ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries January 1992 / 5 Make the m ost o f your student assistants By Lyn Condron Texas W o m a n s U niversity Orientations, evaluations, and recognition are keys to productive employees. L ike m o st academ ic institutions, th e Blagg- H u e y L ib rary a t Texas W om an’s U niver­ sity is greatly d e p e n d e n t on s tu d e n t assistants to p e rfo rm m any library tasks. W ith a cam pus p o p u la ­ tio n o f o v er 10,000 (including faculty a n d staff), th e lib rary has holdings o f 755,000 volum es, a n d re g u ­ larly h ires approxim ately sixty 15-hour s tu d e n t as­ sistants. T h e re h a d gradually b e e n a n o ticeable d ecrease in s tu d e n t assistant m orale an d su b se­ q u e n t perfo rm an ce. T h e re was lack o f c ontinuity am ong d e p a rtm e n ts reg ard in g working, training, dress code, a n d o th e r policies for th e stu d en ts. N aturally, th e se d ifferences w e re b ein g c o m p ared am ong th e stu d en ts, a n d a sense o f re s e n tm e n t was stirring. I t was also b elieved th a t stu d en ts generally d id n o t perceiv e th e ir o n -cam pus p a rt-tim e jo b s as “re a l” em ploym ent. A co m m itte e o f th re e librarians w ho regularly supervise s tu d en ts was n a m e d to set u p standards. W e b e g an m e e tin g in th e sp rin g o f 1989 a n d by th e next su m m e r session h a d p re p a re d a train in g m anual a n d o rie n ta tio n m e e tin g ready. T h o u g h b o th have since b e e n th ro u g h several revi­ sions, w e now feel w e have achieved an objective, w orkable, a n d fair m eans o f establishing consis­ te n c y w ithin th e various library d ep artm en ts. H andbook O u r first ta sk was to com pile th e S tu d e n t Assis­ ta n t H andbook. In it w e o u tlin ed th e following: w o rk p e rm its a n d schedules, tim e cards, g en eral on- d u ty responsibilities, re st breaks, safety, d re ss code, evaluations, grievance p ro c e d u re s, c o n tin u e d -e m ­ p lo y m en t p ro c e d u re s, a n d g ro u n d s fo r possible dismissal. T h e m anual is lo o se-leaf a n d copies w ere given to eac h d e p artm e n t. W e k e p t it brief, with c le ar h eadings a n d short, inform ational paragraphs. All in form ation is applicable fo r all stu d en ts, re ­ gardless o f th e d e p artm e n t. W h en specifics w ere n e e d e d , a sta te m e n t m ig h t read: “T u rn in y o u r tim e cards to y o u r su p ervisor according to d e p a rtm e n t g u idelines.” In c lu d e d in each m anual is a o n e-p ag e b rie f descrip tio n o f th e types o f jo b s stu d en ts p e rfo rm in each d e p artm e n t. N ext is a sectio n show ing ex­ am ples o f checklists, evaluations, jo b application There had gradually heen a noticeable decrease in student assistant morale and subsequent performance. form s, re p rim a n d form s, tim e cards, an d S tu d en t A ssistant o f th e Y ear n o m ination forms. T h e last section is re serv ed for special in stru c ­ tions to b e in s e rte d b y eac h d e p a rtm e n t’s supervi­ sor o f stu d en ts. T h e se in clu d e dep artm en t-sp ecific inform ation. An exam ple m ight b e th e w orking sch ed u les fo r th a t d e p artm e n t. T h e re are also in ­ stru ctio n s fo r various tasks p e rfo rm e d by s tu d en ts in th a t area. A ch ecklist is signed by b o th th e stu d en t a n d th e su p ervisor w ithin th e first tw o w eeks o f em p lo y m en t. E ach task has tw o blanks b esid e it so th e assistant a n d su p ervisor can initial b esid e each individual task w h en b o th feel co m fo rtab le w ith th e 6 1 C&RL News know ledge gained a n d p erform ed. T hese checklists are explicitly d etailed to en sure to assistant and supervisor th a t all expectations are b eing m et. Orientation A fter com piling th e Handbook, w e d ete rm in e d th a t a general o rientation was n e e d e d for all stu ­ d en ts beginning em ploym ent in th e library. E ach session lasts approxim ately on e h o u r an d several are scheduled at th e beginning o f each sem ester. All stu d en ts are re q u ire d to a tte n d an d include th e h o u r on th e ir tim e cards. All staff w ho supervise stu d en t assistants are en co uraged to a tte n d a ses­ sion. T h e orientations are c o n d u cted by th e com ­ m ittee, w ith th e library d irecto r p re s e n t to w elcom e and encourage th e stu d en ts. In th e in te re st o f saving p a p er an d m oney, stu d en ts are n o t given a copy o f th e H andbook each, b u t are given a checklist for th e orientation m eeting. T h ey initial each area covered as it is explained, and, m ost im portantly, as th e y feel th e y u n d e rstan d it. T h e m eetings are k ep t as inform al as possible with m uch stress on how im p o rtan t th e stu d en t assistants are to th e efficient workflow o f th e library, as w ell as how im p o rtan t th e ir jo b s are to th e m in beginning to establish good jo b histories. B efore leaving, stu d en ts a re asked to anonym ously fill o u t a b rie f evaluation form for th e o rientation session itself. Additionally, they are re q u ire d to sign u p for a g eneral library to u r (co n ducted by th e referen ce staff)— again, this h o u r is inclu d ed on th e ir tim e cards— and th ey are asked to read th e S tudent Assistant H andbook shortly after rep o rtin g for th e ir first workday. Evaluations At this point, th e co m m ittee decid ed th a t a com plete revision o f th e stu d en t evaluation form was necessary. W e search ed th e lite ra tu re and finally ad ap ted com posites o f several exam ples, and a d d ed inform ation p e rtin e n t to o u r library.1 T h e b rie f form req uires stu d en ts to p erfo rm self- evaluations. Space for s tu d e n ts ’ w ritte n co m ­ m ents is provided. Supervisors th e n p e rfo rm th e ir assessm ents. T h e evaluation form includes a p os­ sible “re h ire conditionally” status (if b o th agree th a t som e jo b im p rovem ent is n eed ed ). C o m p let­ ing evaluations a t b o th m id term a n d end-of-sem - e ste r helps supervisor an d assistant stay aw are o f w ork p erform ance. A private m eeting b etw een supervisor an d assistant is h eld an d o p en com ­ m unication is encouraged. Em phasis is p u t on identifying pro b lem areas an d h elping th e student. T h e supervisor should rem ain o p en to sugges­ tions from th e assistant as to how th e supervi­ sor m ight b e tte r h elp w ith th e w orking environ­ m ent. Student Assistant o f the Year Finally, w e d ecid ed to in stitu te th e S tu d e n t As­ sistant o f th e Year Award as a special en courage­ m e n t a n d display o f appreciation. A b rie f form was m ade listing th e criteria necessary to b e nom inated; th ese stress p erform ance an d particularly ou tstan d ­ ing effort by a student. All supervisors an d students w ere p rovided w ith forms. N om inations could be anonym ous an d w ere placed in a ballot-type box. Stu d en ts could n om inate them selves o r each o th e r w ith final selection b eing m ade by th e c om m ittee. At th e e n d o f th e school y ear an inform al recep tio n was h eld w h ere presen tatio n s w ere m ade. All nom i­ n ees w ere p re s e n te d w ith a certificate o f excellence, an d th e S tu d en t Assistant o f th e Year was given a fram ed certificate in addition to having his o r h e r n am e a d d ed to a p e rp e tu a l p laq u e placed in th e library lobby. Conclusion Prep aratio n an d im p lem en tatio n o f th e stu d en t assistant program r e q u ire d a substantial a m o u n t o f effort an d th e library b e n efitte d considerably. Stu­ d e n ts now have a b e tte r und erstan d in g o f our expectations o f th e m a n d feel less “in -the-dark” ab o u t policies. W e have b e e n b e tte r able to ascer­ tain th e ir n eed s a n d stro n g er lines o f com m unica­ tion have b e e n established. F o r m ore inform ation read ers can telep h o n e (817) 898-3768. T h e a u th o r wishes to th an k the o th e r m em b ers o f th e C o m m ittee.2 1Folke B em ad o tte M em orial Library, Gustavus Adolphus College, “Annual Student Assistant Evalu­ ation,” in M anaging S tu d en t W orkers in College Libraries, C lip N o te #7, com p. M ichael D. K athm an a n d Jane M cG urn K athm an (Chicago: Association o f C ollege an d R esearch Libraries, 1986), pp . 151— 52. T h e co m m ittee m ade particu lar use o f this d o cu m en t in adapting o u r evaluation form. 2T h e a u th o r wishes to th an k th e o th e r m em bers o f th e com m ittee: M etta N icew am er (coordinator for pu b lic services) an d R ita Yribar (special collec­ tions librarian). ■ ■ Correctio n A p h rase was inadvertently o m itted from th e first sen ten ce o f th e N o v em b er 1991 Preserva­ tion News colum n. T h e first sen te n c e should have read: “T h e A m herst C ollege Archives have received th e tw o federal grants in su p p o rt o f th e p reservation m icrofilm ing o f th e D w ight W. M orrow p a p e rs. ” C& R L N ew s regrets th e error.