April is Student Employment Month! If you aren’t already, follow us on Instagram for some fun posts later this month about students who are involved in on-campus employment!
Last week, we held our annual Gathering of the Supervisors and had a blast connecting with all of you! In case you couldn’t make it, here are some nuggets from the two sessions at the event:
Embracing Neurodiversity in the Workplace
Facilitator: Kelly K. Brown, Ph.D | Director, Counseling, Health & Wellness Services
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Neurodiversity is a term that acknowledges and encompasses a wide range of human experiences and neurological differences. It is also a term that emphasizes these differences are not deficits, but valuable variations.
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Including neurodiverse people in a workplace can bring a number of benefits, including creative thinking, greater than normal ability to process information, elevated productivity, ability to take different perspectives, making connections between ideas that others cannot, innovation, and employment retention.
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A social model of approaching neurodivergence emphasizes changing systems to promote functioning maximally well in society for all people. You can aspire to an approach that makes your workplace accessible to neurodiverse people by default instead of waiting to respond to accommodation needs (of course, still be prepared and responsive to any additional accommodation needs). Some ideas include:
- Provide education and address any workplace culture challenges like harmful neurodivergent stereotypes and biases.
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Provide access for all workers to accommodations or adjustments and ensure that access to learning and development is also considered when applying accommodations or adjustments.
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Consider how you can offer schedule flexibility (paired with accountability), spaces for different sensory needs (consider lighting, sound, seating, movement), or tools for sensory needs (consider headphones, fidget toys).
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Consider asking the staff you supervise to tell you about their preferred ways of working, learning, and communicating – like a user manual for themselves.
Building Career Readiness: Embedding Competencies into Student Employment
Facilitators: Lisa Garza | Director of Career and Employment Services; Elizabeth Wormsbecker | Associate Director of Student Employment Programs, Training, and Development
Imagine how powerful conversations with students could be if they were hearing about career readiness competencies in class, during extra curriculars, through their experiential learning, and of course, at work. Let's work to develop a shared language across campus to help students identify and communicate their competencies!
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Students develop competencies in their student employment work and benefit from having discussions with their supervisors around these competencies. Benefits include making connections between what they are learning in the classroom and in the workplace to help inform career goals, as well as in communications with potential employers through resumes and interviews.
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Think about how you can help articulate competencies with students in your job descriptions, through training, via goal-setting conversations, and during feedback or performance conversations. Not sure where to start - CES can help!
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Learn more about career readiness competencies here.
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April is Student Employment Month!
Did you know? 80% of students graduating Spring 2025 have worked on campus at some point.
April is an annual opportunity to celebrate the work of student staff. Students provide about 24% of non-faculty staffing on campus. They perform many critical work functions across the university. So, we're taking the month to recognize that work — we would not be able to do what we do without them!
Do you already have a plan to celebrate and recognize the student employees in your department? We'd love to hear about it (and add your ideas to our list for others)! Or need some ideas? We've compiled some suggestions.
We're excited to celebrate student staff alongside you! Here's another idea:
Join us for Lemonade & Affirmations!
On Wednesday, April 23, the CES Student Employment team will be in the Wheelock Lobby to show gratitude for the work of student employees.
We'll be there 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. to serve up (flavored!) lemonade, and read affirmations to student staff.
Here's where you can help:
- Make sure your student staff know about the event! On April 23, send your student staff our way.
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Sign up to read affirmations. You can let your student staff know when you will be working so that they can come get an affirmation from you!
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Plan ahead for fall hiring: Mark your calendars and register for summer 2025 Professional Development opportunities! Visit our website for details. Right now, you can sign up for:
STUDENT HIRING & SUPERVISION 101
Timelines, processes, resources, and best practices for hiring and supervising student staff members
Tuesday, June 24, 1:30–3 p.m. | Jones 104
COMPASS PUGET SOUND
Integrating reflective conversation into your work with student staff
Wednesday, July 9, 1:30–3:30 p.m. | Thomas 366
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Can I give gifts as a part of Student Employment Month?
Yes, you can absolutely give gifts to your student staff as a part of Student Employment Month — this can be anything from a zero-cost gift like a handwritten, personalized note or a small gift purchased with department funds, like a yummy treat or care package.
However, keep in mind that university funds may not be used to purchase gift cards for student employees. Gift cards are viewed as income, which must be taxed.
For questions about what funds are allocated for student staff appreciation during Student Employment Month, please refer to the budget manager in your department.
What happens when a student's earnings limit has been reached?
Once a student has earned their full earnings limit, they will need to stop working for the remainder of the semester. If the student has worked over their earnings limit, CES will not be able to increase their earnings limit (unless your department has a specific exception), but we will ensure that the student has been appropriately paid for all hours they have already worked. In case it is helpful, you can review the Student Job & Earnings section (under Tools) of the Campus Supervisors page, as well as the Supervisor Roles & Responsibilities.
How can I monitor my students' earnings limits?
Supervisors can view their students’ earnings limits and status through myPugetSound > HR Manager Resources > Student Job & Earnings.
Students can monitor their earnings limit and status of earnings through myPugetSound > Job Information > Job & Earnings.
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Grab a moment, wherever you can find it, to say hi and check in with your student staff members.
Ask your student staff: What have you accomplished in this job this year and what are you proud of?
BENEFIT: Students have an opportunity to reflect on their growth and identify moments of pride and accomplishment, which fosters a sense of purpose and the belief that their work is valuable.
Follow up: Have you written, yet, about these accomplishments on your resume where you describe this job? Would you like my support in doing that?
BENEFIT: Encouraging your student staff member to keep their resume up to date with a meaningful description of their work supports their success in finding future employment. You can help them articulate a description of their work and accomplishments, or encourage them to make an appointment with a Career Advisor in CES to update their resume. We also love to do programs for student staff teams about resumes — you can complete a Program Request Form to ask us to visit your team.
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More and more we hear about the importance of skills in the workplace, especially those surrounding AI. The CES leadership team recently attended a workshop on creativity and AI where they were able to hear from folks at Deloitte regarding this topic. Check out the report below to learn more about these in-demand skills and consider how you might incorporate their development into any of your student assistant roles.
"It is more critical than ever to equip students entering the workforce with in-demand AI skills including the ability to employ technical applications and the ethical use of AI, as well as the enduring human capabilities alongside AI to thrive in the workforce."
-Deloitte US
Preparing students for an AI-driven workforce and the future of work
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