Michigan turns around student worker program

Amanda McCorquodale

After losing almost half of its student workforce, dining services at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor has recently been able to attract almost twice as many students thanks to a pay increase, aggressive recruitment and a program to cultivate work experience.

“We have a labor model built around student workers at UMich,” says Steve Mangan, dining director of the program that includes extensive catering, nine dining halls and 19 retail operations ranging from a farm-to-table restaurant to convenience stores. “We really think highly of our student employees and we like the idea of putting money back in their pockets. It makes our program better.”

But five years ago, the number of student employees in UMich dining services began to steadily drop off. Last year that number dropped to a drastically low 700—a far cry from the 2,000 needed. “We were struggling to keep all of our platforms open with the short staff,” Mangan says. “It forced us to rely on a temporary workforce that requires more oversight, management and training. It also led to some inconsistencies in service.”

In order to attract more students, UMich dining services began an aggressive recruitment program at area job fairs and other local colleges. It placed a hiring station right in the dining halls and reached out in the summer so that students knew what paperwork to bring to assist in the hiring process.

By using aggressive recruitment tactics, Michigan dining services was able to showcase the benefits of working for the university's dining program. Photo: University of Michigan

“It’s a competitive market,” Mangan says. “Not only are we competing with jobs in the hundreds of Ann Arbor restaurants where you can earn tips, but we are also competing with other university jobs in labs or libraries that may allow students to study while on the clock.”

“We also hadn’t implemented a pay increase since 2009, and with inflation we really felt like we had fallen behind,” Mangan adds. To attract more students, UMich dining services was able to offer a 22 percent pay increase this year, thanks to revenue from a successful increase in the program’s commuter meal sales.

This year, starting wages were raised from $9 to $11, with the opportunity to be promoted to a student coordinator at $12 or a student manager with a $13 starting wage. While the program had always offered a pay bump for each semester worked, it raised that incentive from 10 cents to 25 cents this year. “For students who work multiple years, that can really add up,” Mangan says.

Before implementing the pay increase, Mangan says they did a study of what it would cost to hire full-time workers. “In the end, the cost of hiring students was a fraction of what it would cost to hire full-time workers, and it keeps our culture and benefits directed towards our students.”

However the pay increase does not apply to student jobs throughout the university or even to all dining services jobs. “We didn’t extend the pay increase to our retail operations as those jobs at cafes and as baristas continue to attract a higher number of student workers,” Mangan says.

In order to emphasize how these jobs can foster learning outside the classroom, UMich dining services also hired a manager to run a pilot program to cultivate work skill knowledge. Student workers participate in an initial assessment of their leadership and professionalism knowledge, have multiple meetings to discuss how job skills will apply to future careers and a final assessment to track progress. Students, who typically work eight to 10 hours a week, also earn a free meal for every three-hour shift worked.

As a result of all these efforts, the number of student employees at UMich dining services is up more than 1,000 this year to a total of 1,800. “Not only is our management less stressed, we have full shifts, most of our stations are opened regularly and, at the end of the day, having a decent wage for our workers is the right thing to do.”