The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3 - 14

Mimi Benjamin * Laura Davis

Haller, 1983; Stern & Nakata, 1991) noted that
when a job was related to school, there was a
positive relationship between work and college
success.
On-campus employment in particular may
provide unique opportunities for connections
to peers, staff, and faculty, as well as to the institution. As Astin (1993) explained,
compared to students who spend an equivalent
amount of time working off campus, students
who are employed on campus are, almost
by definition, in more frequent contact with
other students and possibly with faculty
(depending on the type of work). Apparently,
this greater degree of immersion in the
collegiate environment and culture more than
compensates, in terms of student outcomes,
for the time that students must devote to a
part-time job on campus. Similar trade-offs
are simply not available to the student whose
part-time job is located off campus. (pp.
388-389)
On-campus employment may also provide a
mechanism for engaging students and creating their sense of identity with the institution
(Noel-Levitz, 2010). It may be advantageous for
students' learning if they avail themselves of
jobs on campus given the growth ascribed to
active participation in the campus community
(Astin, 1984).
A noted benefit of on-campus work may
be greater involvement with the institution, as
students may gain knowledge about the programs, services, and opportunities that exist as
a result of their campus employment. Studies
report student learning resulting from such
on-campus roles as student union employees
(Lewis & Contreras, 2009), orientation leaders
(Gansemer-Topf & Economos, 2012), and
residential learning community peer mentors
14

(Benjamin, 2007). At a time when assessment
of student learning is paramount, attending to
student learning through employment opportunities is logical: "Given present realities and
pressures from key stakeholders, administrators who oversee student employee programs
must ensure that they are focused on improving student learning" (Lewis & Contreras,
2009, p. 64).

Perhaps the strongest takeaway
concerning teamwork was
the high value RAs placed on
learning about different work
styles: both how to work with
others who approach things
differently as well as the overall
team experience, making them
realize that there are many ways
to accomplish a given task.

One on-campus employment opportunity on residential campuses is the resident
advisor (RA) position. This common role
(sometimes called resident assistant or community advisor/assistant) typically requires
the student to live within a residence hall and
provide leadership for a floor or floor section.
RAs typically have such job responsibilities as
community building, policy enforcement, and
social and academic programming (Winston &

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3

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