WSU Student Employment Finds New Name, Home, Online Service

PULLMAN, Wash.–Thousands of Washington State University students seeking employment and internships, and on- and off-campus employers seeking workers, are in luck this fall, thanks to interdepartmental collaborations that brought some innovative and sleek changes to campus services.

The new Student Employment Center will open its electronic doors (figuratively speaking) in mid-September when students can log on to a new computerized matchmaking system that will display jobs at WSU and in the region.

“The software will facilitate students’ searches for available work-study and/or regular jobs while also facilitating employers’ efforts to fill these positions with qualified and committed student employees,” said Patty Winder, student employment coordinator at the university. It is the same software used by several universities—Yale, Connecticut, Wyoming, Seattle Pacific, and Brown—for the same purpose. 

WSU and area employers can already enter job postings by going to the center’s Web site at studentjobs.wsu.edu. Winder notes that students seeking positions should check both the new site as well as their former resource on the Human Resource Services Web site at hrs.wsu.edu. 

The new center operates as a partnership between the offices of Student Financial Aid and Career Services, and is housed with Winder in Career Services. Ronda McLean, assistant director of career development in Career Services, sees the new center as a great way for students at all grade levels to learn about working while exploring the relationship between education, work and their future careers. 

“By moving student employment to Career Services, students’ work-study and other jobs can be more deliberately aligned with their career aspirations, internship opportunities and their academic studies,” said Mary Wack, interim director of the Office of Undergraduate Education. 

“This presents a more integrated and deliberate approach to career development that ought to help students gain added value from their on-campus employment experiences,” said Al Jamison, interim vice president for Student Affairs. 

The new location and online service will serve thousands of WSU students. According to Wayne Sparks, director of the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarship Services, approximately 4,700 WSU students work while in school each year. Of those, 1,700 receive part of their money from federal- and state-funded work-study support. All will connect with employers through the online matchmaking software. 

Students will be able to sort jobs based on specific criteria, receive e-mails about new openings, and apply for positions online. Employers are able to post jobs, review applicants and complete the hiring process all online—and even send hire and rejection notices. Job listings can be archived and lists of applicants maintained. Training sessions will be hosted by the new center and HRS in August and September. 

“I can see one more advantage to the new services,” said Sparks, who helped implement a student employment center at another university. “Statistics show that not only do students who work up to 10-15 hours weekly have higher GPAs and better time management skills than non-working students, but they are also more connected to their university, which is shown to boost retention.”