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Collection Management Procedures: Students

Examples of documentation

For older documentation on student hiring, check out Student Assistants Docs Forms on the departmental drive. 

Student Worker Hiring Cycle

1. Get the budget (usually from the head of CM)

2. Plan the budget. Calculate how many students the budget covers (one student should work at least 10 hrs a week @ $7.25 (this may change, depending on the University minimum hourly rate policy). It is in the best interest of the department to distribute student hours throughout the semester in order to receive their help consistently rather than let them work 20 hours a week and have the budget exhausted two months into the semester.

3. Prepare the job description and send it to Nancy F Massey (nmassey) <nmassey@memphis.edu>. The job description should be as specific as possible, noting the hours you want the student to work and listing all possible responsibilities. Let Nancy know when you would like the job posting to be taken off (experience shows that having it up for 2 weeks is enough to get a sizable pool of candidates for interviews). 

4. Interview candidates (sample of interview questions attached)

5. Make the decision and e-mail the candidates to ask if they are still available/interested in the position (maybe follow up with an official job offer e-mail). Upon receiving a confirmation from the candidates that they are accepting the job, e-mail Nancy and let her know to expect candidates to come in to complete the paperwork

6. Ask candidates to stop by Nancy Massey's office (Administration). They should have with them a state issued ID (can't be expired) and either a birth certificate, social security card or a passport. She accepts walk-ins, but just in case her tel: 901-678-8117

7. Nancy will let you know when the student's contract goes live. At that point, finalize the student's schedule and arrange for training (traditionally students were trained in ILL and Periodicals, but the needs of the department may change over time and so will the training of student workers).

8. Student's first two hours in the department are usually devoted to orientation. We go over student worker guidelines, departmental procedures for reporting absences, and I ask students to sign a form that acknowledges them having read the student worker guidelines. The students also get a brief tour of the library. I plan my orientation using this checklist from the UofM Libraries forms portal.

At the end of student worker contract period (which coincides with the end of semester), I fill out and discuss student evaluations (see the link to the form in the left column). I let them know during the orientation that I would use this form to provide letters of reference should they ask me for one at a later point in their careers. 

Approving Time Sheets

Student workers submit their time twice, in Shift Planning and in MyMemphis.

  • UofM student supervisors use Shift Planning as a daily clock-in/out tool that tells them when exactly and at which computer station the student clocked in/out. These time sheets can be edited and need to be approved by the student supervisor bi-weekly. It is recommended that supervisors check every day to make the necessary edits while the information about each shift is fresh (e.g.: student forgets to clock out).
  • Every two weeks students will submit a time sheet in myMemphis. This time sheet will be approved by Shundra's staff and they will consult the time sheets approved by the student supervisor to approve the time sheets in MyMemphis. If there is a discrepancy, the student supervisor will be asked to make corrections in Shift Planning.