University Business - May 2009 - (Page 24)

MONEY M AT T E R S Maximizing student employment opportunities Work: The Forgotten Resource By Kathy Kurz and Jim Scannell N THE MEDIA, FINANCIAL aid coverage tends to focus on topics such as the tensions between funding merit scholarships versus need-based grants, the growth in student and parent borrowing, and the need to increase funding for Federal Pell Grants. Federal or state work-study programs get little focus. During the recent debate over the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program ﬁnally got noticed. Out of $98 billion in ARRA funds being managed by the Department of Education, $200 million is for FWS. e total earnings under that program in 2007-2008 were $1.2 billion, an amount virtually unchanged from a decade ago. Annually, approximately 800,000 students work under this program—earning, on average, just under $1,500. e new ARRA funds should enable approximately 130,000 more students to work part-time while in school. Pennsylvania, Washington, Minnesota, and Indiana, to name a few, also sponsor student work programs. And many higher ed institutions provide on-campus employment opportunities beyond those funded by state and federal resources. Handled thoughtfully and creatively, these jobs can provide beneﬁts that go far beyond the dollars earned. For example, they oﬀer students a chance to connect with people on campus. Retention research conducted at many schools ﬁnds the inﬂuence of $1,000 of on-campus employment on retention is much larger than an equivalent amount of grant support. In addition, work opportunities can be educationally purposeful or career related, 24 | May 2009 I ‘Our graduates enter their careers with a degree and four years of work experience.’ • The opportunity to engage alumni. • The chance to engage employers and let them sample the quality of a school’s “product” (currently enrolled students). • The opportunity to involve faculty through undergraduate research assistantships while simultaneously advancing the faculty’s scholarly work. • The chance for institutions to join with the community at large to address social, economic, and environmental problems and challenges. • The chance to leverage donated funds. A WORKING EDUCATION Literally working your way through college is a thing of the past at most institutions, but there are still a handful of colleges at which students work rather than pay tuition. At the College of the Ozarks (Mo.), for example, full-time students work 15 hours a week during each semester and then two 40-hour weeks of their choosing when classes are not in session. According to Sue Head, executive director of the college’s Keeter Center for Character Education, “Students who attend a work college have the opportunity to not only obtain a liberal arts education but also invaluable work experience at the same time. By ‘working their way’ through college, students invest in their own education and learn valuable skills, not the least of which is time management. Our graduates enter their careers with a degree and four years of work experience and are prepared to meet the demands of today’s competitive marketplace.” Other institutions, such as Northeastern (Mass.), Drexel (Pa.), and Ketteruniversitybusiness.com —Sue Head, College of the Ozarks giving students chances to build skills and “marketability” that can help them gain full-time employment after graduation. In fact, research conducted on work programs sponsored by the Dana Foundation and other philanthropies found that work programs have been particularly successful at meeting multiple goals and objectives. e following abbreviated excerpt from the book that emerged from that research, Shaping the College Experience Outside the Classroom ( e University of Rochester Press, 1996) by Jim Scannell and Kathleen Simpson, lists seven goals that can be achieved by work programs: • The development of individual selfworth and conﬁdence due to the direct reward for the work ethic. • The development of successful recruitment strategies involving guarantees of career-related, experiential opportunities. • The creation of meaningful connections with alumni/ae. http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - May 2009

University Business - May 2009
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Money Matters
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Setting the Standard
Manageable Risk
Five Steps to a Powerful Social Networking Strategy
Higher Ed in the Recession
Community Colleges
What's New
End Note

University Business - May 2009