SEAHO Report - Winter 2022 - 54

FEATURE ARTICLES
Make Your Alternates a Priority
Katie M. Lewis, University of North Florida
You were fully staffed, until... one student staff member did not meet grade requirements, another violated
their employment agreement, one realized they could graduate early, two had concerns about living on
campus, one found an internship that better aligned with their career plans, a few needed to find different
employment for financial reasons, someone transferred schools, one was simply unsatisfied in the job, a
couple turned down their offer to return for undisclosed reasons. Before you know it, you are scrambling to fill
in the gaps. Sound familiar? Vacancies in your student staff team can happen at any point in time during the
academic year. However, we have a strong need to keep the train moving and grooving with minimal negative
impact on the residents, the staff team, the community, and the department as a whole. Many housing and
residence life departments have what are called " alternates " - student staff candidates that are qualified and
eligible for the student staff position, but there were no more permanent student staff positions available at
the time. Essentially, they are next on deck. If this is the case for your department, what do you do with your
alternates?
Hire them. Maximize their experience - get the alternates onboarded, trained, and ready to go. We
implemented the Priority Alternate system a few years ago at the University of North Florida (UNF), and
we continue to reap the benefits of its proactivity. We hire a select number of student staff candidates as
Priority Alternates, where they are hired into a temporary Student Staff-in-Training position. From there, they
complete the same online modules and fall training as our student staff members and are appropriately
compensated. Should a vacant position become available during the academic year, the Priority Alternates
have already completed the hiring paperwork and training, making the transition smooth and streamlined.
There are many pieces of the Priority Alternate process to review, discuss, and put into practice. Below are just
a few pointers, recommendations, and tips to be intentional about. While vacancies can be unexpected and
undesirable, there are ways to cushion the impact. Invest in your priorities!
* Finances & Budget
* Hiring and training are not free. Before making promises to compensate priority alternates, spend
time exploring if this is financially feasible.
* Priority Alternates at UNF were compensated an hourly rate for successful completion of online
modules, an hourly rate for completing student staff training, and had the ability to move in when
student staff members did for fall training (without having to pay for early move-in).
* Normalize the Position
* During the standard recruitment cycle, student staff candidates are informed of the different
student staff positions we had available on campus, including Priority Alternates. It is even listed as
a student staff position on our website! Normalizing the role allowed for less confusion and clearer
expectations on what it means if a candidate receives a Priority Alternate offer.
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SEAHO Report - Winter 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Winter 2022