Student Employees: Building Skills, Confidence and Community
The notion of working at a college as a student may conjure images of mundane tasks such as filing and data organization, but students working across LCCC are getting the chance to work in diverse areas such as social media content creation, art gallery exhibits, science labs and IT support, just to name a few. This opportunity to work on campus, often called work study, allows students to maximize their time on campus by providing employment within the educational environment.
At LCCC, the student worker program has grown over the years into more than just a way for students to earn extra money while in school. Students gain valuable transferrable skills that will aide them when they enter the workforce.
In 2024 alone, LCCC was fortunate to count 123 students as student employees for the calendar year. According to Kescha Bell-Ross, Director of Career Development and Civic Engagement, “The integration of work and study not only enriches students’ academic journeys but also provides valuable industry exposure that enhances their career paths.”
For example, students interested in STEM fields gain valuable experience working as laboratory aides preparing chemical solutions, updating inventory, setting up experiments, maintaining live organisms and conducting general lab maintenance. Areas such as the science labs require more student workers than others. At times, as many as eight students have worked in the labs.
Two current student workers, Olivia Schroder and Joel Khacho have found working with chemicals to be the most rewarding part. “We both like being able to create the solutions that are needed for these labs. It’s enjoyable to go through the process of knowing how the chemicals are created,” says Schroder.
Student employees in the Glass Box Gallery, LCCC’s art gallery in the Rothrock Library, help prepare artist works, hang frames and implement the layout for upcoming exhibits. For student employee Alex Ho, that has expanded into producing a podcast with Glass Box Gallery director and LCCC art professor, Jeremy Siedt.
In the Department of Information Technology, student workers Tim Smith and Ethan Nagy assist employees and students with everything from printer problems and error messages to difficulties concerning multi-factor authentication. As a computer information systems major, Smith views a position with the college’s support desk as providing a strong foundation for a career. “I’m always learning new things because IT is always changing. It’s nice to have more years of experience on my resume when I graduate,” says Smith.
That certainly has been the case for lab aide Khacho, who has parlayed her experience at LCCC to an upcoming position as a lab assistant at Keystone Cement.
Beyond the clear resume benefits to working a campus job, students are able to gain a host of key lifelong skills relating to work in a professional setting. One such example of the unique incorporation of career readiness skills is the requirement that students attend at least two Career Development events as part of their employment. As Bell-Ross explains, “These events are aligned with the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) standards, focusing on building essential skills such as critical thinking, communication, teamwork, problem-solving, adaptability, professionalism, ethics, and career management. This focus ensures that our student employees are well-prepared for success in the workforce, with competencies recognized by industry standards.”
Whether student employees go on to earn their bachelor’s degree or move directly to the workforce upon graduation, it’s clear that the time spent on campus yields tangible results. As Bell-Ross states, “Ultimately, the student worker program at LCCC helps students build skills, confidence, and connections that will serve them well throughout their lives.
View more information on the student employment program at LCCC here or contact Career Development at careerservices@lccc.edu.
