are integral to our school community and deserve to be compensated in a timely manner.
In an email sent by Human Resources on September 19, 2024, Ursinus announced a transition to Oracle, a global payroll software, for the student worker hiring and payment process. This online system is much different from the physical timesheets we previously had to fill out every week. Though the school hoped this change would benefit us student workers, it has instead led to weeks of uncertainty.
Some students had to resubmit applications for jobs they’ve had for multiple years because of the new system. The school was also unable to pay some students until this past week, when student workers began receiving physical checks. This means some paychecks for work done over the summer were not received until recently. This is an extreme inconvenience and even worse for some students who rely on their campus jobs to buy basic necessities and pay tuition. Thankfully, in the aforementioned email, the college said students with an urgent financial need could contact Student Financial Services to get their pay. However, student workers shouldn’t have to have an immediate financial problem to be properly compensated for the work they do.
The interface itself is not the easiest to use. I couldn’t figure out how to add all my hours for previous weeks because I only saw the online time card for the present week. I had to email my employer and have them add my hours in for me. This creates more work for people who are already very busy. It isn’t just me having issues with the online time cards either!
In the IIE classroom, another student asked me if I knew how to use Oracle and could help them add their hours. I tried my best to help this student while picking something up from the IIE, but I also don’t know if I’m using the system correctly! The school is noticing this because they hosted an Oracle help session, but this is a month after we got on campus. It seems as though everyone has different information about how to use Oracle and how to get paid.
“How am I supposed to pay the school if the school won’t pay me?” said one student worker, who wished to remain anonymous. The student expressed their discontent with Ursinus’s current efforts to rectify the situation. “Some people are getting their checks mailed to their homes out of state,” they stated. “When that’s the case, their parents have to pay to mail their check here. They have to pay to get paid!”
Between having to email someone to get paid and having to go pick up a physical check from Corson Hall, this is a significant downgrade from the previous bi-monthly direct deposit system many students had before. While some bumps are expected and understandable when switching to a new software system, it is disappointing that it has taken the college this long to adapt. I believe they will only get better from here, but they had to learn the system weeks before the semester started. As a student worker, it was frustrating to do work and know the pay wasn’t coming when it should’ve been. It made students feel unappreciated and added stress to our lives during an already hectic time.