Low-Cost Work-Study Revamps

Changing the way a college approaches student employment doesn’t have to cost as much as Ryerson and Clemson Universities’ overhauls. Here are three inexpensive ways in which colleges are making student jobs more meaningful.

Professionalizing Students’ Campus Jobs

Colleges are gearing work experiences to better teach the skills employers value most.

Willamette University, a liberal-arts institution in Oregon, has created a series of online professional-development modules that supervisors can use to train student employees at no cost. Each module in the Passport to Professionalism series focuses on a different soft skill, such as communication, teamwork, and taking initiative. Supervisors help students pick the sessions that are most relevant to their jobs, and meet with them after to discuss what they’ve learned.

At Northern Illinois University, staff members in the division of academic affairs have persuaded 20 campus employers — and a couple of off-campus employers — to let their employees attend the university’s professional-development workshops during paid working hours. Now working students “no longer have to make the choice between getting paid and coming to a session,” says Chad Glover, director of the Jobs PLUS program. Attendance at the workshops is up, and supervisors say student turnover in campus jobs is down.

The University of Texas at El Paso, which has more than 2,000 student workers, has taken employee orientation beyond discussions of payroll and sexual-harassment policy. During the half-day sessions, students hear from alumni, local employers, and college staff members about workplace etiquette, professionalism, and employer expectations. Christian Corrales, director of on-campus student employment, says the orientation gives students the “foundational skills” they’ll need to be effective employees — “not just at UTEP, but in the work force.”