Correction: The previous story included incorrect information about the fee-funded student wage per hour. The wage will remain at $15.90 per hour for fee-funded units.

“Students absolutely need it.”

These were the words of Oregon State University student Adison Rowe, who attended the Student Fee Committee Meeting held last week, where they discussed a raise in wages for fee-funded student employees.

The focus of the Jan. 25 meeting, led by Student Fee Committee Chair Matteo Paola, was to discuss 13 decision packages presented to the SFC including the student wage increase.

The committee also heard from eight student fee-funded groups – Recreational Sports, Performing Arts, Memorial Union, Student Experiences & Engagement, Family Resource Center, Basic Needs Center, Associated Students of Oregon State University and Athletics – who requested decision packages for several programs and positions.

During the first hour of the meeting, SFC discussed a student wage raise, to reach a non-binding vote on raising fee-funded student employee wages to $16.65 from $15.90 per hour.

According to Carissa O’Donnell, ASOSU President, there are approximately 1,051 fee-funded employees and about 6,915 students currently employed at OSU.

Several attendees spoke, including representative Dylan Perfect of OSU Student Workers, which describes itself as an “advocacy campaign by and for student workers at OSU.”

“I want to emphasize that this (increase in wage) would in fact make a significant difference in the lives of many student workers, and I would encourage you to support this proposal,” Perfect said to the committee.

Aside from this student wage increase, however, ASOSU has been working with university leadership to address pay disparities university-wide with a student pay structure, according to O’Donnell and SFC Vice Chair Sophia Nowers together in an email.

“For student fee funded units, raising the minimum wage to $16.65 for their 1051 student employees would cost $2.36 per student per term for each of the 22,166 Corvallis campus students, or $156,940 total,” O’Donnell and Nowers said.

Next year, without an increase to $16.65, fee-funded units are planned to remain at $15.90 per hour. 

The committee deliberated the wage increase at the beginning of the meeting and decided to hear the student groups before Paola and others asked for more time and figures prior to their preliminary vote. They plan to vote at their next meeting.

This year, there will be up to $35 million in student fees for the SFC to allocate to the current eight fee-funded units, which could amount to $530.12 per student per year, set by the SFC, according to O’Donnell and Nowers.

“(The other) proposals include funding discounted tickets for PRAx performances that will bring accomplished artists from across the world to OSU,” said O’Donnell and Nowers. “The SFC will also vote on a substantial increase to funding for clubs and organizations that will double the amount of club funding–something that has been in high demand post-pandemic.”

O’Donnell and Nowers added that the SFC will also vote on a decision package that extends Dixon Recreation Center’s hours by one hour on Sundays.

The committee will meet for a final time on Feb. 1 at 5 p.m. in the Memorial Union Main Lounge, where the vote on student wages and other votes will take place.

Editor’s Note: Assistant Sports Editor Audrey Saiz contributed to this story.