Bureau\nof Labor Statistics data indicates students who hold down a job during college get\nhigher grades than those who are not employed at least part time. Research\nconducted by SightLine also found that students working on campus were\nsignificantly more likely to remain in good academic standing and to stay\nenrolled. In fact, student employment is frequently one of the top five most\nimportant factors in predicting student success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These\nare just some of the reasons why Fort Hays State University continues to invest\nin student employment. We also know that meaningful learning and engagement\nopportunities can help build career readiness, provide a \u201chome-away-from-home\u201d\nexperience by creating a sense of belonging, and they can help with time\nmanagement as working on campus offers an incredibly convenient work\nenvironment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When\nI was a student, I worked at the campus grill (great way to meet people),\nprovided administrative support for the theatre director (loved learning how to\nrun a soundboard, lighting and especially running the spotlight) and got to put\nmy basic research skills to action when the director of the cafeteria hired me\nto walk around the dining hall and survey students on their food service likes\nand dislikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\ncouple of weeks ago, I wrote about student Hannah Dechant\u2019s college experience\nas a freshman. In addition to loving her Learning Community experience, Hannah,\nan elementary education major from Goodland, also mentioned her on-campus job.\n\u201cI work at the Fort Hays State University farm, and I love every second I am\nthere. I have shown sheep for 13 years, so I have been around livestock for\nmost of my life, but I am constantly learning more and more everyday while I am\nat work.\u201d One of Hannah\u2019s work experiences included helping insert and remove\nCIDRS (progesterone releasing implants) to synchronize the reproductive cycle\nfor breeding does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honestly,\nI hadn\u2019t thought about students having jobs on the university farm. So that got\nme curious about what other student employment opportunities exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our\nagriculture student employees are also responsible for checking pregnant cows,\nusing ultrasound to check pregnancy of sows and working on a feed experiment\nwith nursery pigs. They also assist sows during the labor process, including\nlearning how to pull pigs \u2013 definitely not the same thing as pulled pork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Students\nare driving grain trucks, hauling milo to the elevator. Several student\nemployees are learning how to halter break and gentle down calves while others\nhave been washing, drying and working hair on the sale heifers. Honestly, I\ndon\u2019t even know what some of this means \u2013 but it sounds more exciting than my\njob at the campus grill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\nhave numerous opportunities for students to engage in student academic support\njobs, providing peer-to-peer assistance such as tutoring, assisting with\nwriting, or even helping with grading, preparing class materials and monitoring\nlabs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belle\nFinney, a junior chemistry major from Beloit, is an online tutor for general\nand organic chemistry, lab prep staffer and front-desk employee. Bryant Karlin,\na senior biology major from Victoria, is a learning aide in the Human Cadaver\nLab. He helps students with dissections and finding or identifying structures.\nHe also maintains the lab space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Student\nMakerspace assistants are printing skulls, trilobites and other artifacts for\nuse by the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. Seth Colson, a Hoisington\njunior majoring In Applied Technology Studies, has been programming a NAO robot\n(humanoid) to remind people to wear masks on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nOffice of Global Partnerships (OGP) engages its student workers in unique\nexperiences. Graduate student Xiao Sun (Lucia), a professional studies major\nfrom Xinzheng, China, helps translate curriculum and vital business documents\nfrom our Chinese partner schools. She also serves as an interpreter for\nadministrators during face-to-face and Zoom meetings. Jadyn Snyder, a senior\nfinance major from Lyons, assisted with the behind-the-scenes technical and\nmarketing efforts for seven virtual summer camps for prospective students from\nChina, Cameroon, Turkey and the Bahamas. She also assists with financial duties\nfor the OGP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another\narea of student employment includes undergraduate research. I love the fact\nthat, unlike many universities, our students get to participate in\nundergraduate research as early as their freshman year. These roles involve\ndata analysis, literature reviews, practicing critical thinking and the scientific\nprocess as they evaluate results. Often, students present their research during\nposter sessions or at academic conferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three\nstudents are working on a Laser Biophysics project in the FHSU Physics\nDepartment, the Air Force Research Lab and with a defense contractor. Their\nduties include research on laser effects on human tissue. Two other students\nare working in our Bat Molecular Biology Lab doing DNA analysis via Guano (bat\ndroppings). I have been assured there is no direct handling of bats this year\ndue to what is yet unknown about COVID transmissibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cody\nJiles, a junior physics major from Abilene, works with Dr. Gavin Buffington and\nlead-scientists at Virginia Tech to keep the SuperDARN radar (the field of\nantennas on the hill near the FHSU wind turbines) functioning at optimal\nlevels. The knowledge gained from this research provides insight into space\nweather hazards, including radiation exposure for high-altitude travelers and\ndisruption to GPS and electrical power grids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An\ninteresting job for student employees in the Department of Art and Design is\nhelping Professor Toby Flores prepare the iron for iron pours and castings.\nAccording to Dean Paul Faber, this can require a couple of weeks of \u201cstirring\nthe pot\u201d about once an hour to melt the scrap iron. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Campus\nprograms, including Times Talks, Constitution Day, Voter Registration Day, Red\nHand Day (protesting the impressing of children into military service) and\nTiger Talkback are all managed by student employees together with volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\nbarely scratches the opportunity surface. We have student ambassadors, campus\ntour guides, Tiger Tots teacher assistants, Intramurals officials and\ncoordinators, wellness center staff, students working in the Sternberg Museum\nDiscovery Room, student athletic trainers, technology support staff and Tiger\nMedia network producers and on-air talent. The list seems endless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fort\nHays State believes deeply in investing in our students. Student employment\nmaximizes university budgets and clearly produces a significant return on\ninvestment. Bottom line \u2013 on-campus student employment is a good business,\ndelivering phenomenal value through unique and meaningful high-impact\neducational experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates students who hold down a job during college get higher grades than those who are not employed at least… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12323,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57223,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57222\/revisions\/57223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}