Student Employees: Your “Union Representatives”.

ACUI Region 4 ConferenceWashington, D.C.

November 13, 2004

Deb Dworsky, Penn State University-University ParkJen Grossman, Penn State University-University Park

Introductions

• Deb Dworsky, Assistant Director, Unions & Student Activities at Penn State University, University Park

• Jen Grossman, Graduate Assistant, Unions & Student Activities at Penn State University, University Park (For hire )

Getting to Know You

• Introduce yourself• Who are you?• What University are you from?• What position do you hold?• In what capacity, if any, do you work

with student employees?• Tell us about your most ‘memorable’

experience with a student employee.

Roundtable Discussion

• What student employee issues do you have?• What motivates student employees?• What types of recognition will have meaning

to student employees?• How do you attract student employees to

work in your student union• What kinds of training programs do you

provide for your student employees?• How do you reinforce to student employees

that they are critical to the operation of your Union?

The FAMILY PrinciplesBradford, L., & Raines, C. (1992). Twentysomething: Managing &

Motivating Today’s New Work Force. MasterMedia.

Make it Fun

Applaud your People

Model the Behavior You Want

Involve Them

Grow Leaders

Yield; Be Flexible

Make It Fun!

Have fun while still getting the job done.

Applaud Your People

A simple thank you goes a long way. Recognition programs need to be

supported by management’s sincere attitude of appreciation.

Model the Behavior You Want

We need to model the behavior we want, not the expectations. Students are

keen observers, so we need to walk the talk and be consistent.

Involve Them

Involve students in the decision-making

process, when possible.

Ask for and use their ideas, and if you can’t, explain why.

Grow Leaders

Provide opportunities for leadership development, help them develop

transferable skills.

Yield; Be Flexible

Accommodate your students’ requests when possible, especially when it

comes to scheduling.

Scenarios

Break into groups to discuss your scenario.

• How would you handle the situation?

• What FAMILY Principle(s) would be effective in addressing this situation and how?

Resources

• Family principles “scorecard”

Books:• Developing Leadership through

Student Employment. Anne Devaney

• Twentysomething: Managing & Motivating Today’s New Work Force. Lawrence Bradford & Claire Raines.