UTRGV will offer more jobs than ever before this summer as part of its summer relief package. Students can apply through Handshake for a variety of part-time jobs by uploading their résumés.
Students who are interested in applying this summer must be enrolled in at least six credit hours throughout any of the two terms.
“Any student that is enrolled is able to apply to any position on Handshake or any on-campus job,” said Ana Perez, assistant director for student employment with Human Resources.
Every student that is enrolled at UTRGV has access to Handshake and after submitting their résumé, may begin searching for jobs. International students can qualify for some jobs as well.
The reason for this summer’s vast job opportunities is that normally funding for student employment is taken out of departmental funding. However, this summer funding will be centrally provided through the Office of the President.
“So, at this point, the departments are not going to be required to fund these jobs out of their own budget,” said Kristina Chavez, associate director of composition and talent exposition with Human Resources. “They can request funding out of the Office of the President, and, therefore, they can hire more.”
As of press time, the departments are in the process of requesting funding. The requests need to be submitted by this Friday, Chavez said.
“We’re planning on next week, providing feedback and then the departments can start posting those jobs and hiring the students,” she said. “Students, on their part, they should be looking at what is potentially open for enrollment.”
The number of jobs available this summer is yet to be determined, Chavez said.
Asked what kinds of jobs will be available, she replied, “There is usually a variety of jobs. It starts at office support, where you’re doing data entry or answering emails, and it goes all the way to accounting level work, research support.”
There will also be tutoring positions available through the Learning Assistance Center where it will be hiring tutors as well as mentors, Perez said.
Students have the opportunity to work through work study, which is awarded through financial aid, or they may use direct wage funding, which means the department pays 100% of their salary to them directly.
“For financial aid, there are enrollment requirements that do apply and they’re specific to financial aid,” Chavez said. “To qualify for this additional funding that’s being made available, students need six hours throughout the summer.”
Antonio Rodriguez, a finance junior, said he started working for UTRGV in 2017.
“As soon as I found out that work study was being offered and that I did qualify for it, I started,” he said.
Rodriguez said he has worked every summer since he started, either working summer one and taking off summer two or vice versa.
This summer, Rodriguez hoped to apply for an internship in his field of study, however with the current pandemic, he said, “How the situation is now, it’s been kind of hard. So, I’ll more than likely stay during the summer, take a couple more classes and work again.”
Rodriguez said he has been working remotely for over a month now and has felt the challenges of it in his work.
“Back in the office, I had two big monitors and I had the power of UTRGV’s internet,” Rodriguez said. “So, everything was pretty fast, and here I have a Surface laptop. It’s way smaller and my internet comes and goes. … That’s been the biggest challenge, and in the summer, I’m pretty sure it would be the same thing.”
Asked if all jobs will be off campus due to COVID-19, Chavez replied, “The majority of students are working remotely so this is going to be something that might even be an opportunity for a student who may not be able to come to the [Rio Grande Valley] for the summer. They could potentially do everything online.”
Student employee training will be addressed individually by each department. However, Chavez said it will more than likely be done online.
As far as the application process, Chavez said, “Everything is being done online. So, you don’t have to set foot on campus.”
The criminal background check (CBC) and I9 ,which are required forms that need to be completed by applicants before they start working, will be done online.
Asked what she anticipates to be the greatest challenge with these new implementations, Chavez replied, “The technology availability and the Wi-Fi.”
“You can see that the system is taking a hit,” she said. “So, those are really the issues, the technology and also for some people to keep the connection going. Some people can adjust to that very well, and some people are actually … they’re not going to take this very easily.”
Chavez said working remotely will be difficult for some people and recommends students to reach out to the Employee Assistance Program and the Student Assistance Program if they find themselves, a classmate or a coworker in need of support.
Asked if Student Employment was moved from the Career Center to Human Resources, Chavez replied that the move is in the works.
“That way, we can just streamline some of the processes and we make sure that all employment is going to be under one umbrella, but we are still working closely with career service,” Chavez said. “ We are still going to coordinate closely with career services.”
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