Need a job?

Well, there are two openings at Simpson College. Currently, Simpson is looking to hire a new assistant volleyball coach, as well as an additional parking enforcement specialist.

But wait. Didn’t the school just lay off several faculty members… isn’t this idea a little backwards?

The answer is no, not in my opinion. If it is put into perspective, these hirings really cannot be put in the same category as the recent layoffs. This can be considered from a couple of different angles: budgets and timing.

Since money is always of the utmost importance, let’s consider that aspect first.

A parking enforcement specialist is not making near the amount that a professor makes, so the college can afford to add another. They won’t dent the budget in quite the same way.

They may even make the college a couple more bucks if we all keep parking on snow routes.

When contemplating the assistant volleyball coach position opening people automatically jump to the classic argument, “why do we need to pump more money into sports?”

Simply put, they are not. Adding this coach will fill a position that was left open last year and filled by a part-time coach. They didn’t add a new position and add to the financial burdens, as it seemed initially.

Now that the season is over, they are trying to hire someone to fill the void that was left open by the previous assistant volleyball coach. In short, Simpson volleyball is not paying an additional coach; they are simply replacing the one they didn’t have the opportunity to hire last year.

Another way to look at the new positions for hire is time, or timing in the case of volleyball.

The primary reason Simpson College has decided to add another staff member to enforce parking is to allow scheduling flexibility. This position is only part – time, so adding an additional parking enforcement specialist would simply give the current one a chance for a day off.

Their intention is not to have two people out ticketing, but to make scheduling an easier task.

As far as volleyball is concerned, the timing was all off. A few weeks before the season began, the volleyball program lost their primary assistant coach.

This put the program in a tight position, and they were unable to hire a suitable replacement in the allotted amount of time.

Since the head coach, Lana Smith, is also the part-time athletic director, she doesn’t have the full amount of time to commit to her sport and all the paperwork that comes with it.

Other duties are always calling her away, which causes her to rely heavily on her assistant coaching staff. The point of finding someone for this position is to fill the void that was left when the old assistant coach left, not to add an excessive amount of employees.

So, the new additions to the Simpson College faculty cannot be put in the same category of the recent layoffs. Although it is disheartening to see so many staff members go, we cannot hold it against those who are looking to hire.

When facing situations like this, it is important to put things into perspective.

Mariah is a freshman majoring in marketing and a staff writer for the Simpsonian. She interns at Dwolla and is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.