Setting Up Student Workers for Success

When Disha Vats graduates from the University of Houston in 2025, she hopes to pursue a path to dental school. She says she’s always been dexterous, making jewelry as a kid, and has fond memories of visiting the offices of her aunt, a dentist whose workplace was full of music, warmth and caring for others. 

To make some spending money while she pursues her degree in public health, Vats, like other students at UH, took an on-campus job. She works as a customer relations manager at the information desk of Student Center South. 

“As soon as you walk in, we’re on your left-hand side, and everybody over there is extremely welcoming,” Vats says. “We see lots of people just trying to find their way throughout campus. We’re more than happy to direct everybody and make sure their experience at UH is phenomenal.” 

Beyond the extra money she earns, Vats is also gaining skills for her future career. This year, under the guidance of the Division of Student Affairs, four UH departments are formalizing a way to nurture and evaluate student employees’ development across a range of professional abilities. The goal is to prepare students for the professional world through their on-campus work experience in ways classrooms alone may not. 

Handling people and their emergencies — whether it’s a fire drill or a team of paramedics arriving to help a student who fainted — has made Vats more confident that she can perform in intense situations. But the care and direction from her supervisors must not be discounted. 

“Working at the info desks, it brings a lot of realness,” Vats says. “Working in a team, that’s No. 1. Also, learning how to adjust to certain situations with certain people. Customer service is key as well.” 

Those skills dovetail precisely with the new student employment initiative, which was built with a diversity of department needs and styles in mind. By the spring 2025, all 23 UH departments in the division will be participating in the initiative. They’ll still be able to evaluate students on competency and work performance, but the DSA has also issued a list of eight core competencies students should be developing while on the job. 

Department leaders or students’ supervisors will rate the students as developing, competent, proficient or exemplary in each of the competencies. Administrators will collect that data, compare it across departments and try to figure out what’s working, what could improve and how well UH jobs are preparing students to enter the wider workforce. That feedback will then inform future iterations of the program as it’s implemented by more campus departments. 

Katy Kaesebier, director of the Center for Student Involvement at UH, says her office wants departments to have flexibility in how they focus their efforts. For example: Student employees working at the CSI often answer questions about student organizations, so learning to communicate in the moment or with a follow-up email is critical. In other parts of campus, students are trying to hone their peer leadership skills.  

As these departments gather data, administrators will assemble it and determine the benchmark of how students are faring broadly. “Our student employee positions vary so much across the different roles and tasks that they complete,” Kaesebier says. “Getting that benchmark is going to be the first key point to being able to really show success.” 

Cultivating Real Career Skills 

Young workers have more options than they once did if all they hope to do is earn while in school. Some entry-level positions in fast food restaurants pay double or triple the federal minimum wage, and a YouTube channel with as few as a thousand subscribers can earn money. 

Yet the University has some built-in advantages when it comes to attracting student employees. One is the fact that some 8,000 of the roughly 47,000 UH students live in residence halls and partner properties. Another is that many international students — who make up about 10% of UH’s student population — are restricted to on-campus jobs. 

Administrators at UH and other universities across the country hope the opportunity to develop real-world skills will become part of the draw for students to choose on-campus employment.  

“We’re helping them prepare for the world of work, but also how they can become a better candidate for graduate school,” says Keith Kowalka, the assistant vice president for student affairs at UH. “Hopefully they’re able to use some of these skills to become more holistic, growing individuals.” 

The initiative grew out of a recognition that employers and other professional programs are looking for graduates who can demonstrate certain skills that may not be the ones students or educators expect. The National Association of Colleges and Employers, a nonprofit that serves recruiters and college career services professionals, developed a matrix of competencies and students’ abilities meant to assess their career readiness. 

In a 2021 survey of employers, NACE found that a majority of employers considered several competencies — teamwork, technology, critical thinking, professionalism, communications and leadership — to be essential for the workplace. Yet a significant portion of graduates weren’t proficient in professionalism, communications and leadership. 

In surveys that asked college students how prepared they feel to enter careers, the results suggest that students realize they’re struggling to become professionals. A 2018 survey from McGraw Hill found two-thirds of students didn’t feel well-prepared for their job search, and three-quarters didn’t know what jobs would be a fit for them. 

These are the eight core NACE competencies adopted by the UH Division of Student Affairs: 

• Critical thinking and problem solving. A developing student uses simplistic or irrelevant information to find solutions without considering the consequences that follow actions. An exemplary student approaches situations creatively, uses high-quality evidence and forecasts conclusions to their actions. 
• Verbal and written communication. A developing student listens without engaging with a speaker, is disorganized and makes grammar mistakes that obfuscate their own meaning. An exemplary student is lively when listening or speaking, thoughtful, and precise. 
• Teamwork and collaboration. A developing student struggles to engage, understand or contribute to group goals. An exemplary student guides others, communicates well and fosters a culture of collaboration. 
• Professionalism. A developing student doesn’t follow workplace policies and rules and may need constant reminders of the guidelines. An exemplary student excels at upholding organizational standards and encourages others to do the same. 
• Emotional intelligence and conflict resolution. A developing student has trouble managing emotions, empathizing with others, or handling difficult situations or feedback. An exemplary student is self-aware, resilient and supportive of others who may be struggling. 
• Cultural competency. A developing student struggles to grasp cultural distinctions, may rely on stereotypes and has trouble communicating with people from other backgrounds. An exemplary student champions diversity and excels at cross-cultural collaboration. 
• Digital technology. A developing student needs help using digital tools or avoids using them altogether. An exemplary student masters complex digital tools, understands privacy and security, and uses technology to drive productivity. 
• Leadership. A developing student has trouble taking leadership roles, guiding and motivating others, and resolving conflicts. An exemplary student contributes to team goals, motivates others, fosters a positive workplace and demonstrates integrity. 

With this rubric of skills in place, students know they’re expected to do more than clock in, perform their tasks and clock out. They’ll build the tools that will make them valuable employees and entrepreneurs in their future endeavors. And given the length of time some students remain in their positions, they have the chance to improve at their own pace.  

“Some of our employees stay here for two or three or even four years,” Kowalka says. “Our hope is each individual student goes higher on the rubric, but certainly we want them all to be proficient. That would prepare them to work with teams as they graduate.”  

The introduction of the initiative comes at a unique moment for higher education. Many students in the Class of 2028, who started UH this year, spent their middle school years in pandemic lockdowns, often taking classes remotely. 

Administrators hope that by guiding students’ development in these core competencies, they can bridge any remaining gaps between the work habits students may have developed in relative isolation and the skills they need to display in more connected workplaces. 

“In part because of COVID and a number of other things that have impacted this current generation of students, there’s a more individual approach to things,” Kowalka says. “As they’re reestablishing their lives, getting them to work well together and pairing that with conflict management is critical no matter what field they’re going into. That ability to find common ground is invaluable, regardless of their future careers.” 

Finding common ground and building a team project are essential to entering the working world after graduation. They’re also just great experiences for young people to have now, while they’re figuring out who they are and how they fit into the world. 

Vats, for one, says the care and attention her team members pay one another makes her excited to come to work. If you had told her two years ago that she would be directing paramedics who arrive at the student center, she wouldn’t have believed you. But her confidence has grown day by day as she handles more responsibility and sees people putting faith in her. 

“For some students, this is their first job they’ve ever worked, so their growth potential is crazy to see,” Vats says. “They gain so much confidence. Some people come in who are extreme introverts; a month or two in, they’re talking, they’re putting themselves out there. It creates a great college experience. If you’re afraid to get out of your shell, this is another way to get out of your shell.”