Hire Advantage Supervisor Program

The Hire Advantage Supervisor Program is an eight-week, asynchronous course in Canvas and is available to part-time and full-time faculty and staff members of WCU. The program aims to connect supervisors of student workers to additional resources and information regarding managing students for optimum student professional development. The program centers around high impact practices in student employment and student development theory to give supervisors a more informed look at how their students learn, reflect, and develop. 

How it Works

1. Interested faculty and staff register for the program at grow.wcu.edu   NOTE: If you do not see any courses offered at this link, click the Sign In button at the top and sign in with your WCU credentials. The Spring 2023 course begins January 9.  Participants have until April 30 to finish course content. 
2. Once registered for the course, participants will complete weekly module videos, activities, and discussion boards. There is also the occasional meeting with an assigned partner to discuss that week's topic. 
3. Participants who finish the course will receive a Certificate of Completion from the Hire Advantage Supervisor Program. 

Course Modules

Week 1: Introduction and Welcome. Topics covered: purpose of Hire Advantage; benefits of student employment; class introduction.

Week 2: Designing a High Impact Student Employment Program.   Topics covered: an introduction to High Impact Practices (HIPs) and deep learning environments; an introduction to Bloom's Taxonomy; an introduction to Challenge and Support student development theory; introductory strategies to implement in your student employment program. 

Week 3: Developing and Assessing Student Learning Outcomes. Topics covered: assessment cycles; student learning outcomes (SLOs) vs. program outcomes; common mistakes; assessment strategies. Participants will also draft SLOs for their student employment program. 

Week 4: Hiring and Onboarding Student Workers. Topics covered: unconscious bias in hiring and supervisory practices, inclusive hiring and supervisory practices, and suggested student employment training ideas. NOTE: Hire Advantage does not review hiring proposals or provide information regarding PeopleAdmin or JobCat for job postings. Please see Michelle Lawson in the Office of Human Resources for Non Work Study or Catherine Butterfield for Work Study questions.  

Week 5: Evaulating Student Workers and Using the Experiential Learning Cycle(ELC). Topics covered: why and suggestions on how to evaluate student workers, an introduction to learning theory and the ELC as it applies to student employment.

Week 6: Understading Educator Roles and Learning Styles: Topics covered: information on using the Educator Role Profile (based on the ELC), what roles to play and when, an introduction into Kolb's Nine Learning Styles.  Participants will complete a free Educator Role Profile assessment as well as self-select their preferred learning styles. A discussion on what this means for their management styles and supervisory practices will be explored. 

Week 7: Managing Gen Z Students and Fostering Professionalism: Topics covered: basics of generational theory; how technology, global events, and pop culture shape a generation; implications for Gen Z students; strategies for fostering professional skills in student development, regardless of the type of position students hold on campus. 

Week 8: Applying Adult and Career Development Theories to Student Employment: Topics covered: career management skills in students, Krumboltz's Planned Happenstance theory, Baxter Magolda's Theory of Self Authorship, and Arnett's Emerging Adulthood model.

Assessment

1. Participating faculty and staff will receive a Qualtrics link at the conclusion of the eight-week program to assess the Canvas course. Participants will also receive a Qualtrics survey approximately six months after their participation to assess what aspects of Hire Advantage they implemented.
2. Students who work with supervisors in the program will receive a student employment survey at the end of the academic year; students who do NOT work with supervisors who are in the Hire Advantage program will receive an identical but separate survey link.  The two surveys will be compared/ contrasted against each other to assess strengths between Hire Advantage students and students whose supervisors are not participants in the program. 

Questions?

Contact Carrie Hachadurian, Student Development Coordinator for the Center for Career and Professional Development, at 828.227.3888 or cphachadurian@wcu.edu.