Student employees adapt to online work

“There are definitely moments where it feels different,” said third-year Laney Jones, a student intern in the admissions office. “We’re working five to six hours a week instead of normally 10 to 12 hours a week.”

Each fall, Pepperdine employs approximately 1,700 student employees in more than 200 departments across all five schools. Shelby Bowman, director of student employment, said in an email that the university expects the number of student workers to decrease by 10% as of Aug. 27 due to the fall semester going remote.

According to the Student Employment website, 87% of student employees surveyed consider their position to be an opportunity to learn and grow. Student employees are Pepperdine’s largest employee base, outnumbering faculty and staff combined.

Some departments have refused to hire student employees for the remote semester because they are not at full capacity or cannot work remotely. Those departments include the athletics department, library and arts center, Bowman wrote.

Jones said the Office of Admissions has put student applications on hold for the 2020-2021 academic year because there is no need for remote workers. The office typically employs seven to nine students in each grade.

Another major reduction within the department is the number of campus tours for prospective students. Typically, the office conducts his 15 campus tours per week. Jones said the admissions office has scaled back to seven virtual tours a week, although it is led by student staff.

Students like Jones also hope to gain professional experience as interns in admissions offices, and even though remote work has become the new normal, students still have the opportunity to experience the benefits of in-person work. The leadership aspect is still missing, Jones said.

“As far as professional development, we’re all thinking about that,” Jones said. “Just changing our expectations was the hardest thing.”

Students employed as teaching assistants or tutors will also have to adapt to supporting students virtually with their studies.

Taylor McSpadden, a senior anatomy TA and tutor at the Student Success Center, finds her job more difficult online and, due to the nature of the fall semester, doesn’t know if there will be TA or tutor positions available. He said he had doubts.

“The professor wasn’t even sure if he could get a TA,” McSpadden said. “I think it’s because of the remote. [instruction]No one really knew what was going to happen. ”

Ms McSpadden said tutoring services are keen to find ways to support students academically, whether in an online setting or not.

“I think a lot of people either don’t know about the resources that are still available or don’t want to make the time,” McSpadden said. “If they’re in the library, they’re walking by the Student Success Center and they think, ‘Oh, I might just stop by and get some tutoring.’

In some student employee roles, student employees find themselves in a work environment similar to on-campus jobs, even though they must work remotely. Waves on Call student staff can be contacted at Contact potential donors by phone to raise funds to support student scholarships, campus resources, and international programs. You can do this from anywhere.