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

Though 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 or ganized 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 positions," the authors strategically bring a perspective that would be directly relatable to other university leaders who must think regularly about the business of higher education, as opposed to learning initiatives and outcomes (p. 102). For example, the authors note a statistic that encourages university leaders to consider the sound financial management associated with connecting on-campus employment to the success of degree completion. Knowing that a student who could be retained for four years might generate the same income as four new students who leave after one year should encourage any university leader to take a second look at on-campus employment as an easily applied practice that would help their budget bottomline, not hurt it.

By connecting the essential elements of a high impact practice to student employment, A Good Job welcomes prior research offered by George Kuh (Kuh, Kinzie, Buckley, Bridges & Hayek, 2007; Kuh, 2008; Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh & Whitt, 2010; Kuh, O'Donnell & Reed, 2013). The fundamentals of a high impact practice such as time on task, authentic problem-solving, and feedback on performance are just a few applications for in and out of class experiences. Through research provided by Kuh and other colleagues, the authors persuade their audience that these tenets could easily be adopted to enhance student learning in the workplace because on-campus jobs offer students the opportunity to create knowledge and build skills, think critically and function effectively in our rapidly changing and complex world. According to a 2019 report published by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, 80 percent of students are currently employed in order to manage the rising tuition costs and other obligations that former generations did not face. This high percentage...