SCIENCE DIVISION UNDERGRADUATE WORK-STUDY RESEARCH INITIATIVE (WSRI)

Program Overview: 

The WRSI will collect information on all undergraduate students interested in STEM research that fill out our survey. This information will be used to inform faculty about each student’s desire to do research, their career goals, and relevant past experiences. Faculty that are looking to hire undergraduate researchers will be able to consult this list to find candidates they’d like to recruit. The WSRI will also support faculty to create research positions in labs by providing step-by-step instructions about the hiring process and opportunities for peer-to-peer support. For undergraduates that are hired to work in a lab, the WSRI will also support them academically and professionally through a cooperation with the STEM-Diversity Center’s RAD program.

It is important to note that the WSRI does not fund student research. Those funds come from grants to the faculty, and/or federal and state work-study programs for students who meet those requirements.

The WSRI coordinator is Peter Weiss (pweiss@ucsc.edu).

 

Information for Students
  • Students can find out about Work-Study at UCSC by visiting the website of the UCSC Career Success Office.
  • If you are a student looking to find a position working in a  lab, fill out this Student Interest Form.
  • Informational sessions will be held for students to ask questions and find out more about getting involved in research at UCSC and how the WSRI can help. By filling out the Student Interest Form, you will be notified of all upcoming even.
Information for Employers and Mentors (PIs, post-docs, and graduate students)
  • If you hope to contribute to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at UCSC, this is a great opportunity. To participate, fill out this form to be added to our mailing list.
  • There is a lot of really helpful information on hiring work-study students on the Career Center website for Handshake/HIRES support. PIs will need to create an account in Handshake and post a job description.  Once you have selected a student, HIRES is used to hire the student. There is a handy new video that quickly details the full process of recruiting, hiring, and onboarding a student using Handshake and HIRES.
    • Note that all work-study postings in Handshake are only viewable to students with an active work-study award. If a student contacts you and believes they should have work-study, please encourage them to first confirm they have a work-study award with Financial Aid & Scholarships. Once they confirm their award is accepted, encourage them to reach out to us at ucscel@ucsc.edu for our assistance troubleshooting their access.
    • You’ll need your Handshake job posting ID number for all work-study hires submitted using the “create hire” form in HIRES. This will remain optional but highly recommended for any non-work-study hiring. You can find the Handshake job posting ID number in two places: directly underneath the job title when you click the job posting (Job #) or the seven digit number listed under the “ID” column when you look at all of your jobs using the jobs tab.
    • Please contact Career Success at ucscel@ucsc.edu with any questions related to Handshake. Please contact your SHR timekeeper with any questions related to HIRES. Thanks so much!
  • The WSRI will also support PIs if they have any questions about the hiring process;  in fact we have made a video of step by step directions.
  • PI’s involved in the WSRI agree to meet once per quarter as a community with the WSRI students for informal science talks, food and socializing.
  • If there is sufficient interest among Mentors the WSRI will organize peer-to-peer mentoring.

 

 

 

PBS DEI Committee

The PBS DEI committee’s role in the undergraduate work-study research initiative will be to select faculty facilitators annually based on a self-nomination process. The committee will also support the faculty facilitators by making recommendations and offering logistical support in its implementation. Support will include but is not limited to annual surveys to check programs’ progress and success. These surveys will allow the committee to make improvements and changes to the program deemed necessary. The PBS DEI Committee will conduct quarterly meetings with faculty facilitators to track progress, offer support, and address concerns.