What is Work+ UConn?
Work+ UConn is a student success strategy that transforms student employment from transactional to impactful by supporting working learners in developing key career skills that will benefit them post-graduation. Work+ provides consistency and equity across hiring practices, onboarding processes, supervision methods, and access to professional development opportunities for our student workforce. Changing the student employment paradigm benefits the University and departments by employing more engaged and dedicated students who are eager to work in this new structure and can have a positive impact on retention.
<50%
Less than half of college graduates succeed in finding purposeful work (Gallup)
Through the Work+ program, students are empowered to seamlessly integrate working and learning experiences, fostering personal and career growth through meaningful engagement, and providing mentorship and collaboration opportunities to align their endeavors with their career aspirations, ultimately nurturing identity, agency, and success in their post-graduation pursuits.
11%
Only 11 percent of business leaders strongly agreed that college graduates have the skills employers need (Gallup)
Through Work+, working learners are cultivating essential professional skills, aligning their endeavors with career aspirations, and ensuring they are well-prepared to meet the demands of employers in their occupational aspirations.
43%
43% of working learners are low-income. Low-income working learners are disproportionally black, Latine, women, and first-generation college students.
According to the Georgetown report, Balancing Work & Learning: Implications for Low-Income Students, 2018, lower income learners are less likely than higher income learners to complete a bachelor’s degree in 6 years. This emphasizes the importance of targeted support and resources for working learners, especially those from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds, to improve retention and graduation rates among these groups.
The Mission
Mission
At UConn, Work+ embodies our commitment to seamlessly integrating working and learning experiences for our students. We believe in empowering students to take ownership of their work opportunities, fostering personal and career growth through meaningful engagement. Our mission is to provide a transformative education that nurtures identity, agency, and prepares students for success in their chosen fields.
Vision
Work+ UConn envisions a future where students embrace their role as a working learner as a cornerstone of their educational journey. Through our innovative framework, students are empowered to leverage their work experiences to cultivate essential professional skills and align their endeavors with their career aspirations. We aim to create a community where every student, regardless of their role, thrives through mentorship, storytelling, and collaboration, embodying the values of lifelong learning and personal development.
Why Participate in the Work+ Program?
Advantages of Being a Working Learner
- Establishes uniformity throughout the hiring process which promotes greater equity for students seeking employment on campus.
- Tailored enhancements offer a curated array of opportunities aimed at nurturing competencies and enhancing career preparedness. As a result, working learners will be empowered with the requisite tools to navigate job markets and pursue further education through deliberate professional development initiatives.
- The role of a working learner transcends mere employment during college; it is structured to resemble an internship, fostering the acquisition of transferable skills, facilitating professional growth, and placing paramount importance on academic and post-graduation success.
- Fosters a sense of belonging by actively engaging with mentors, supervisors, colleagues, and peers.
Benefits for Supervisors, Units, and the University
- Participation in Work+ contributes to equity in both the hiring process and the outcomes experienced by working learners.
- The success of Work+ hinges on the supervision and unit leadership making supervisors critical component of the program outcome.
- Interactions with supervisors, colleagues, and peers within the Work+ program cultivate a profound sense of engagement and belonging among working learners. Research underscores that students who feel connected and engaged at their university exhibit higher retention rates.
- Students enrolled in a structured program offering professional development and diverse opportunities demonstrate increased engagement and productivity.
- Strengthened relationships between supervisors and working learners benefit working learners and contribute to a more enriching environment for supervisors and departments.
