Student Employee Retention

Evaluating Performance 

Performance evaluations are an essential part of the student employee experience. Providing students feedback creates open communication between students and employers, where employers feel comfortable providing feedback and students are available to receive said feedback. These conversations will also assist students in preparing for life beyond Wellesley. 

Performance evaluations for student employees at Wellesley College allow the student to:

• Experience scenarios of receiving feedback and making necessary adjustments.
• Reflect on strengths, areas of growth, and self-expectations.
• Articulate transferable skills from their current position.
• Become self-aware of their abilities. 
• Receive incentives based on merit.
• Understand the supervisor's commitment to student development. 

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) created guidelines regarding career readiness in the undergraduate experience. The NACE competencies show students how to develop themselves using a framework focused on their current experiences.  NACE Career Readiness competencies will serve as the foundation for performance evaluations. You can find more information about the competencies on the Student Employment Competencies document, linked below.

If you have any questions about these tips, please feel free to contact Student Employment at studentemployment@wellesley.edu or 781-381-2211.

Resources: 

Student Employee NACE Competencies

Performance Management Tips

Reflection on Experiences 

It has been shown that students who are employed on-campus benefit greatly. Students are able to relate experiences between their on-campus position, the classroom and future career paths. In addition, students are able to connect and develop a network of peers, mentors and advisors. As a supervisor of student employees, part of your role is to assist the student with communicating their experiences to others.When students begin their career after Wellesley, they will need to know how to articulate skills learned in their current position to a prospective employer.

You are in a unique place to have a conversation with your students about their development and growth in the position. These conversations can take place when you evaluate students but, they do not have to. Any opportunity you have to talk with your students (i.e. a training, lunch, staff meeting) is a great time to have this conversation. We've created some questions below to assist you in beginning the conversation with your student employees. 

Resources: 

Discussion Questions

Student employees are an invaluable part of Wellesley College. Whether you are checking out a library book, grabbing some food at a dining location or visiting an academic department, you will see student employees. While there are many ways to recognize your students for work well done, we have gathered some suggestions listed in the document below. We also welcome supervisors to be creative in thinking about recognizing their students! 

• Recognizing Student Employees 

In addition, our office recognizes students during the following annual events: 

Student Employee Kickoff 

During mid-September, Student Employment and Career Education collaborate on the Student Employee Kick-Off event. This event is held for all student employees and students interested in applying for positions on campus. There are resources available for students along with information from campus partners, panels and a brief orientation. Supervisors are welcome to market this event and encourage their students to attend! 

End of the Year Celebration 

Around Student Employee Appreciation Week, Career Education and Student Employment will be hosting an End-of-Year Celebration for all student employees. Be on the lookout for more information regarding this event in the Spring semester. 

The Compensation Review process, formally known as “Merit,” for student employees occurs in April of each year. The goal of the process is to confirm which students will be returning in the Fall semester and/or academic year while also allowing supervisors the opportunity to provide a small raise to returning employees. 

Timeline

Toward the middle of the Spring semester, all supervisors (labeled as Hiring Managers in Workday) will receive information regarding the Compensation Review Process. Hiring Managers will receive a task asking them to determine which students will be returning and if they would like to update the student’s compensation. The recommended merit increase is $0.25. Students can be paid a maxmium of $17.25 per hour. 

Any returning student review process not completed by May 18, 2023 will be used as confirmation that the student is not returning and thus signal that the role is able to be ended in the system. This process is important for all student workers in order to clean up their job records and have accurate start/end dates for future employers who may contact the College to confirm work history. 

Please note: In past years, Hiring Managers only needed to complete this step if they intended to give a small raise to returning student employees. Moving Forward, ALL Hiring Managers must complete this step (even if not setting a new hourly rate) as a confirmation that the student will continue in Fall 2023.

Summer Compensation 

If the student is returning for both Summer and Fall, the increase will go into effect beginning in the Fall semester ONLY. Wages for positions in the Summer semester should be determined in the position requisition. We recommend supervisors begin Summer wages at a minimum of $16.50 in order to account for additional taxes collected through the semester. 

If supervisors would like to have a student continue in the Summer semester, they will need to alert Human Resources. More information on positions continuing in the Summer semester will be sent out to supervisors closer to the end of the Spring semester.