Home / Fall 2015 / One Issue, Two Views: More money v. better benefits

One Issue, Two Views: More money v. better benefits

Photo Illustration: Kayla Stroud/THE SPECTATOR

Written by Austin Wells, Staff Writer

Although it would seem that it would be more suitable for a college student to work on campus, there are actually more benefits to working off campus.

One of the benefits is working more hours. If you’re working somewhere on campus, especially here at VSU, then most places will close pretty early compared to places off campus. Not to mention, you would probably receive a restriction on the amount of hours that you could work if you were to have an on-campus job.

I understand that this is done to help the student. After all, they are dealing with college classes as well as working a job. However, students should be able to choose the amount of hours that they are able to work. While they may not be able to do this with a campus job, students will have much more freedom to choose the amount of hours that they work if they worked off campus. And, if you can work more hours that means that you can make more money.

Most college students do not have a lot of money because of college expenses. With the ability to work more hours, a larger paycheck would go a long way.

A majority of students end up living off campus after their freshman year, and in some cases, would probably live closer to job opportunities than they do to campus. Even if they don’t, there’s a very good chance that they have a mode of transportation to get them to the places that they need to be.

Many students that live on campus tend to have cars or some other form of transportation as well. If they use these to find jobs off campus, then they’ll realize that there are many more jobs available.

This could be the biggest problem with working a campus job—there are more job options and places to work in just one part of Valdosta than there are on the entire campus. You’re more likely to find a job that you enjoy and are more suited for, than if you tried to find a job on campus.

Although you could find a good campus job, it’d be much easier for most students to find the job that they want off campus. With the ability to work more hours, make more money and have more options, it’s pretty easy to see why.


Written by Tresia Bowles, Staff Writer

Every college student could use some extra money, and many of us don’t own cars. So what’s the alternative?

If you live on campus there’s not really a dependable bus to take you anywhere in the city of Valdosta, and if you don’t want to pay gas money to a friend or call Ubers all the time, working on campus may be your best option.

Why? Well, you definitely wouldn’t have to worry about needing a car. All of the places to work on campus are within a decent walking distance. You can always apply for a job near where you live. For example, if you live in Hopper Hall you could apply to work in Hopper Dining Hall, the mail room, or the housing office. If you live in Centennial, there’s the campus rec center, CORE Outdoors, and parking and transportation.

Working on campus is also awesome, because we have an entire office dedicated to helping you get a job on campus—the Student Success Center located at the bottom of Langdale Hall. There’s a convenient tab on the VSU website that is specifically for the Student Success Center where all of the campus jobs are posted as well. This makes it easier to figure out what jobs you can choose from, rather than digging through the vast variety of Valdosta city jobs.

There are specific benefits that come with on campus jobs. If you become a residents’ assistant, you can get free room and board. If you work at CORE Outdoors, you get to rent outdoor gear and go on the trips you lead for free. If you work at the rec center, you can get free swimming lessons and so on. There are many other discounts with these jobs that save you money while you’re here. Even if you live off campus, you can set up your job schedule so that you stay on campus until you complete your job and then go home rather than commuting from the campus to the job. Since you’re already here, it’s more convenient for you to stay and work here. That way you only have to travel to two places—home and VSU— instead of three—home, VSU, and McDonald’s. There’s probably going to be fewer conflicts with your class schedule because your employers, who also work for VSU, will understand.

“Typically, on campus jobs tend to be more understanding of your class schedule,” said LeMorris Brown, a RA in Centennial Hall.

You can leave your job and go straight to class without worrying about being late, or worse, missing class.

Lastly, some of your coworkers may be people that you have class with, people your age, and people that you can relate to. So there’s a greater chance of making friends that last.  And, there is usually a graduate assistant there to help you with your journey. So before you go apply to some fast food restaurant 15 minutes away, consider the benefits of working right here at VSU.

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