Date of Award
11-2008
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Higher Education Administration: M.S.
Department
Educational Administration and Higher Education
College
School of Education
First Advisor
Christine M. Imbra
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
Student Employment, Professional Skills Development, Skills Practiced, Employee, Education
Abstract
This study examines the life skills practiced and acquired by student employees who were nominated for the Student Employee of the Year award at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University between the 2001-2002 and 2007- 2008 academic years. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of the contents of the nomination forms submitted by both supervisors and students reveals that the students represented in the sample did practice and acquire a great number of life skills- such as time management, decision making, supervisory skills, and computer and technology skills-through their student employment positions. The study then relates these findings to the core values of the Student Activities and Leadership Development office at the same institutions and finds that they intersect in such areas as learning, service, and balance. Findings suggest that student employment outcomes and student development goals could be intentionally linked to maximize out-of-classroom educational experiences for college students.
Recommended Citation
Truhler, Erin J., "Developing Students: An Examination of Skills Practiced and Acquired by Student Employee of the Year Nominees through their Student Employment Experiences" (2008). Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration. 81.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/hied_etds/81
Comments/Acknowledgements
Completing this thesis has been a long and challenging journey, and I have many people to thank in helping me finally see it to the end. My husband, Pedro Espinosa, has quietly been there at every step, y le agradezco muchisimo por entender y aguantarme durante las numerosas horas que lo ignore para trabajar en este proyecto. I am extremely grateful for the support of my classmates and friends, especially Marah Jacobson-Schulte, Michael Olesen, Chris Lepkowski, and Cindy Pederson. They have advised, encouraged, pushed, and even commiserated at precisely the right moments. My professors and committee members have patiently taken the extra time to walk me through this process, and their dedication has made pursuing this degree a worthwhile and enjoyable endeavor. I am thankful to Barb Fahnhorst for her guidance time after time and for sharing her passion for student employment with me. Mary Milbert, my mentor, is a model combination of intelligence, grace, professionalism, and leadership. Her confidence in me has always increased my confidence in myself. Most importantly, I offer thanks to the extraordinary student employees who I had the privilege of supervising at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University. Their incredible accomplishments as student employees helped me recognize the potential for student employment as an avenue for skill building. They inspired this study, and they inspire me.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are we not to be?
~Marianne Williamson, 1992