As natural science majors across the university prepare to gain valuable field experience over the summer, many will find one of the more visible sources closed as the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Quality are under a hiring freeze.
The hiring freeze affects all paid positions, including many summer assistant positions or internships, which can be vitally important to the agency, said Kelli Sobel, administrative services deputy for the DNR.
“In a lot of our divisions (student assistants) are very, very important,” she said. “It’s a great learning opportunity for the student and good for us as well. They’re a little bit of cheap labor for us.”
Regardless of the effects on the agencies, the hiring freeze also has reduced the chances for many aspiring biologists.
Many natural science and fisheries and wildlife students will be forced to look elsewhere for experience this summer, if they expect to gain field experience from the state agency.
“We do use short-time worker positions and those we have been able to get exceptions for,” Sobel said. “It depends on what the student wants. If they want to just spend a summer making money or if they want to gain some experience as well.”
Kimberly Large, a fisheries and wildlife junior, is one student who will be looking for alternative means of learning outside MSU.
“One of my goals is to work for the DNR when I graduate, but I’m hoping to work for them over the summer as well,” she said.
With the hiring freeze in effect, Large will have to look elsewhere to gain experience helpful for earning a job after graduation.
For Large, the answer lies in extending the amount of time she spends in school.
“I’m not happy (about the hiring freeze), but I guess there’s not much I can do,” she said. “I’m probably just going to come back to get my master’s degree because that helps.”
The DNR has been keeping applications and résumés on file for use when exceptions to the freeze are granted, but Sobel said there is no way of knowing what the job pool will be like even when the hiring freeze is lifted permanently.
“It depends on what happens on the state budget,” she said. “The state is working on a deficit next year so even if the hiring freeze is lifted, we may have to cut some money out of the budget.”
The DEQ hasn’t felt the effects of the hiring freeze as much as the DNR, mostly due to the management of the department’s operations, said Ken Silfven, spokesman for the DEQ.
“We’re able to adjust work assignments and prioritize what needs to get done so our core mission is not suffering,” he said. “There are other missions that maybe aren’t getting done but they aren’t maybe as important.”
For students, that may not be comforting, but Silfven said some students may still receive field training through unpaid internships, which are not affected by the hiring freeze.
