Will Your Student Be Looking For a Job in the Fall?
By: Robin Guevara, Student Employment
One of the fallacies students and parents bring to college is that students won’t have time to work, or that working will interfere with academics. In actuality, working up to about 15 hours per week can positively contribute to a student’s investment in staying in college and graduating. So, instead of interfering, working is what students ought to be doing. The reasoning behind this, as well as the studies that show its effect, is that students who work, especially on campus, build community far more effectively than students who do not, and they make an important financial contribution toward their education. Besides establishing relationships with staff that increase their sense of investment in all they are doing, students are also more likely to take advantage of campus resources available to them. After all, higher education is all about learning and experiencing new things, as well as trying things out and perhaps, on occasion, even being surprised by what you did not know.
Will your student be looking to get a job in the fall? Students have several ways to work while going to Gonzaga. Emails have already been sent out to all incoming freshmen and transfer students alerting them to the various ways to get a job when they get here. Be sure your student has activated his/her Zagmail email so they get pertinent information being sent to them this summer about what to expect in the fall. The key is be informed, act early and be persistent. Students should also let Student Employment know how the job search is going so we can assist them.
On-campus employment consists of either Federal On-Campus Work Study (FWS) or Institutional. FWS is part of the student’s financial aid award. Institutional jobs are paid for by each department’s budget and are much more competitive. Students should check their financial aid award on Zagweb to see if they are eligible for work study. All on-campus jobs will be posted online on July 20th at www.gonzaga.edu/studentemployment.
Students offered State Off-Campus Work Study will be sent an email detailing the job search process in that program. We realize going off campus is not ideal for a freshman, but with our resources of where the jobs are and which are closest to campus, students can make this option successful.
There is also a Community Job Board at www.gonzaga.edu/studentemployment which offers off-campus jobs in the Spokane community.
Please remember that this is a real job and that mandatory hiring paperwork must be completed. Incoming students planning to work on-campus will need to bring original documentation for the I-9 Employment Eligibility Form, which may consist of an unexpired passport, OR, an original social security card, OR an original or certified birth certificate. Don’t leave home without them!