Zoë Pixler, Family Orientation Coordinator, sat down with Cheryl Combs, Financial Aid Coordinator for the Student Employment Office to ask the question “What does Student Affairs mean to you?” (ninth in a series of articles about the Division of Student Affairs at Missouri State.)
What is your position at Missouri State? I am the Financial Aid Coordinator for the Student Employment Office. We actually deal with different facets of Student Affairs. All the funding is handled through the financial aid portion, we also deal with human resources because we do all the new employee paperwork and all of the eligibility. We also have a payroll component because we set somethings up in banner in the system to allow students to get paid. We kind of have a hybrid of departments that we serve. We are located in Shannon 113.
How do you feel like what you do relates back to the term “Student Affairs”? I believe that we are preparing students outside the classroom experience, we are preparing them for their work path. Having students get that experience while they are on campus and develop their skills, having them learn what is needed to be an employee and how you need to serve your employers, along with all those work habits, that is what connects us to Student Affairs.
Does being a working student help in any other aspects besides getting that experience? We’ll have parents that will come in and will be very hesitant their student working the first year, but studies have actually shown that students who get a job do better. It helps them as they become a part of the college campus. First it helps them with time management. Also money is always a stressor when you come to college so knowing there is some extra income is nice. It’s helping them build a resource network and it really helps with retention because they feel like they have different individuals as resources that they can ask questions, which is really important.
What do you think are the best ways to reach out to first year students? I think we are constantly trying different avenues. We have always done the SOAR expo and we always do the showcase for juniors and seniors to talk to them about employment opportunities. We have tried different initiatives. Like I said before, we always did the expo every session of SOAR, but this year we are actually going to have a breakout session. I am really excited about it and I think it is really going to answer a lot of questions. We also have a table at Welcome Weekend. We really try to reach out and engage students through tables at the PSU, having events, utilizing our website, and promoting through the jumbo Tron and some of the monitors throughout campus.
What are the different options of employment? We employ about 2,800 student employees on campus in a year. It varies because some can work in the summer or only fall or spring semester. We also run off campus postings. Through our work study funding that we receive from the government, we run a program where we can post for off campus positions. There are many students that will want to get jobs on the weekends or they may not be able to find one on campus or they want one in their particular career path. So this provides a lot of other opportunities for students on our website. There are some students who will have a job on and off campus.
Do you have to be eligible for work study for those jobs off-campus? No. Out of those 2,800 on-campus student employees, only about 300 of them are work study. 2,500 of them are paid through budgets within Missouri State. We merely post for those off-campus positions, they use our advertising services, but they actually pay their employees through their private companies. By going to our website you can select “Springfield Campus” or “Off Springfield Campus” and there are postings for both.
Could you highlight some work study misconceptions? Basically work study is money provided by the government. It is limited government funding given to us to help students who have financial need. When students complete their FASFA, it is determined how deep their financial need is. However, basically if you qualify for a Pell grant, then you qualify for a work study. Unfortunately, just because you qualify doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to get it because we don’t have enough funding. What we do is put a priority date on the FASFA so that students who are offered work study are paid to work just like any other student employee, it is just a different funding bucket. It does not directly go into a tuition account. Everyone sets up a direct deposit for any on-campus job. The advantage to having work study is there are many jobs on campus specifically for those students. There are some jobs in departments on campus that do not have an operational budget to pay employees, which means they can hire work study. If a job says, ‘work study required’ it means you have to qualify because the funding is coming from another source.
How do you feel like first year students typically respond to Student Affairs? I think they respond very well, I think the key is getting them engaged. There’s always an initial shock in moving to a new environment and trying to acclimate. I think the students that really do well are the ones that get engaged. They are the ones that make those connections and find ways to get involved. I really believe that is the real key for a freshman. I also think that is how they respond to Student Affairs. I think it’s important for all the divisions of Student Affairs to provide avenues for our students to be engaged.
What do you think first year students need from Student Affairs? Of course they need those connections but they also need a sense of belonging. I think it is really important they feel like MSU is their home. It is important and great that our Student Affairs provides many different resources and activities, as well as ways for student to meet other students that have similar interests. That’s what makes it a fun experience.
Would you say that Missouri State University meets their Student Affairs goals? I believe that Missouri State does awesome. I think the Student Affairs division is exceptional at finding many avenues for students. Not all students are going to engage in the same activities, but I think everyone in our Student Affairs division is very dedicated to making sure we can provide different avenues for everyone.
Zoë Pixler, a sophomore majoring in Photography and Art Education, is a Family Orientation Coordinator, helping with special projects and family orientation. She is a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma where she is the Vice President of New Member Education.