2017 Student Employee Outcomes

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Perceptions of the on-campus employment experience. Student Affairs (SA) at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is committed to providing student employees with the opportunity to gain valuable skills and experiences through on-campus employment that will enhance their personal development, professional growth, and academic success. With more than 850 students employed at UAA annually, UAA has a valuable opportunity to make student employment a high impact practice that enables students to reflect and integrate learning within and beyond the classroom.

Alaska PEAK

Alaska PEAK is a framework for the on-campus student employment experience that leverages reflective learning and relationship building between student employees and their supervisors.
 
Alaska PEAK’s Student Employee Learning Outcomes (SELO) are used by supervisors as a guide to support the development of individual student employees. As a result of on-campus student employment at UAA, students have the opportunity to develop:

• PRACTICAL SKILLS - Demonstrating competency in customer service, project management, technical skills, effective communication, time management and goal setting and attainment.
• COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY SKILLS - Articulating an application of resources, referrals, federal/state/university policies and regulations, and an awareness of transferable skills.
• INTERPERSONAL SKILLS - Sustaining collaborative teamwork opportunities, an appreciation and awareness of diverse communities and practices, and implementation of conflict resolution and mediation.
• INTRAPERSONAL SKILLS - Recognizing individual development evidenced by a commitment to ethics, integrity, and realistic self-appraisal.

Survey Purpose

The purpose of this survey is to monitor and adapt the Alaska PEAK program to student perceptions regarding their on-campus student-employment experience, as well as their perceptions about the skills they are gathering through their employment.

Methodology

Findings are based on the 263 responses to the UAA Student Employee Student Outcomes Survey (response rate = 38%).

The 2017 data collected was compared to baseline data gathered in 2015. The skills evaluated in this survey reflect the attributes within the Student Affairs Student Employee Learning Outcomes (SELO’s).

The survey was administered electronically in May 2017 by the Office of Student Affairs through Qualtrics®. Emailed surveys were sent via the best email address of 696 Spring 2017 student employees at the UAA Anchorage campus as identified by Institutional Research.

Classroom Skills

The survey results revealed that students are making the connection between on-campus employment and the acquisition of employability skills.

Oral and written communication skills (61%), and critical thinking and problem solving skills (46%) topped the list of classroom competences students applied to their student-employment functions.

“I really became a part of the UAA family. I gained a deeper love for our school. I made so many new friends and connections in the community that I wouldn't have had if I never worked for the university.”

Survey Results

The 2017 Student Employee Outcomes Survey asked students to reflect on their work as an on-campus student employee and to rate their level of agreement to which their job helped them to develop 17 different skills. The survey results revealed that students expressed overwhelmingly positive experiences in their on-campus jobs and learning gains across a wide variety of skills.

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusions

UAA on-campus student employment has a meaningful positive outcomes on the overall student experience. Student-employees find both financial and educational support, create community, and learn and document skills that will benefit them long after graduation.

The 2017 Student Employee Outcomes survey demonstrates that the Alaska PEAK framework is viewed by students as a high-impact, active learning practice.

The cumulative effect is the creation of a learning community that will contribute to UAA’s retention and degree attainment goals by supporting student-employees through their program journey.

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Student Affairs (SA) at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is committed to providing student employees with the opportunity to gain valuable skills and experiences through on-campus employment that will enhance their personal development, professional growth, and academic success. With more than 850 students employed at UAA annually, UAA has a valuable opportunity to make student employment a high impact practice that enables students to reflect and integrate learning within and beyond the classroom.