Trusting our Students

Abstract

PRESENTATION 2 ABSTRACT: Trusting Our Students: How Standard Setting Makes or Breaks a Team - Katrina M. Schell, Burke Library. An effective student employment program requires consistent standard setting. Employers set standards not just through employment contracts or performance reviews, but also with the day-to-day assignment of work and well-structured pathways for professional development. When student employees are given meaningful tasks with clearly-communicated importance, buy-in among the workforce will increase. Conversely, when tasks have poorly explained goals, it gives the impression that increased effort will not add value. Our presentation details how the meaningfulness of tasks can be demonstrated to students in two key ways: by involving students in the policy-making process and by giving students a range of growth opportunities that promote diverse skills. Growth opportunities on our team include student employees being given additional responsibilities or advancing into senior positions in Circulation, ILL, or courier roles. We also provide insight into the tangible consequences of breakdowns in communicating standards to our students, and what we’ve learned from them.