Applications for Community Service Aide positions poured into University Police this semester because of salary raises and the use of new recruitment techniques, said UPD Director Dolores Stafford.

UPD is looking over 31 applications to fill the nine CSA positions still open. The influx of applicants is a first in recent UPD history after last year’s rush to fill 57 positions in the second week of October, Stafford said.

“This is the fastest we’ve ever had 95 percent of the shifts covered that I can remember,” Stafford said. “We’re in good shape.”

Returning CSAs said they noticed a change in UPD recruitment.

“Last year they really seemed desperate and took pretty much anyone,” sophomore CSA Erin Street said.

UPD will hire 25 fewer student workers because no CSAs will be placed in the Marvin Center this year. Stafford said there is no need for CSAs in the Marvin Center since UPD officers already patrol it.

Stafford said she attributes this year’s comparably easy hiring process to the smaller number of CSAs needed, as well as last year’s salary raise. While the number of returning CSAs still remains below average from previous years, there are signs of improvement, Stafford said. She said 35 CSAs returned to work for UPD this year, compared to the 15 students who remained in their positions last year.

Students this year are applying for positions that pay 50 cents to $1.50 more than last fall. The raise came mid-way through last year’s fall semester because UPD was having a difficult time recruiting new CSAs, Stafford said.

Stafford said as in other years UPD continued its recruitment during Colonial Inauguration, in residence halls and on the Mount Vernon campus this year, but the department did not need to work as hard compared to previous years.

“We really haven’t had to do a lot of active recruiting because students have pretty much come to us,” Stafford said.

She said a new online application, allowing students to apply for CSA positions from their homes, eased some of the administrative workload.

Stafford said the nine unfilled positions most likely will be filled this week, but for now, UPD is “covering almost everywhere we need to cover.”