This summer, the Department of Residential Learning and university housing will be offering a housing prep assistant position to students, providing a “behind-the-scenes” look at the functions of a housing office. 

Students in the position will help prepare for the fall 2023 semester by assessing residence halls and apartment complexes for repairs, and they will complete room condition reports. In addition, students will be working in the summer to prepare for fall.

Ashley Shaw is the residential learning and university housing assistant director. She is looking for individuals that work well with others and can commit to working the duration of summer.    

“Our housing prep assistant students are basically a generalist summer student worker position. They help us with the process of closing our buildings after the spring semester and then prepping them throughout the summer months for the fall semester opening,” Shaw said. 

A full list of job responsibilities can be found on the residential learning and university housing page. Some responsibilities include moving and repairing furniture, recording damage to rooms prior to incoming residents, changing locks and other maintenance tasks.  

“There’s actually a list specifically in our application to see the list of learning outcomes that we have for this position. Because we want students to be able to like work on their communication skills, and their work and their ability to, you know, communicate with the supervisor and follow instructions. So there’s a lot of different things that can hopefully come up with a position like this addition, but it obviously requires that students be committed to it,” Shaw said.

The deadline for submissions is April 3 and by April 7 selected applicants will be able to sign up for an interview slot in the next step of the hiring process. Every applicant is not guaranteed an interview or employment. 

The department usually gets more submissions, but will only be hiring 16 students for the summer. 

“There are only 16 available positions. So it’s not like hundreds of people, although we do get a large number of applicants, we only have 16 available positions. And our application that we have is really one of our first screening choices. It’s not just telling us your name and information. There are some actual questions on there, that we are asking people to actually think about an answer, because unfortunately, with only 16 positions, we can’t interview you know, 200 people,” Shaw said.  

Those graduating in May 2023 or those taking summer classes are not eligible for this position.

Applicants hired will begin on May 15 and will work weekly hours on an hourly wage of $14.13, Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Workers are expected to work 25 hours per week until Sept. 4, once move-in is complete. During summer orientations the work hours shift to 7 a.m. through 11:30 a.m.  

Housing prep assistants will be required to attend every training session, working in groups and individually while being evaluated for job performance and ability by the graduate coordinator and coordinator of Housing Systems and Logistics (HSL) providing ongoing constructive feedback on their growth as a part of the staff.     

Students living on campus will be required to move into their fall semester housing assignment at an earlier date but will depend on housing readiness and any planned vacations. 

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