University Business - December 2007 - (Page 58)

A WORKING education Labor, the school has placed a heavy emphasis on educating the whole person. “We’re talking about educating the head: the academic aspect; the heart: the spiritual and service aspect; and the hand: the labor aspect,” he explains. Students are required to work at least 10 hours per week on campus. There are over 130 labor departments, ranging from woodworking to building management. “There isn’t one place on campus where a student isn’t working,” says Tipton. Incoming students ﬁll out a form called a labor qualiﬁcation record that allows labor supervisors to gauge what positions might be the best ﬁt. During the ﬁrst year, students are generally assigned to entry-level positions that they are required to work at for one year. The placement is not taken lightly. The school’s labor supervisors review the student’s work credentials extensively and may even conduct phone interviews in an attempt to ﬁnd a good match. After the ﬁrst year, students must go out and ﬁnd a position on their own. “It is their responsibility to go out and locate something that ﬁts where they want to go in their career and with their academics,” explains Tipton. Work assignments at College of the Ozarks include jobs Berea’s program is intended for students to at the college’s computer center, child development progressively demonstrate responsibility. Students are assigned grade levels according to their clascenter, or hospital, or at the Ralph Foster Museum, siﬁcation, experience, and labor position. Freshwhich is dedicated to the history of the Ozarks region. men begin the program at Grade 1 and have the potential to move to Grade 6. Students are evaluated on general perforcenter, child development center, or hospital, or at the Ralph Fos- mance expectations such as attendance, accountability, teamwork, ter Museum, a three-story building dedicated to the history of the initiative, and respect. In addition, they are evaluated on job-speciﬁc functions. By participating in the work program, students deOzarks region. In all, there are over 80 work areas on campus. The work program at College of the Ozarks entails more than velop an appreciation for the dignity and utility of labor. They are students just punching in on the time clock. Job performance is also exposed to a variety of learning outcomes. In some cases, students choose a position because they want to taken seriously. Students are placed on work probation for a minimum of one full semester if they achieve a work grade of less than a learn a speciﬁc skill set. Tipton gives an example of a nursing stuC- or for otherwise unsatisfactory performances. The work experi- dent who, acutely aware that a nurse’s responsibilities include manence gained during the educational process is deemed so important agement and administration duties, chose to work in the college’s that work performance grades are listed along with academic grades food service department with hopes of achieving a management on student records. Dawe believes that College of the Ozarks’ work position. Eventually she moved to a leadership, or Grade 6 level program prepares students for life after college. “They develop a position, where she managed 13 other students. “There is such an strong work ethic, expertise in their assigned work, and become array of experiences that can be taken advantage of,” says Tipton. “When you graduate from here you not only have an academic exceptional time managers,” he says. background, but you also have some applicable work experience.” Tipton believes that certain aspects of work colleges could be A Holistic Education Established in 1855, Berea College was the ﬁrst interracial and co- utilized by other educational institutions. An example he provides is educational college in the South. Its contemporary mission is to how Berea’s agricultural department integrates its work program with educate students, primarily from the Appalachian region, who have its educational program. If a traditional college is hiring students for work in a speciﬁc department, he points out, it might make sense to great promise but limited economic resources. All students attending Berea College receive a full-tuition schol- incorporate the job as part of the educational experience. “There are arship, and admission is granted only to students who need ﬁnan- elements of any work program that could be duplicated in certain cial assistance. Approximately 75 percent of the student body is areas of other colleges and universities,” he says. from the Appalachian region and adjoining areas. Since its inception, says David Tipton, Berea College’s dean of Chelan David is a Seattle-based freelance writer. tional beneﬁts of employees. “They receive credit to oﬀset the cost of tuition and are not paid.” Trained by peers and staﬀ members, students are expected to develop vocational skills that will serve them well in future assignments and, ultimately, in their professional careers. Teamwork and collaboration are encouraged. Resentment from being supervised by peers, says Dawe, is curbed by the fact that student managers earn their positions through sustained high performance. After working a semester or more at their initial assignments— depending on work performance evaluations—students may request a transfer. Priority is given to students with strong work grades, class seniority, and to those who have been speciﬁcally requested by a supervisor. Transfers are encouraged, as they provide students the opportunity to learn about other sites on campus and enable them to gain on-the-job training that complements their studies. Some of the available assignments include working at the college’s computer 58 | December 2007 universitybusiness.com http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of University Business - December 2007

University Business - December 2007 Contents College Index Company Index Advisory Board Editor's Note Behind the News Viewpoint Admissions On The Hill Marketing Future Stock Independent Outlook Technology Spending Survey '08 Conference Call A Working Education 30 Smart Business Ideas Educause in Emerald City What's New Calendar of Events End Note

University Business - December 2007

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