THE MANY FACES OF
STUDENT
EMPLOYMENT
NEASEA Conference
Baltimore, August 2013
Presenters
D. Lynn O’Neil, Director
Student Employment Services
Johns Hopkins University
Model - Stand Alone
Traci Martin, Director
Career Development
Goucher College
Model - SE w/i Career Center
Laura Brooks, Manager
Human Resources
Peabody Institute, JHU
Model – SE w/i HR
Session Overview
We’ll explore: the definition of Student Employment; various office
models; likely clients, and the components/services it encompasses.
A panel of SE professionals from several of the most popular models
will share their expertise and define their individual operation.
Each panelist will:
• Describe their particular SE office.
• Explain their organizational structure.
• Discuss the functionality of their operation
- and the specific components of SE that they handle.
Audience participation will be highly encouraged and there will be
plenty of time for questions & answers at the end of the session.
How Do We Define SE?
Very few, if any, SE offices have the same responsibilities, provide the
same services, or service exactly the same types of clients.
When talking to colleagues at the conference about SE they could be
referring to an entire office -OR- the work that one person performs.
SE can be limited to JLD or Job Postings – which in and of themselves
can be confusing. Student job postings can include only on-campus,
only off-campus, or they could mean both. They could also be limited
to FWS jobs (or) Non-FWS jobs (or) both.
SE Office Models
What a Student Employment office does, where its housed, and the scope
of its responsibility is solely dependent on a schools size, need, reporting
hierarchy, funding, etc.
The components related to SE are countless but the most common office
models are part of Financial Aid; Career Development; and/or Human
Resources.
The more unique models report to and/or are part of Student Accounts;
Student Activities; Student Life, or are completely centralized - more
commonly referred to as Stand Alone.
Note: In general, for an SE office to be deemed ‘Stand Alone’ it should
have no reporting structure (or) direct accountability to Financial Aid,
Career Development, Student Life, etc. The Stand Alone SE office is on
the same level as these other departments.
*See Extras for Model Outlines
SE Client Variety
• Students
• Undergraduate
• Graduate
• Post Doctoral
• Visiting / Exchange
• Potential / Incoming
• Employers
• On-Campus
• Off-Campus
• Community Service Org.
• Parents
• Investigators
• Other Departments / Schools
SE Responsibilities/Services
The various functions performed and/or overseen by a
Student Employment (SE) office can be broken down into
four primary categories – responsibilities or types if
services provided by SE offices.
• Recruiting
• Hiring/Payroll
• HR Relations
• Federal Work Study
Responsibilities -
Recruiting
• Job Postings
• On Campus
• Office Campus
• FWS
• Non-FWS
• Community Services
• Internships
• Summer
• Wage vs. Salaried
• Job Location & Development (JLD)
• Job Creation
• Tracking & Reporting
Responsibilities -
Hiring/Payroll
• Process / Approve Hire Documents
• Complete I-9/ E-Verification
• U.S. Citizens
• International
• Handle TNCs & FNCs
• Track Auth End Dates
• Provide Tax Forms
• Record Keeping/ Time Entry
• Distribute Paychecks / Direct Deposit
• Complete Work Permit Applications
• Handle PR Problems (i.e., Overpayments, Budgetary, etc.)
• Conduct Training
Responsibilities -
HR Relations
• Create/Maintain Student Applications
• Verify Work Eligibility
• Handle Employer / Employee Relations
• Misconduct
• Disputed Terminations
• Maintain Student Personnel Files
• Address Legal Issues
• Fraud
• Embezzlement
• Complete Employment Verifications
• Work Injuries
• Policy Development & Implementation
Responsibilities – Federal
• Issue FWS Award
• Traditional
• Community Service
• America Reads
• Define Split
• Issue Authorization Form/s
• Handle Off-Campus Contracts
• Monitor Earnings
Work Study
Other Key Components
• Job Fairs
• On / Off Campus
• Academic / Summer
• National Student Employment Week
• Office Event / Campus Wide
• Student Employee of the Year
• Employer of the Year
• Growth
• Promoting Your Program – See ‘Extras’ for 168 Pie Chart
• Expanding Services
• Collaboration & Partnerships
• Embracing New Ideas
• Professional Involvement (NEASEA/NSEA/SHRM)
Panel Comparison – their SE Model
Each panelist will now:
• Describe their particular SE office.
• Explain their organizational structure.
• Discuss the functionality of their operation
- and the specific components of SE that they handle.
In Conclusion
We are not going to agree on the perfect SE office model,
what components it should include, what services it should
provide, or where on the organization chart it should sit.
As a result, we cannot draft a ‘definition’ for SE today!
However - what can do is strive to achieve the perfect SE
office for our school; to never stop exploring new ideas;
promote our programs whenever/wherever possible;
partner with other offices; and to take advantage of all the
NEASEA and NSEA have to offer.
Q &A
EXTRAS
168 Pie Chart – An SE Promotional Tool
SE Models - More Defined
• Financial Aid (SE) Model
• Career Center (SE) Model
• Human Resources (SE) Model
• Stand Alone (SE) Model
168 Pie Chart: An SE Promotional Tool
Promoting SE using 168
• In a perfect world, students:
• Take 15 credit hours
• Eat 3 meals a day
• Sleep 8 hours each night
• Study 60 hours per week
• Enjoy 16 hours of free time
• In the REAL world, students have lots more than 16 hours of
free time. For example, when talking to parents ask, “how do
you want your son or daughter to spend those extra hours?”
• Share with parents & students that studies show - students
who get a campus job early on (get engaged) have a greater
retention rate and better time management. The amount of
hours should not exceed 10 – 12/hrs. per week for freshmen.
Financial Aid (SE) Model
• In this model SE operates within and/or reports directly to the head of Fin Aid.
• The staff could consist of one or more dedicated Fin Aid staff members, which in
conjunction with their FWS responsibilities, handles all SE related functionality.
• This model generally handles only those students who have FWS. If the school
offers non-FWS for on-campus employment, it’s typically handled by another
department. The functionality related to SE for this office generally consist of:
• Job Postings; Record Keeping; Monitoring FWS Earnings; and Community Service
• Processing campus hire/payroll documents, tax forms,I-9, etc., may be handled by
this person(s) but is generally done outside of this of office.
• This model’s operating/personnel budgets are generally connected to the overall
Financial Aid budget.
Career Center (SE) Model
• This model offers a variety of SE services but primarily focuses its efforts on
preparing students for after graduating.
• This model typically works in conjunction with Fin Aid, since typically, one will
handle non-FWS and/or JLD while the other handles all things FWS.
• The primary SE services provided by this model include, Job Postings, JLD,
Job Counseling, and Application/Resume assistance. Some additional
services that may be offered by this model are Skills Training; Resume Building;
Cover Letters; Interview Techniques; etc.
• The staff could consist of one or more dedicated staff who handle SE, but may
also be responsible for post-graduation job listing services and more.
• Processing campus hire/payroll documents, tax forms,I-9, etc., may be handled
by this person(s) but is generally done outside of this of office.
• This model’s operating/personnel budgets are generally connected to the
overall Career Center’s budget.
Human Resources (SE) Model
• This model is generally housed within the Central HR Office for the Institution and
services both student employees as well as traditional staff.
• Typically, it provides a more structured employment operation including job
postings, employment applications, hire documents, I-9/EVerification, supervisory
training, conflict resolution, and other employment related topics.
• They could have one or more dedicated staff who handle SE, but that person/s
typically performs the same duties for traditional staff.
• This model may or may not apply FWS to campus positions but will have a close
working relationship to Fin Aid either way. Depending on which office handles
JLD, they may also work closely with the Career Center.
• This model’s operating/personnel budgets are generally connected to the overall
Human Resources budget.
Stand Alone (SE) Model
• This model is a comprehensive operation that can oversee everything from job
postings to payroll. Typically, it services all students including Undergrad, Grads,
FWS, Non-FWS, on and/or off campus – including JLD. In some cases it could
also oversee the hire/payroll process for campus employment.
• The Stand Alone typically creates policy (or) is involved in the decision making
that affects student employees and the departments that employ them.
• If looking at an organizational chart the Stand Alone is level with other key student
service departments. Thus, they typically report to the Dean or Provost level.
• While the ‘Stand Alone’ does not report to Fin Aid, Career Services, or the like,
they typically work closely with these offices as well as the International office,
Central Payroll, HR, and others to ensure compliance to all regulations.
• This model has a designated operating and personnel budget and the role of all
staff is fully dedicated to the SE program.