Developing a Student Manager Program Erin Nettifee Duke University Resnet Symposium 2010

Agenda Student managers: what they are, and what they aren’t Starting a program from scratch Building a program for future growth Lessons learned

My background I’ve started or worked with others to grow student manager programs at 3 different schools (small & large) My current institution – Duke Univ. - Large university in medium-sized city. 50+ students in various areas. Students work in different areas: service desk, training, multimedia, community outreach We are in the second year of a new student supervisor program

Where to start Define what your student managers are going to do for you Personnel management – Hire? Mentor? Evaluate? Fire? Technical specialists – are you going to want them to do things that front-line students can’t? Project specialists – can they help you take care of things you don’t have the time for?

Where to start Understand what they aren’t going to do for you Buy-in from full-time staff is important here Justifying this upwards... If budget / staffing needs are driving your growth, you must work to set expectations about how students are different. This is not necessarily going to save you time, especially in first year.

First steps to building a program Start early, and as much as you can, take your time At least a semester before you want the students to begin responsibilities, start the planning process Begin to talk to student staff early about what the role is going to become Figure out the right ratio of student managers to front-line role

Questions? 6/17/10

Interviewing Strongly recommend a group interview process Bring in full-time staff from different areas Model this off of a full-time position interview process Don’t be afraid to require resume & cover letter, but the interview is more important than the written product Develop questions for staff Basics Behavioral Pie-in-the-sky

Some sample questions Basics: why do you want the job, what do you know about the job? Helps you figure out whether they have the right expectations Behavioral: what would you do if a student employee you were supervising screwed up? “Pie-in-the-sky”: How would you change the way we work? 6/17/10

Hiring Making hiring decisions can be tough because you know the students and need to deliver bad news to kids who you probably want to retain even if they weren't promoted Lots of reasons a student might not be promoted: not ready for leadership, poor work performance, red/yellow flags in interview If you’re selling the position as preparing for the real world, be ready to give feedback as to why they didn’t make it - remember it takes some bravery for your staff to apply

Training them to supervise Look at how your new managers are trained for full- time roles Spend time with each new supervisor talking about your expectations Helpful metaphors: Teacher / classroom management If your program is brand new, start with teacher metaphor before you get to boss metaphor

Ending the first year Assess how program went, before next round of interviews Keep the “Comic Strip Test” in the back of your head Talk openly and honestly with first-year managers Ask full-time staff for feedback Rethink your service model

Questions? 6/17/10

Growing a program that already exists What’s driving your instinct to grow your student manager ranks? Wanting to challenge your students with new roles Loss of full-time staff positions Change in service model Increase in customer demand

Changing your service model Go back to your original work on ratio of student managers to front line staff. Do you really need more supervisors, or do you need more front-line staff? Expanding after-hours coverage Accountability for staff when you’re not there Make them explain the decision process to themselves before they make it.

Teaching Communication Position yourself as teaching future colleagues Enforce high standards in terms of communication to make it more manageable You need to count on these students to tell you about problems early Give examples of good communication and praise openly Go back to the teacher metaphor

Lessons learned Start slow, if you can. Involve as many people as you can in the process. Hire as early as you can. Better to be small and working well than large and go through more pain than necessary. Sell the job as an experience builder. Remember students are not full-time staff, but they bring things to the table that full-time staff will not.

Questions? Your seminar evaluation is important! I welcome more questions now, or later on – please feel free to me at Thanks for attending! 6/17/10