Pitt Digital cut student worker hours by 15% earlier in the semester to accommodate a lack of demand for their services.<\/p>\n
The reduction only affects student employees at the Drop-In Support <\/a>office of University Store on Fifth and Hillman Library, according to Brady Lutsko, Pitt Digital<\/a> communications director. He said hours were cut in order to match the needs of the support center.<\/p>\n \u201cThis targeted adjustment was based on service utilization data for in-person support,\u201d Lutsko said. \u201cBy aligning staffing with actual demand, we can maintain quality Drop-in Support while ensuring fiscal accountability.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Pitt Digital is collaborating with students on solutions concerning hours and shifts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been working with individuals to find shifts that fit their availability and preserve as many hours as possible,\u201d Lutsko said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite drop-in hours, all student roles were preserved. Pitt Digital staffs over 70 students in roles such as data analytics, IT technicians, programmers, Computing Lab<\/a> students and Digital ambassadors, according to Lutsko.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lutsko said Pitt Digital is prioritizing a balance of finances and student technology access.<\/p>\n \u201c[We are] making data-driven decisions about where to allocate resources while sustaining meaningful employment opportunities,\u201d Lutsko said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n University spokesperson Jared Stonesifer said there are no \u201cbroad-based plans\u201d to cut student worker hours across the general university. Stonesifer said decisions about staffing and budgets are not overseen by the University and are broken up into different sections.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDecisions on student employment staffing are made at the department level based on need and departmental budgetary availability,\u201d Stonesifer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Stonesifer, budgets are managed by Responsibility Centers<\/a>, who adjust their budgets alongside the larger University budget. These budgets are not affected by larger budgets such as the Pennsylvania state budget,<\/a> which was passed on Nov. 12.<\/p>\n \u201cRCs may elect different strategies to achieve their financial goals,\u201d Stonesifer said. \u201cThese actions are unrelated to state funding.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Stonesifer affirmed the university\u2019s support of student workers. He also acknowledged the value of student employment in supporting an individual\u2019s \u201cacademic experience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe work hard to create a work environment that is more than just a job \u2014 it is also a learning experience,\u201d Stonesifer said. \u201cWe will continue to dedicate resources to sustain and foster the important role they play.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pitt Digital cut student worker hours by 15% earlier in the semester to accommodate a lack of demand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[21727,16133,73,75,74,23728,20591],"class_list":{"0":"post-39094","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-pay","9":"tag-pitt-digital","10":"tag-pittsburgh","11":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","12":"tag-pittsburgh-news","13":"tag-student-employees","14":"tag-student-workers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}