By Adrian Velonis, Staff Editor
On the evening of Wednesday, October 30th, students and administrators convened for an open town hall organized by the Task Force on Student Work & Service, a body composed of members from both groups whose goal is “to make recommendations that shift towards consistency in campus-wide work and service practices,” in order to discuss the issue of compensation for participation in Haverford’s Customs program, which has been a point of contention on campus since the spring semester.
The administration’s plans
The Task Force presented students with three possible Customs compensation plans, each of which had one thing in common: future first-year halls would be attended by only one Customs Person (CP) and an Upperclassman Advisor (UCA), a significant shift from the program’s current standard of two CPs and a UCA per hall.
At spring plenary this past February, Haverford’s Student Workers Organizing League (SWOL) issued a demand for the administration to provide a yearly stipend of $9,428 for on-hall Customs participants and $3,930 for off-hall members, similar to institutions with traditional RA systems. In order to put pressure on the administration—which relies in large part on the smooth operation of Customs as an attractive feature for incoming classes—SWOL also initiated an open boycott of the Customs program, presenting significant recruitment challenges for the program for 2019–2020 academic year.
To address the issues of the student body, administrators hosted a town hall on March 4th. As the following year’s budget had already been decided, there was little flexibility to provide immediate compensation, so SWOL agreed to a tentative limited plan for Customs payment with the expectation that this would be expanded significantly in the coming months. However, the Task Force’s options, while offering some compensation, do not come close to the level of compensation that the Customs boycotters demanded in the spring.
- Model 1 would pay one CP and one UCAs $1000 per person for the academic year, also combining every off-hall position into a single volunteer role. (Three total team members)
- Model 2 would pay the same number of CPs and UCAs $800 each, combining the off-hall positions into a paid role called the “Customs Community Facilitator.” (Three total team members)
- Model 3 would pay only those CPs and UCAs who are on work-study a stipend of $2400 for the year (the structure of the off-hall roles was not listed for this model). (~Three total team members)
SWOL’s response
According to a statement issued by SWOL via email on the 29th, “The new plans proposed are disappointingly similar to those from last spring, cutting down customs teams into an unrecognizable program, with compensation at just a small fraction of our original proposals and of what is customary at peer institutions across the country.” The organization also remarked that “it is unacceptable for any compensation plan to continue to rely on unpaid labor, especially for more demanding work, and to provide just 48 hours notice for this conversation.” In their statement, SWOL presented three counter-proposals of their own, reiterating their position from the spring.
- Model 1 would pay two CPs and one UCA $9,790 per academic year (equivalent to the cost of housing), and three off-hall members (one Peer Awareness Facilitator, one Ambassador for Multicultural Affairs, and one Honor Council Orienteer) $2,105 each, the cost of the highest meal plan. (Six total team members)
- Model 2 would pay two CPs $9,790 each (no on-hall UCA), and two members of an off-hall role combining UCA, PAF, AMA, and HCO $2,105 each, or hourly for time spent planning and leading hall sessions. (Four total team members)
- Model 3 would pay two CPs and one UCA $9,790 each, with one PAF, AMA, and HCO paid hourly, and giving off-hall team members meal tickets for hall dinners, as well as priority for room draw. (Six total team members)
SWOL also considered the possibility of reducing the number of UCAs in Customs to four or five off-hall participants for the entire first-year class, each one assigned to multiple halls (as with “assigned librarians” given to each hall, separate from Customs). The role in this form would be paid hourly.
Meeting summary
Administrators present at Wednesday’s town hall were Director of Career Engagement & Initiatives Jennifer Barr, Dean of the College Martha Denney, Dean of Residential and Community Life Nate Diehl, and Dean of Student Engagement Michael Elias. In accordance with the Task Force’s findings, they began with a note in reference to general campus employment that “increasing wages to $10 will also help” (up from Haverford’s current $9.00–9.75). Although the minimum wage in Pennsylvania is only $7.25/hour, this figure is still visibly lower than Bryn Mawr’s $10.00–11.15/hr or, for example, Pomona College’s $12.00–15.00/hr according to the Task Force’s spring report.
They then moved onto a discussion about the Customs compensation proposals, opening the floor to student input. The models drew criticism for suggesting that each hall’s CP pair be cut down into a solo role, effectively doubling the amount of work that they are obligated to carry out. According to Hannah Kolzer ‘22, a model with only 25 Customs People “would be extremely harmful to the mental health of CPs without a partner.” Other students remarked on the challenges for CPs associated with ensuring a smooth transition between high school and college for first-years, including one comment that “the program is fundamentally inaccessible to a large part of the student population,” particularly “POC, trans students, low-income students, etc.”
Dean Michael Elias stated that “It is a really big amount for us to wrestle with while the budget process is also balancing many other priorities of the college. […] We are willing to work forward but within the budgeting constraints/processes we have, it’s not a black hole.”
Interview with Michael Elias and Michelle Leao
On Thursday, November 7th, Deans Michael Elias and Michelle Leao sat down for a brief interview to answer a few questions that had been circulating among the community since the Customs meeting on the 30th. Asked if the administration intended to eventually reach the level of compensation demanded by SWOL, or if there was a hard upper limit in place, Mike Elias responded:
“We’re happy to work out a model with [SWOL] next year and long-term financially [to properly compensate the Customs program], but that is not something that can be scaled up quickly. […] There are obviously ways we could get that amount of money to students in the near future, but it would require a drastically reduced number of Customs participants.”
One of the student body’s complaints primary complaints with the Task Force’s proposals is the reduction of the number of CPs from two to one per hall, but per Leao, “I think there’s a way to intentionally pair down the amount of work that CPs are asked to do, while still making sure that it’s a supportive role that’s welcoming the first-years into the larger Haverford community.”
“In some ways, changing the ratio of first-years to Customs persons will help alleviate some of the time that the Customs people feel required to support a whole host of needs that they’re not required to do. […] As a first-year student, when you have access to that level of support, hypothetically, I would argue, you’re going to use it. We do need to […] alleviate the pressure that [CPs] are feeling like they’re constantly on-call,” said Elias.
Leao continued, “You would use it whether or not you necessarily need it. If we reduce that, then the job of a CP becomes providing things that people are actually in need of, rather than thinking that they need to rely on CPs to handle things they should be capable of doing on their own.”
However, many students believe that Customs is what it is specifically because of the remarkably high level of dedication that team members offer (the first-year to Customs member ratio at Haverford is currently about 3:1, compared to a national average of 28:1). When asked how set on the single-CP models the administration was, Leao clarified, “We haven’t decided on a model yet. SWOL leadership, the Deans’ Office, and Students’ Council will be convening to talk about what the models are and what this looks like being put into practice. One of the first things we’ll do is send out a survey to the entire campus community […] the more feedback we get, the more quickly we can move forward.” She also noted that “the CP would get a pull-in, so we would keep the same number of on-hall upperclassmen students.”
In reference to reservations held by some at Haverford that the tone of the program might be negatively affected by a paid model, Dean Elias said that he “would push back on the fact that the position being compensated attracts a different type of applicant. At the core of it, the program is about creating a welcoming and educational and engaging program for first-year students. […] Compensation actually puts a better level of accountability in place, [and] adds a level of intentionality and professionalism that might be overlooked currently.”
Leao stated that the specifics of the application process for Customs is subject to change based on the feedback received from students in the coming months, such as CPs and UCAs potentially applying together. “With a change in model comes ripple effects, everything else is accordingly addressed. We’ve heard that concern a lot; about people wanting to have that option of applying together. That’s something that we’re definitely open to.” According to Elias, “I think that something that people forget about Customs is that it’s a fluid and evolving program, and it’s quite different than it was 5 or 6 years ago, even more than 10 years ago, and even more than 20 years ago.”
So what does it all mean?
Right now, all of the above is still being discussed by students and administrators; it’s clear that some changes to the Customs program are going to happen over the next few years. Given that the administration’s report offers tangible steps toward compensation, it is likely that some of the next iterations of Customs will reflect paid roles in some way. However, the specifics of what that will look like—the number of Customs positions that will exist per hall, and how much each role will be compensated—is still uncertain.
SWOL has reiterated its plans for full compensation, and will be working with administrators and student government in order to come up with a workable solution. As the fall plenary did not reach quorum, this topic was not formally brought up to the entire student body as originally intended. However, according to Deans Elias and Leao, students will still be consulted via online surveys in the coming months.
The application and interview processes for Customs are scheduled to take place soon; last year’s began in February. With significant changes coming to the program, it remains to be seen how future first-year classes at Haverford will interact with their on-hall and off-hall teams.
Image credit: Ethan Lyne
