Helping student employees become members of your organization

One of the challenges with using student employees is for them to have invested interest in the success of the organization. While handling customer support issues are the primary focus of all Help Desks, student employees need to feel that they are a part of that process. This can be accomplished by setting up a structure that involves them in both the daily and long term success of the organization. At the University of Florida, our student supervisors are responsible for the support provided to our clients. This includes monitoring phone and walk-in traffic as well as dealing with system outages. During the term, our senior student staff is responsible for interviewing prospective employees and making hiring recommendations. They also work with the help desk staff to determine effective changes to both our policies and procedures, which are essential to continuing success of the organization. Other employees take on the role of trainers for our new hires as well as updating their technical skills. Finally, ongoing projects allow all employees to make their contributions to the organization. By employing these techniques, the student employees become a part of the success of the organization.