Colorado State University increased the hourly wage of student Housing & Dining Services employees to $15 an hour — a $1.50 increase.

“I think it’s just worth noting that this now puts working for residence and dining in a very competitive place in the market for flexible entry-level positions,” said Tyson Whitman, a second-year electrical engineering student who currently works at Ram’s Horn Dining Center.

All student staff members have an increased minimum wage of $15 per hour, which helps Housing & Dining Services keep the workers they have and hire more simultaneously.

Base wages are kept competitive, and CSU has worked to keep wages the same as the minimum wage over the years, and returning workers can receive a raise every semester they work.

“We have worked diligently over the years to keep base wages competitive, and the same efforts were made this year to remain proactive and offer more than Colorado minimum wage,” said Jason Scott, project and program manager at Residential Dining Services.

“Moving to $15 an hour benefits all of our student team members and has increased our retention. The increase helped Residential Dining Services to hire new students and retain the talented individuals who were already employed with us.”  –Jason Scott, Residential Dining Services project and program manager 

The raise comes after the campus housing and dining employees advocated for more benefits at the beginning of the school year.

“I believe I heard about the change less than a week before it went live,” Whitman said. “I was planning on staying regardless, so it did not affect my decision to stay. However, it does enhance the prospect of staying longer term.”

Housing and dining centers have been working with reduced staff following the pandemic, resulting in the closure of Spoons in Allison Hall and the transition of the Durrell Dining Center to only the marketplace and express options.

Scott and the Residential Dining Services team hope the wage increase attracts more student employees to better staff dining centers.

“Moving to $15 an hour benefits all of our student team members and has increased our retention,” Scott said. “The increase helped Residential Dining Services to hire new students and retain the talented individuals who were already employed with us. We also continue to provide raises every semester (to) student staff (who) return to work with us, as well as a one-time pay increase for students that take a series of unit-led leadership courses.”