The inaugural IU Bloomington conference for supervisors of student employees, titled Empowering Student Success Through On-Campus Employment, brought together a full room of over 100 organizers, presenters, and attendees from across Indiana University.
Held on Wednesday, March 12 in the Indiana Memorial Union, the event informed supervisors of student employees about support resources on campus, best practices for supporting student employees in their academic and professional journeys, and research about student success. For example, did you know that students working less than 25 hours/week tend to have slightly higher GPAs (on average) than their non-working peers? However, students working more than 25 hours/week can experience a negative impact on their academic performance.
The highlight of the day was the keynote speech delivered by the IU Vice President for Student Success, Dr. Julie Payne-Kirchmeier. Her dynamic presentation involved audience members in thinking about what it looks like for students to thrive, what kinds of economic and social backgrounds inform trends in student employment, and how supervisor/student employee relationships can create lasting connections that contribute to retention.
Mary Clare Bauman, Associate Director of Career Exploration & Student Employment (CESE), organized the event along with a dedicated Student Employment Committee. This conference was a step towards identifying student supervisors on campus and building a community of practice.
Next, Mary Clare is working on a newsletter that will share tips on how to become a better supervisor of student employees! This effort dovetails with the Experiential Learning rollout for co-curricular activities and will help supervisors learn how to be good mentors and encourage critical reflection and employee growth.
Reach out to Mary Clare at baumanmc@iu.edu if you’re interested in staying on top of the latest developments in supervising student employees on IU Bloomington’s campus!
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