Supervisor Responsibilities

5.1 Training and Orientation 

Student Employment provides students with an opportunity to learn how to be a successful employee in a safe environment. Student Employment trainings are held each semester, for more information contact studentemployment@CalLutheran.edu. Additionally, Supervisor Trainings are held throughout the year, look for these invitations! 

To ensure that students perform as expected on the job, supervisors must provide them with structured supervision, and adequate training and make the expectations of students very clear. A well-trained employee is very likely to succeed and excel on the job. Poor performance or 

lack of punctuality should be addressed immediately and documented as quickly as possible. As a supervisor, your job is to hire a qualified students, teach them how to do their job, and provide them with the tools and environment they need in order to succeed. 

5.2 Supervising a Student Employee 

A Supervisor must be an effective communicator. You must be able to provide clear messages and listen carefully as well. If your student employee does not understand what you have told him/her, it will be impossible for the student to do what you need to be done. Make sure the student knows they can come to you with any questions or for clarity. Providing effective supervision is a continuation of ongoing training, support, and feedback. Employer patience, kindness, and clarity will result in a dedicated student employee. 

Below are some helpful hints for effectively supervising student employees: 

• Supervisors are expected to provide student employees with job descriptions, payroll information, and performance expectations of the employing department. 
• Train your student employees by giving clear, basic instructions. Take the time to give your new student employees details of the position and the information necessary to do the job. 
• Give your student employees a general overview of your department/operation so that the students can understand how their jobs fit into the function of the department and the mission of the university. 
• Give your student employees recognition for their positive performance when you observe them doing things correctly. 
• Give your student employees reasonable goals and a timetable for each assignment. 
• Supervisors should discuss appropriate office/department dress with student employees. 
• Supervisors should post a schedule of assigned work hours for all student employees. 
• Set a positive example for your student employees by exhibiting efficient, diligent work habits for them to emulate. 
• As you notice something to comment about, you should immediately give a compliment or offer some helpful instruction to correct a mistake or situation. Be sure to provide corrective feedback with patience and positive suggestions. 
• If you must speak to an individual about a mistake, do so in private. Be brief, clear, and kind. Humiliation and embarrassment areineffectiveaslearningtools.Keepinmindintenseenvironments,theemployeemaynotfeelfreetoaskforclarificationandyoumay end up with an employee who performs poorly. 

As a reminder, the role of student employees is not to get coffee or food or to run personal errands, etc. Student employees are to be doing assigned work and department/office tasks relating to supporting the institution. 

5.3 Discipline/Warning/Termination 

Reasons why a student employee may be terminated are listed below: 

Supervisors may encounter problems with a student employee. Reasons for disciplining and giving verbal and written warnings to a student employee may include violating any of the applicable policies identified in the Student Handbook/Standards of Conduct or work policies/procedures established by your office. If this is the case, here are the steps you would need to take: 

(All Performance Management & Review Resources are now available on the Supervisor Resources Webpage 

Step 1) Verbal Warning and Discussion – Speak with the student about not meeting expectations and explain how to correct the problem(s). Determine what support, training, or guidance may be provided in order to correct the poor performance. You may document the Verbal Warning by downloading the Verbal Disciplinary Action Acknowledgement on the Supervisor Resources Page 

Step 2) Written Warning – Sit down and discuss more in-depth the expectations and the student's failure to meet the office needs. Complete and sign a Written Disciplinary Action Acknowledgement with action steps and goals. This form must be submitted to the Student Employment Office and it will be placed within the student’s employment record. 

Step 3) Temporary Suspension—A supervisor may decide to temporarily suspend a student from their duties after the verbal and written warnings. Download the Temporary Suspension Form 

Step 4) Final Written Warning – a Supervisor may decide to terminate employment if a student employee’s skills and 

abilities do not improve and the work is not meeting the duties and expectations of the job. The Supervisor should complete a Student Employment Update Formand a Departmental Release Formfor termination and submit them to the Student Employment Office. Note: If you wish to terminate one of your student employees due to poor work performance, it is best to handle the situation as briefly and simply as possible, while providing constructive feedback to the student. 

The student drops below the required number of units or otherwise becomes ineligible to work: The Student Employment Office will contact the Supervisor and student to explain the reason for termination. 

A student may initiate termination of his/her position: The student will advise his/her Supervisor that he/she will no longer be working. The supervisor should complete a Student Employment Update Formand submit it to the Student Employment Office. 

5.4 Performance Review Process 

It is recommended to conduct performance reviews each semester for all student employees, this gives you time to reflect on the past semester of work and provide constructive feedback to students in a professional manner. Review sessions should be scheduled for at least 30 minutes and conducted in a private setting. The Student Employee Review Process resources are available in the Supervisor Resourcessection of the Student Employment Website. 

5.5 Expiration of Employment Authorization 

Unless otherwise specified by the hiring department, all student employment authorizations will expire at the end of the academic year (the last day of the spring semester) and at the end of summer (the day before the fall semester begins). All student employees must complete a new Student Employment Personnel Action form if they are hired for the summer or re-hired for the upcoming academic year. FWS eligibility for all students is determined each academic year and is not guaranteed to be renewed for all students. 

Students who completely withdraw mid-term must stop working effectively on the date of withdrawal. Departments should submit a Student Employment Update Form to terminate the position as well as notify Payroll, effective the last date of employment. 

Graduating seniors are not permitted to work beyond finals week of their final term.