Mentoring Student Employees

Abstract

At California State University, Northridge (CSUN), 70% of the total population of full-time students are first generation higher education students. As one of a few Archivists at CSUN, I process archival collections, however, most of my time is spent managing student employees in Special Collections and Archives (SC/A). Many colleagues believe that I solely hire history majors; to their surprise, I do not. Since becoming the Student Employee supervisor for the unit, I have used my own experience and campus resources to manage student employees. This includes, focusing on the individual and showing them how this temporary position can translate into their own careers by teaching them about being resourceful, applying to new positions and internships, and graduating or pursuing other careers that are better suited for them, even if it means transferring to another university.