-AMHERST
Academic buildings
stretch high towards the sky on the campus of The University of Massachusetts
at Amherst. On a given day, thousands of students are bustling to classes,
using the public transportation and eating from the dining commons. The University of Massachusetts has the
amenities of every other large University in the United States. However, the
weak status of the economy has left students wondering how they are able to
support themselves and attend classes at the same time. The University of
Massachusetts has a work-study program with over 25 jobs listed for students.
In order to be considered for these jobs, students have to be enrolled in the
work-study program.
A student who
participates in the work-study program has a greater chance of getting hired and
finding a job on campus. The work-study program at UMass Amherst has proven
successful in getting students new jobs.
Charlie Tran is a
21-year-old Senior who majors in computer science is employed by the Du Bois
library. He thinks that students are not getting jobs because they aren’t
willing to look.
“I’ve had a job
since freshman year, and I applied in the summer and got an interview
immediately,” says Tran. “In a lot of positions work study is required or
preferred, and if they didn’t have work study they wouldn’t even bother trying
with looking for a job.”
The jobs
through the work-study opportunities range from bus drivers, to administrative
assistant and from data entry clerks to English as a Second Language teaching
assistants.
The student
employment office has an interactive web page in which employers can post new
jobs so students can look and apply. The website even has jobs for non-work
study students. The lack of student employment is due to the fact that some
students are simply not looking for jobs.
Tran isn’t the
only student who believes in the value of Umass’ work-study program.
Kelly St. Cyr is a
19-year-old freshman, a new member to the Umass’ campus.
“A lot of my
friends who have applied for jobs have gotten them, a lot of them got it
through community service, they volunteered before they got the jobs,” St.Cyr
says. “That’s the best way to get a job on campus.”
