Oxford College overcompensated student workers this semester, putting many into stressful situations. Ignite Pre-Orientation Leader (OL) Soryna McIntire (25Ox), one of the students paid extra, told The Emory Wheel she received twice the expected pay for Ignite workers, which amounted to $1,200.
McIntire wrote in a follow-up email to the Wheel that she thinks she got paid twice the amount she was owed because she received two checks from Emory Human Resources (HR) — one was an accurate payment, and the other was a mistaken payment through a “retroactive check.”
Another Ignite Pre-OL, who requested to remain anonymous due to concerns about maintaining employment, said he received quadruple the expected pay. He explained that he and another student were only supposed to get one paycheck each but instead received two paychecks, each worth double the stipend. In total, the student received $2,400.
“As far as I know, every single Orientation Leader [and] every single Ignite leader here in Oxford got paid double,” the student said.
The student expressed that it was “stressful” because he did not know if he could spend the money.
“I’m a little afraid because if they do end up trying to get the money back, it’s definitely possible that someone has already spent it,” the student said. “It’s a weird scenario because we’re all college students. Nobody’s taught us what to do when somebody overpays us.”
Another student who worked as an OL, Ella Anderson (25Ox), said that former Assistant Director of Campus Life Stephanie Maddox told her that there have been previous instances of student payment mishaps from HR.
“[Maddox] said that HR had done this before, where they paid people double last year, and they ended up asking for the money back,” Anderson said.
In addition to overpayment, other students have said their pay came months late. This is the case for Anderson, who in addition to working as an OL, worked for Oxford’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program in May.
Anderson expected to receive a $3,500 stipend at the beginning of May but did not receive the payment until July. Anderson said the delay in payment was a “burden,” forcing students to borrow money from each other to buy groceries, as there was no dining hall service at Oxford over the summer.
The Emory College Pathways Center clarified that the SURE stipend delay was unrelated to the ongoing situation at Oxford.
“During the last iteration of SURE, Oxford student participants experienced a delay in receiving their stipends due to logistical issues,” the Pathways Center wrote in an email to the Wheel. “Undergraduate Research Programs is enhancing its customer service and student-centeredness by ensuring that all students who participate in subsequent iterations of SURE receive their stipends by the first day of participation in our program.”
International Student Welcome (ISW) iMentor Julian Salazar (25Ox) is still awaiting payment he expected two months earlier, as Oxford paid iMentors in August last year.
“According to the contract, we never got a date that we were going to get paid,” Salazar said. “We were supposed to get paid, according to the iMentors last year, around after ISW was done.”
Salazar noted that while the payment delay has not personally impacted him, it has influenced many of his peers’ plans.
“I know some iMentors — they were looking forward to buying tickets for fall break and Thanksgiving,” Salazar said. “They were counting on this money to do it.”
iMentor Sarah Sinhal (25Ox) wrote an email on behalf of the iMentor team to Assistant Director of International Student Programs Christine Richardson regarding their delayed payment. Sinhal wrote that after learning that both OLs and Ignite Leadership Mentors (ILMs) were paid double, the iMentors would like to be “compensated similarly for the delay.”
Richardson responded in an Oct. 4 email that she has reached out to HR and Student Employment and will let iMentors know when she receives a response. Richardson clarified that the overpayment was not compensation for late pay but a mistake.
“I’ve spoken with the leaders of the OL and iLm regarding the payment amount and payment delays,” Richardson wrote. “They confirmed that some students were double-paid. The double payments were a mistake; they are working with the compensation department to rectify it.”
Senior Director of Global Oxford Daphne Orr explained that Oxford implemented a new process for student employment this year and said she believes it has to do with the delays.
“Oxford transitioned to a different process for student employment this year,” Orr said. “Student employment is working collaboratively with Human Resources on processing all student employment.”
Associate Director of University Communications Rachel Smith confirmed that Oxford implemented a new process between student employment and HR this year in a Nov. 19 email to the Wheel.
“To clarify, Oxford said the overpayments for OLs and Ignite leaders was a mistake and it is being corrected,” Smith said. “Oxford is unaware of delays but as noted in our previous statement, all students must complete the necessary paperwork before they can be paid.”
In a previous Oct. 28 statement to the Wheel, Assistant Vice President of University Communications Laura Diamond added that if students are having payment issues, they should reach out to HR.
“Oxford is not aware of any current systemic delays in processing student payments for those who have completed the necessary paperwork and are correctly logging their hours,” Diamond wrote. “Human Resources sent another reminder to students last week to complete this step.”
Correction (11/20/2024 at 3:21 p.m.): A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that HR did not respond to the Wheel’s request for comment by press time. In fact, HR was involved in the creation of statements Associate Director of University Communications Rachel Smith and Assistant Vice President of University Communications Laura Diamond sent.
