On-campus student employment at Hillsdale College has continued mostly unhindered in spite of the order by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on Nov. 15 to impose new restrictions on in-person gatherings. In addition to prohibiting in-person classes at colleges and universities, the order says that workplaces should be closed when jobs can be done from home.
In-person employee workplaces were adhering to thorough precautionary measures implemented by campus work environments before the semester started. These practices have continued throughout the semester and have allowed students to continue to work despite the cancellation of in-person classes.
The college’s contact center, staffed mostly by student agents, has not had to adjust any practices or guidelines since the Whitmer administration’s new order, according to Elizabeth Turner, assistant director of the center.
Turner said that since the beginning of the semester, student agents have had to sit 6 feet apart, wipes and hand sanitizers have been provided in every cubicle, and students are instructed to wipe down their workspace before and after shifts as well as wear face masks when possible.
“We’ve not had to put in any new precautions,” Turner said. “We just kept the ones we already had.”
The contact center’s protocols have allowed students to continue coming into work without risking contact with others in a way that would spread COVID-19.
“When I tested positive for COVID-19 and was asked to contact trace, I was given very specific requirements for what constitutes close contact,” said Lacey Burke, a senior and student agent team leader at the contact center. “I did not have to contact trace anyone from work.”
Despite the measures for on-campus workplaces that have prevented contact tracing as a result of students working together, student quarantining has still hurt campus employment. Both the contact center and Bon Appetit have found themselves short-staffed at times throughout the semester. A.J.’s Cafe, Bon Appetit’s on-campus cafe located in the student union, has been especially negatively impacted at different points this semester.
A.J. ‘s Cafe Student Manager Michaela Frohnen explained that at certain times, the cafe has had to limit its hours, stop serving cooked food, and even at one point shut down for a few days because of quarantined workers.
“We’ve been consistent with all precautions,” Frohnen said. “The biggest problem with the new developments is the quarantines. The limited operations of A.J.’s are the repercussions of this.”
A.J.’s is currently open and operating at the fullest capacity it has all semester. Frohnen expressed some optimism over the prospect of A.J.’s operations improving even more in the spring.
“Hopefully A.J.’s will be a little more normal next semester,” Frohnen said. “We’ll see how much we’re allowed to bring back given the state of the virus and the rules that come out of it.”
