A Good Job: Campus Employment as a High-Impact Practice

Abstract

College Student Affairs Journal, Volume 38(2), pp. 215 217 ISSN 2381-2338 Copyright 2020 Southern Association for College Student Affairs All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. T hough student employment can have positive benefits, such as increased persistence and engagement, many students struggle to connect their work with their academics and future career (Hansen and Hoag, 2018). A Good Job: Campus Employment as a High-Impact Practice (2018) is a new resource for university leaders that desire theoretical knowledge and practical techniques for aiding students in making those connections while working in departments and offices across campus. Beginning with the foreword written by Dr. George Kuh, the founding director of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and a leading expert on high-impact practices in higher education, the message that is infused throughout this book is clear. With so many undergraduates today working while pursuing their studies, it is incumbent on college and university leaders, faculty, academic advisers, student affairs professionals, and others committed to helping students to become more informed about how to harness the benefits of employment and both student engagement and education outcomes” (p. xiii) Throughout A Good Job, the authors delve thoroughly into a vast array of theories and historical frameworks associated with student, career, learning and identity development. The first few chapters are organized by different theoretical models and how they connect to campus employment, such a student development and campus employment. Latter chapters connect to overarching themes of retention and persistence, supervision and management and legal issues in higher education with regard to student employment. Additionally, the authors sprinkle in current trends, federal data and historical truths of student employment in higher education such as recent data from NSSE and other formidable studies and reports from higher education scholars. These facts encouraged me to think more critically and systematically about the serious influence that on-campus employment could have on the success of an undergraduate student and caused me to immediately consider addressing ways I currently run my own student employment program. In order to broaden their audience-base, the authors of A Good Job generate a seamless flow from theory to practice and then embed implications that urge readers to recognize how on-campus employment can have a broader impact on student retention, persistence and success. By connecting “retention theory and practice, focusing specifically on elements related to the retention and success of student employees throughout varying institutional types and MEDIA REVIEW