On-campus employment prepares students for the workforce with high-impact experiences

The inclusion of student staff in the First Year Research Immersion (FRI) program through a student employment initiative led by the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development has been beneficial for the entire campus community.

Megan Fegley, director of FRI, said it was the contributions of her event planning and logistics intern, Joseph Zuccalmaglio, that enabled FRI to recognize its 10th anniversary with promotional materials and a step-and-repeat banner.

“I honestly don’t know if we would have been able to do all that without his help. For the promo materials and the banner, Joe has worked with outside vendors, seeing what the best options are in terms of price and quality,” Fegley said, adding that Zuccalmaglio was able to communicate effectively and apply feedback from his supervisors. “I think the thing that really strikes me about Joe is his ability to work independently and to take initiative.”

Zuccalmaglio also helped FRI adopt the campus engagement platform B-Engaged to register the hundreds of students participating in their professional development events and workshops.

“I knew how to use B-Engaged based on previous clubs and experiences,” Zuccalmaglio said. “I helped them get theirs up and running. It turned into an all-in-one platform for us.” FRI is now using B-Engaged to market their events, check students in using a Binghamton ID and fill out a form to create custom business cards. “That’s helped streamline event registration for the program,” he said.

Fleishman Career Center’s Student Employment Initiative

Student interns like Zuccalmaglio are working on high-visibility projects and making a positive impact all over campus, according to Kathie Boice, assistant director of student employment at the Fleishman Career Center.

Boice said the objective of the Fleishman Career Center’s student employment initiative is to provide every Binghamton student with an opportunity for a “high-impact practice.”

These roles allow students to improve their career readiness by gaining valuable and transferable skills applicable in any industry.

“One of the best ways to do that is actually to have an on-campus position,” Boice said. Students who work in on-campus positions contribute to campus departments while learning the nuances of meeting etiquette, making business calls and other expectations typical in professional settings.

Students can apply for a wide range of roles in the program. Some examples of positions include junior web developers, photographers and peer tutors.

Anastasia Haines is a student employee working as a brand and creative operations intern for the Fleishman Career Center. According to Haines, student employees bring valuable perspective to the departments and labs they are working in while deriving positive lessons.

“I think a lot of times having that student perspective is important, not only to come up with solutions for whatever is at hand, but also to envision new problems that they weren’t even aware of,” Haines said. “And I think that it can provide students the opportunity not only to earn income, but also to learn from the program itself and really build transferable skills that will prepare them better for post-graduation.”

“All of us who work at Binghamton University — we’re here for the students,” Boice said. “We’re all very cognizant that these are students and that they may not have all the answers. It is our job to guide them in whatever way we can, whatever capacity we have, with our job responsibilities. It is a great environment to learn those things.”

“I can say it is the most welcoming work environment I have ever experienced,” Haines said.

Setting up campus employers for success

Providing opportunities to work in professional settings on campus has also required giving campus employers the tools they need to work optimally with potential student employees.

Beth Polzin, associate director of the External Scholarships and Undergraduate Research Center, said the training and resources provided by the Fleishman Center has improved how to find the best candidates for the role and set expectations.

Polzin said the trainings through the Fleishman Center encouraged the full-time staff to take a systematic look at the year and determine how to best help students by understanding their needs and creating materials for them.

“Kathie’s training was timely and helpful for me to take on additional responsibilities with more students and have clear guidance on how to do that,” Polzin said. “I felt better equipped.”

Prospective student employers are given training on how to onboard a student employee, create clear policies for workplace expectations and create a job posting that provides a clear description of the job duties and why the role is important. The training provided helps employers like Polzin be aware of and apply best hiring practices.

“I can see that as much as I’m used to writing a syllabus and thinking of student needs relevant to a classroom environment, I would have missed anticipating some of these things for a campus office position,” she said.

In addition to helping student employers on campus efficiently search for and hire students, the Fleishman Career Center provides offices with grants that eliminate any impact to their operating budget.

The new Introductory Practice Grant, supported by the University’s Road Map strategic plan, fully funds the wages for a new campus job that is created for students who have never held an on-campus role and meets the criteria for a high-impact practice. For example, the role must have defined learning objectives, require work on a project and the student must receive feedback and evaluation.

“With the Fleishman Center’s student employment grant, we were able to hire an additional SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression) Educator for our peer education team,” said Nick Martin, assistant director of the LGBTQ Center. “This year, we reserved this grant-funded position for a first-year student looking to get more involved in the Q Center’s work and work on their own professional development. The student employee we hired has already designed new and innovative educational initiatives that we hadn’t previously considered and has helped us to present to even more UNIV 101 and introductory classes this academic year.”

Transition from campus to the workplace

“If it wasn’t for my on-campus positions, I would not be the person that I am today and would not have been exposed to all the opportunities that I was open too,” says Tatiana Balasenowich ’23, who is now working in residential life at Iona University.

In her new role, Balasenowich is a liaison for students, faculty and parents. She credits the internship she held at the Fleishman Career Center for getting her interested in working in higher education. Her work in the career center as the branding intern for the student employment initiative required her to answer students’ questions about careers.

“It really got me into thinking that I could combine my interest in wanting to help students with my marketing and communication skills.”

Balasenowich said her on-campus position gave her a lot of insight into not only the job responsibilities she was looking for, but the kind of workplace culture she could thrive in. “Kathie (Boice) was one of the best supervisors that I have ever had,” she said.

“Our goals are to get students ready for the workforce and ready for their careers once they leave here,” Boice said. “And when I have a student working in our office, part of my job is really to help that student become more prepared for their career. We find an added bonus is the sense of belonging students tend to find from their campus work environment. It is incredibly common for students to stay in touch with their supervisors, and their sense of loyalty to the University is strengthened as a result.”