Laying Foundations for Growth: Student Employment Built on Professional and Personal Development

Abstract

In 2018 the Priddy Library at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) began reevaluating the way we had been interacting with our student assistants. Upon review, we discovered that we were doing a poor job of furthering the USG mission of creating a student-centered experience with effective workforce preparation. Our (prior) utilitarian model was useful for managing disruptions to our staff, but was ineffective at developing students’ non-procedural skills and, considering their academic experience, was an inefficient use of human resources.

To remedy this, in Fall of 2019 we made massive changes to the library’s student employment program, emphasizing employee benefit and development. In this redesign we focused on pushing students to look inward for growth, in part through completing reflective exercises based on desirable competencies derived from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). As one of us was a student of psychology and social work, it became evident that our professional vision for this program was rooted in person-centered practices such as unconditional positive regard (UPR), and belief in an individual's inherent drive to improve.

This presentation details why and how we developed and implemented a student employment program based on person-centered management practices and student professional development. We also present our initial outcomes and feedback from our diverse student employees, and steps we’re taking to improve the program; including incorporating students' ideas and concerns.