During her afternoons, sophomore Tori Plotkin often finds herself playing with pre-schoolers as part of her work study job. Even though filing in an office is usually thought of as the standard student job, Tufts students find many exciting work study options available to them through the student employment office.
Students who qualify for financial aid can take advantage of the work study program, an option in aid packages, rather than take out loans that they must pay back after college. Roughly 2,500 Tufts students qualified this year, according to Director of Student Employment Joanne Grande. It is still too early in the year to identify how many of those have selected to exercise the work study option, but Grande said a "good percentage" of them have chosen to do so.
Plotkin chose to utilize the work study option. She works with four-year-olds at Jumpstart, a literacy program, for ten hours a week. Plotkin said it was more convenient for her to obtain a work study job than to look for another job, since the federal government pays part of the wages for work study students. However, Grande said that some students choose to forgo work study jobs and instead find other jobs that peak their interests.
On campus, students often find it easier to obtain work study jobs since there are so many of them. "People prefer to hire work study rather than people on stipend," Plotkin said.
The jobs available to students on work study are listed on the Office of Student Employment website, as well as in books at the Office of Student Employment. Last year, current sophomore Erin Loew went to the employment office and decided on a work study job at the admissions office without researching the other options on the list.
"I came in as a freshman and didn't know anything," Loew said.
This year, though, Loew made a more informed decision about which work study job to take. She knew someone who had worked at Olin, and based on that person's description of the job, she thought it would be one that she would be interested in applying for.
Grande explained that the jobs listed at the Office of Student Employment are basically available on a first-come first-serve basis. A variety of jobs are available on campus at Dining Services and various offices, as well as off-campus jobs that often involve community service.
Seven percent of work study jobs offered must involve community service, according to federal government regulations. Grande said that the Office of Student Employment tries to find and approve jobs that "better the community." For example, Plotkin's job with Jumpstart is community based. The Jumpstart program targets children who might have weak reading and writing skills, problems socializing with other children, or difficulties with the English language.
"It's something really rewarding. It's mixing community service with a job," Plotkin said.
In the past Plotkin has done filing and other office work, but she wanted something different for her work study job.
"I've done that stuff before. I'd rather do stuff where I feel more rewarded," Plotkin said.
Loew's work study job, on the other hand, is on campus. Her duties at the Olin language lab involve distributing language tapes and delivering the equipment necessary for language instruction, such as tape players, to classrooms.
The number of hours that students work depends on their individual need, as determined through the financial aid application process. Work study students are paid by check, just as they would at any other job. Students earnings are not simply deducted from tuition but are also used for other school-related costs, such as books.
Plotkin said that she has a positive overall view of how Tufts has implemented the federal work study program. "I have friends who go to much larger schools where even with work study it's hard to get a job," she said.
At Tufts, it is relatively easy for work study students to find jobs. However, non-work study students often run into problems when searching for jobs on campus. Many have found that work study students take almost all of the on-campus jobs.
A few of the offices on campus, such as the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, only hire work study students. However, the Office of Student Employment keeps listings of non-work study jobs available on campus.
