Many students rely on a form of financial aid to pay for college tuition. While some just use grants and loans to pay for college, others use the Work study Program for additional funds. Work Study is part of the financial aid department, but it functions like a job for the different departments of the school.
“The Work Study Program (WS) provides the opportunity for students to earn money while gaining work experience,” the Spokane Falls Community College website said. “Students gain valuable job experience and an opportunity to evaluate their program of study and career goals. Work study is not a grant; you must work to earn it.”
It performs just like a traditional job and pay rates may vary between jobs. The most common job opportunities are available on campus, but because of COVID-19 some former restrictions and requirements have been adjusted to accommodate the ever changing campus.
One of the requirements, before early 2020, was that all work had to be completed on campus. With the pandemic shutting down the campus and later restricting it, work study jobs have had to accommodate regulations and allow students to work remotely.
“My degree is in the tech industry so the transition to online hasn’t been all that difficult,” Matt Evens said. “However meeting people online just doesn’t have that same human element as meeting them in person does.”
“Communication is much more difficult when not in-person,” Dane Washington, a philosophy tutor, said.
While keeping COVID-19 from spreading through the campus, the restrictions have affected the feeling of the campus differently than before. Even the student jobs have taken a toll.
“I find it more fulfilling to sit next to somebody as we both brainstorm ideas on how to make a paper better or drag up all that Econ knowledge that I haven’t used in years to try and explain some principles that they’re confused on,” Evens said. “So while mechanically doing the job hasn’t really increased in difficulty, the barrier that COVID has erected between people has sure seemed to drop morale.”
Some tutors feel that tutoring doesn’t feel different because of COVID-19 but something else.
“I was in WS last year before COVID, the WS isn’t the different part, it is the tutoring techniques that are changing,” Washington said.
The pandemic has changed the campus in so many ways, but at its core the work study program is still in place to assist students with paying for college while getting experience. Work study jobs are available every quarter and many go unaccepted. Results from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, will inform you if you qualify.