Talking Stick - November/December 2017 - 54

FLSA: ONE CAMPUS'S STORY
by Jill Engel-Hellman

Editor's Note: For many campuses, the debate about how to
respond to proposed changes
to the Fair Labor Standards Act
(later rescinded) soon became
about more than salaries and
human resource procedures.
The following recounts one
specific campus's conversation
about its staff and their work.
In February 2016, when I first
heard details of the proposed
changes to the Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA) at a
conference, I agreed with the
overall spirit of the proposed
legislation. At the same time,
I realized that colleges and
universities would face unique
challenges because most entry‑
level (and even some mid‑level)
housing positions required staff
to live in on‑campus housing.
This condition is considered
part of the employee's
responsibility, but it also is part
of the compensation - almost
a perk of the job. Yet, under
the new FLSA guidelines, this
provided housing would no
longer be considered a form of
compensation.
For the next six months after
I returned from the conference,
Kenyon College - the small
liberal arts campus where I
worked - engaged in some of
the most difficult conversations

54

TALKING STICK

of my career. Given that there
was no easy or no one right
way to comply with the legisla‑
tion while being mindful of the
potential significant expense,
we were forced to reevaluate
our current practices and think
outside of the box. Through it
all, however, my supervisor was
clear about one thing. While
there were important financial
considerations, we could not
lose sight of the people, our
staff, who would be impacted
by the proposed regulations.
At some point during this
time, I raised the question of
whether professional housing
staff who supervise community
advisors needed to live on cam‑
pus. Our campus safety officers
were highly trained and trusted
by students. Plus, housing staff
were available to come to cam‑
pus to assist through our on‑call
system. Furthermore, profes‑
sional on‑call responsibilities
were already shared by several
student affairs departments -
not just residential life - among
staff who already were required
to remain within 10 miles of
campus when on‑call. Addition‑
ally, not requiring professional
housing staff to live on campus
could benefit our colleagues in
other ways. They would receive
a larger salary and be allowed
to spend the additional money
on their choice of housing. And

at the end of a day, they could
go home and experience life
away from campus.
As we continued conversa‑
tions, the idea of increasing our
live‑in staff members' salaries
and no longer requiring them
to live in on‑campus housing
began to feel like less of a risk
and more like the right thing
to do. We felt assured that our
students would not experience
a decline in the level of support
they received (especially after
hours), and the shift would also
provide professional housing
staff with an improved work/life
balance, which kept with our
divisional strategic goals.
Even while the future of
FLSA fluctuated, Kenyon forged
ahead with this new model.
As of this writing, it has only
been a few months since we
implemented the change, but
we have already seen positive
signs. Our newly hired staff
member, who comes to Kenyon
with five years of professional
experience and a young fam‑
ily, just purchased a house in
a neighboring town. A highly
qualified staff member for
Kenyon and a home with real
neighbors for them is a win for
everyone.
Talking Stick - November/December 2017

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