VCU news

By Leila Ugincius

When Virginia Commonwealth University wanted to provide leadership training to faculty and staff who oversee student employees (“working learners”), it turned to a unique choice in presentation partners.

Barry-Wehmiller Cos. is a global supplier of industrial equipment and engineering solutions. But the St. Louis-based company is known as much for its culture of care as it is for manufacturing.

“We want businesses to care about workers,” said David Pickersgill, learning outreach program coordinator at Barry-Wehmiller. “And we think that it’s smart for business because people are entering the workforce with a desire for more than just money.”

In July, Pickersgill presented a session on listening, empathy and feedback at VCU’s first-ever training seminar for roughly 100 of the current faculty and staff members who supervise on-campus student employees. A collaboration of the Work+ initiative at VCU, the Division of Student Affairs, the Division of Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success, and the School of Business’ Institute for Transformative Leadership, the training focused on the working learner experience. There was also data and information specifically shared about the experience and needs of VCU student staff members and supervisors. Annually, VCU employs over 4,000 working learners across approximately 50 different MBU’s, with over 300 individuals supervising students as part of their role as faculty and staff members.

Current students who will enter the business world in the next few years don’t want to be treated like a number on a spreadsheet somewhere, Pickersgill said.

“We’ve had this ethos for about 20 years. But over the last five years or so, we’ve increased our focus on universities because we want to send this message to the leaders of tomorrow to encourage them,” he said. “We want these students to feel cared for. And as they become leaders in the workplace, we want them to take on this responsibility for care.”

At VCU, if you walk into any campus building, office or department, the odds are high that the person at the front desk is a student employee, said Tay Knighting, operations and communications coordinator for VCU Career Services. Without them, VCU would face staffing hardships.

“But there’s only so much we as supervisors can do to support them without central guidance and support of our own,” she said, which is what drew her to the seminar. “Students can only be as good as their supervisors, and the same can be said in reverse. I want to help my students to excel in their roles now so they’re prepared to enter the workforce post-graduation.”

Christopher S. Reina, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Transformative Leadership, credits his own work-study experience for setting him on his journey to studying leadership. As a student, he assumed he eventually would enter the corporate world, “but the faculty that I met in that work-study program said, ‘You’re made for this thing called leadership. You should do this.’”

At the July training session, Pickersgill presented concrete techniques used by Barry-Wehmiller in its culture of care, which can help supervisors prepare students for expectations in the workplace.

“Business can be the most powerful force for good. That’s what we believe,” Pickersgill said. “You spend 40 hours a week in your workplace. And when that is a place that energizes you, where you have great relationships with people, where you feel cared for, it makes a huge difference on the rest of your life, to your family life and to your friendships and to how you feel day to day. … We think that by impacting business, we can impact the whole of society.”

That mindset can be at the heart of student workers’ educational journeys – and can position VCU as their valued partner, said Shanea Raj, who, as effort reporting manager in the Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting, oversees working learners’ day-to-day tasks.

The experience “provides an opportunity to equip [students] with the hard and soft skills needed and insight into potential career paths,” Raj said. “This experience undoubtedly gives our students an advantage as they prepare for life post-graduation. Moreover, the accomplishments of the working learners bring a profound sense of fulfillment to our institution, reinforcing our commitment to student success.”