Thursday, September 7, 2017

Why Hire a Work Study Student

Does your department need an extra hand or two? Maybe some help with filing or scanning, or someone to staff a front desk?

The Federal Work Study program could be the solution you need.

Federal Work Study (FWS) jobs allow students to earn needed aid through employment. A wide variety of jobs are made available to students via the Handshake platform offered through the Career Center, but more opportunities are always needed.

Benefits of hiring a work study student:
  • The federal government pays 70% of their salary on a work study award, which is part of their financial aid package. Your department only pays 30%!
  • You and your colleagues have an opportunity to mentor a student and provide them with practical work skills in addition to their education.
  • The connections and relationships students develop with administration and faculty help them to be more successful in their transition into college, and then into the world of work.
  • Using federal work study awards for the intended purpose (supplying students with great work opportunities and mentorship) means that UVA continues receiving those awards in the future.
  • Your staff gets development opportunities: they learn more about teaching and training, and possibly, through the removal of some administrative burden, they might have more time for project work they haven’t had time to do.
Still need some convincing? Donna Lewis-Wagner, coordinator of the America Reads program in the Curry School of Education, supervises over 100 FWS students each year. The students work as reading and math tutors in Albemarle County and Charlottesville City public schools. For the five years she has led the program, she has deployed the students, who provide a vital service to the teachers and children in area public schools.

“I’ve had a number of students decide to become teachers because of their experience as tutors,” she said, adding that students learn professional skills working in the program that will translate to any career they choose.

“It’s a win-win situation,” she says.

“The department that needs help, whether that’s with professors on a research project or other tasks within the department, obviously benefits, and the students benefit, too – they make money that’s been awarded to them as part of their financial aid packages, and they learn to be consistent, to show up, and be professional.”

To get started utilizing FWS in your area, view the training session in the Integrated System called “Introduction to Federal Work Study – SIS.”

Student Financial Studies also offers a yearly training on FWS for those across Grounds who hire students, but if your office would like more information, please reach out to SFS for answers to your questions and perhaps even a custom training session.

Read more about Federal Work Study
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