Campus departments came up with nearly 100 ideas for new positions. Positions will be in various units, allowing students to work directly with faculty on research and scholarship, get professional development, gain new experiences in event planning and peer mentoring, and more.
The $435,000 student investment comes from Graduation Initiative 2025, a CSU-wide effort to increase retention and graduation rates.
Research shows on-campus jobs are beneficial to students in numerous ways. They help students fund their education, while also offering flexibility around class schedules and school breaks. Students also get to know more faculty and staff, and that connection often leads students to campus services or programs they didn’t know about.
In some cases, the positions will help campus departments begin new initiatives. In others, the jobs will mean that programs area able to expand hours or offer additional services.
HSU Provost Alex Enyedi announced the new positions earlier this week. He said HSU’s Student Success Alliance, a committee with broad campus representation, had recommended the approach.
“There was strong support for this idea on campus, and I’m so pleased we were able to do it,” Enyedi said. “Student employment provides critical support for increasing student success by providing a sense of financial security while improving learning, career readiness, and retention.”
CSU’s Graduation Initiative 2025 has had significant success in improving retention and graduation rates, as well as reducing opportunity gaps for traditionally underrepresented students, first-generation students, and Pell recipients. Improving financial stability and increasing opportunities for students is one of the pillars of the initiative. At HSU, four-year and six-year graduation rates have seen strong increases – with the four-year rate rising from 15 percent to 22 percent in five years.
The new employment opportunities will be posted on Handshake, HSU’s online platform for student jobs.