MEDILL NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL REPORT
University of Northern Iowa Boosts Work-Study Spending
By MAKIKO HARAGA
MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON - Laura Schoenrock, sophomore at University of Northern Iowa, goes to an office every day. She assists fund-raising campaigns at a not-for-profit organization that promotes local charities. Laura not only gets a paycheck but academic credit.

In the academic year 2000-2001, University of Northern Iowa spent 13 percent of its federal work-study funds on community service programs, up from 5.7 percent in the previous year. The current law requires colleges and universities to allocate 7 percent of their funds to pay students to serve in the communities. Congress amended the legislation to increase the percentage to seven in 1998, and the change took effect in the academic year 2000-2001.

The university grants academic credits for work-study if students do community service that is related to their areas of studies. Schoenrock, who is studying organizational communication, works at the Cedar Valley United Way in Waterloo.

"I realize how hard it is to get people interested [in charities]," said Schoenrock, whose job is to communicate with corporate people to promote fundraising campaigns. Schoenrock occasionally drives across the city to deliver the campaign packets to companies. Sometimes, she speaks to a group of businessmen and explains about programs like child care and services for the elderly and disabled people.

"It was a little unnerving talking to people," said Schoenrock, adding that her public speaking skill had improved through her work-study. She said that the biggest challenge is to reach people who have a negative attitude toward being asked to donate. Schoenrock said she didn't know about the organization or how not-for-profit groups work.

"Now I understand how they help our community," Schoenrock said. She might consider working for such organizations after graduation, she said.

Employers said they benefit from having work-study students, because they get additional workforce while paying only 25 percent of the cost. The rest is covered by the federal money.

"We can have more manpower during the time when we need more staff, but we don't have to pay them as staff employees," said Molly Clubb of the Cedar Valley United Way.

Other employers said students bring in new ideas to the community.

"It's good for us to get fresh blood, fresh ideas and different outlook from students," said Brendan Owens of Grout Museum of History and Science in Waterloo, where three students from University of Northern Iowa are doing work-study this semester.

While providing good matches between students' interests and community needs, the university faces difficulty in promoting the community service work.

Recruiting students is not easy because the university wants to allocate more money to on-campus work-study, like administrative duties and dining service, said Allan Stamberg, the university's cooperative education director. Stamberg added that students also prefer on-campus jobs.

Laura Schoenrock originally wanted to work on campus, because it is a "hassle" working off-campus, she said. But the waiting list for on-campus work-study was long.

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Evan Bayh, D-Ind., have introduced a bill that would greatly increase the minimum allocation of the federal work-study funds for community-service work. The senators proposed that requirement should be 25 percent by 2010, up from the current 7 percent.

Del Jaramillo of the university's financial aid office said he was "totally against" the bill.

"If it [the percentage] goes up to 25 percent, it will make quite an impact on the university," Jaramillo said, adding that it would cut workforce on campus.

Hawkeye Community College spent 13.6 percent of the funds for community-service work in the academic year 2000-2001. In the previous year, the school barely met the 5-percent requirement. The school officials said finding jobs for students in the community is not a problem, but finding students is difficult.

"Students don't have the transportation to go around the city," said Boni Cole of the school's financial aid office.

Cole said the McCain-Bayh bill would take away the opportunities to earn extra income from their increasing number of nontraditional students who are single mothers.

"They are already making a big commitment just to go to school," Cole said. She added that working off-campus requires "extra commitment," and those students want to work between classes.

"They come to community college to learn trades, so their total focus might not be on what a 18-year-old has," Cole said.

Some community colleges that maintain high allocation to community service said the key to success is their partnership with their communities.

Iowa Lakes Community Colleges, whose main campuses are in Emmestsburg and Estherville, ranked first in the academic year 1999-2000, spending 32.1 percent of the federal work-study funds for community service.

"It works here extraordinarily," said John Beneke, the school's director for financial aid. Beneke added that having public facilities in the proximity contributed to their high performance. A public library and wellness center, where students do community service, are located around the Emmetsburg campus, a rural community in Northern Iowa with about 4,000 residents.

"We work together to give the quality service to residents," Beneke said. The school spent 16 percent for community service in the academic year 2000-2001.

Graphics
Graphic of Best/Worst Schools

Graphic of Top 20 U.S. Schools and Their work-study percentage spent on community service

Graphic of Best States

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