Student Worker Employment: Employment for the Workplace

Campus employment has traditionally been viewed as a means for students to
generate financial resources to help meet college expenses and to allow institutions to
supplement their workforce with a relatively inexpensive labor supply. However, over the
past fifty years, the student work environment has increasingly been viewed as offering
an experience that can have clear educational merit and provide meaningful opportunities
for student growth and development. This study examines the theories, policies, and
practices that underscore this more recent claim. Additionally, the research is intended to
determine if it has any application to revising the specific campus work program at
Southwestern Illinois College.
The work done in this study examined an extensive body of theory relating to this
topic and it solicited and investigated numerous “best practices” at institutions who have
well-established student work programs with student development and personal growth
as their program’s objective. The literature and the campus work program models
reviewed disclose that campus workplaces, when properly constructed and managed, can
contribute to a student’s academic well being. Likewise, they can better prepare
participants to enter future work environments and help in the development of their noncognitive
skills. Recommendations for a revised student work program at Southwestern
Illinois College were greatly influenced by the findings of this study. Revisions include
new procedures and practices, improved training and orientation materials, and redefined
goals and outcomes for both the program and the participants.