Interdisciplinary Program

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

By: Mirna Garcia

STUDENT WORKER MANUAL

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................... 3
Your First Day on the Job...............................................................3
Knowing the work room................................................................4
Daily Tasks.................................................................................... 6
Running Errands............................................................................ 9
Helping Student Walk-Ins............................................................10
Bulletin Boards............................................................................11
Computer Use.............................................................................12
Final Words.................................................................................. 12

Introduction
Hello and welcome! You are now a member of our team in the
Interdisciplinary program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As
a part of our faculty, you will only gain exceptional qualities both as a
student and as a future employee in any form of working environment.
Student workers obtain the privilege of attending school, while having an
easy accessible job right outside the doors of our classrooms. But, not
everything may seem that simple since there is some training involved
before committing to a job in our program. This manual will help aid your
performance in this job. Keep it close until you feel at ease with all the tasks
and responsibilities.

Your First Day on the Job

After turning in all your employee paperwork to the head of the department,
you will be glad to know that you will not be alone your first day on the job.
Another student worker will train you on your first day. Be sure to read this
manual prior to your arrival and make mental notes of your training. Most
student worker tasks are repeated on a monthly, weekly, and even daily
basis.
There will always be at least one other student worker if you ever feel like
you are not sure of what to do. Also, dont hold back on asking questions.
Both your boss and friendly student co-workers will be glad to assist you
when in need.
As you learn the responsibilities of your job, you will realize the ways you can
take initiative and be productive on your own. Note that your job is just as
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important as other members of the program. Our goal is to create a

functional environment to help better serve the Interdisciplinary program
faculty and students.

Knowing the work room

The workroom is your working area although you share it with most of your
co-workers and several faculty members. It is important for you to familiarize
yourself with the work room and the supplies located in it. Most of all of your
daily tasks occur there. Also, so many faculty members pass by in-between
their classes for copies and supplies. If they are looking for something it is
best for you to know how to locate it immediately. Also, it is necessary to
learn how to operate all the devices in that room, like: the computer, the
copier, the printer, and the laminator. Several staff members will use those
devices and it is possible for them to question how to manage them. The
following page contains a Figure 1 of your working space to help you easily
locate supplies and devices on your first day.

Figure 1 Work Room Supplies and Devices

2
8

7
4

1
6

Key:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Shredder
Bulletin Board Supplies
Campus mail envelope box
Toner cartridges
Hole Puncher

6. Assorted Color Folders

7. Printer
8. Shredder Bags
9. Student Worker Folder
10. Stationary

Envelopes

Daily Tasks
The daily tasks involved in your job are essential to creating the most
functional environment for all the faculty, staff, and students in your
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program. Although, they may not seem that way at first, what you do
matters, so dont forget to perform these regularly.

1. Check the mail

The mail room can be found in the English department right beside our
main office. There are two walls of mailboxes one for English on the
right and one that is for Interdisciplinary faculty on the left.
The box at the bottom will hold mail that should be distributed to staff.
Make sure to check for mail there and distribute it to our staff
mailboxes (left) according to the designated name.
Mail sent to your boss can just be hand delivered into her office. Any
other mail that does not belong to someone in our department can be
given to your boss as well.
When asked to send mail out (your boss will let you know) there are
two sets of baskets located beside the door upon entering. The baskets
are labeled as follows:
a. Outgoing mail: meant to have stamps on them to be sent out along
with a blue slip that your boss will give you before sending it out
b. Campus mail: meant to be in campus mail envelope with the name
of recipient, building on campus in where they are located, and
department.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Mail is most usually delivered to the department by
11:00 a.m. Prior to that time there will be no mail found in the mailbox.

2. Refill paper in copier and printer

The paper can be found stacked on the top shelves of the workroom in
order to refill the copier and printer (picture below). It is important to
always keep these machines filled with paper. Staff is constantly using
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them to print out documents and making them wait will not reflect well
on you. It is also essential to familiarize yourself with the operations of
this machine in order to assist them when needed. If a problem were to
rise inform your boss immediately and she will take the necessary
steps to fix the issue.

Figure 2 Copier parts

Retriev
e
copies

Insert
documen
t for copy

Restock
and get
paper
from

Refill
paper
here

Operate
copier
here

3. Empty the shredder/recycling bins

The shredder can be found in the workroom and it is the only large one
found in our department, so it is important to always be emptying it
out. There is a red light that will appear when it is full, but be sure to
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keep track of it. When it is time to take a full bag out, take it down the
hall where two blue large recycling bins will be found for you to throw
into them. The bags can be found in our workroom to replace the
bag(s) taken out to recycling.
Recycling bins in our offices are located in both the work room and the
main office. Be sure to always take out both recycling bins when they are
full or at the end of the day. Empty out both recycling bins and then take
them down the hall to shredder bins.

4. Empty the trash cans

The offices have two smaller trash cans; one in the main office and one
located in the work room. Be sure to take the trash out to the bins
located outside the offices in the atrium or outside the sliding doors of
the building. It is best to complete this task at the end of the day. The
bags are located on the shelf beside the desk. Be sure to always take
out the old bag and put in a new one after the trash has been taken
out.

5. Check for outdated material on bulletin boards

They are numerous amounts of bulletin boards that can be found in our
department. There are some in the hallway, as well as one in the work
room. Be sure to check for outdated material and throw-away. Also, be
alert for new material coming in order to post the most updated news
for the faculty. Pins and staples can be found in the workroom. It is best
to keep bulletin boards looking nice and neat in order to showcase a
proper display.

6. Check student worker folder for additional tasks

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There is a student worker folder (that it is found right beside the desk
that) will always have tasks, projects, and instructions for you to work
on. Depending on the number of student workers per semester, work
load may vary. It is common to find names of students on their
individual projects in order to know what is designated for you to work
on. Again, if there are ever questions dont hesitate to ask for help. If
there comes a time that the folder does not have some work for you to
do go over steps 1-5 of this list. Also, ask if there is any help you can
give to your boss and co-workers.

Running Errands
Running errands will take up at least half of your time at work. There are
several buildings where you will have to run errands. Be sure to familiarize
yourself with the campus. If need be for longer distances there are bus
shuttles that can take you to the other side of campus. There is a website
that can assist you in order to track buses and to see their individual stops
and routes:
http://pats.uncc.edu/transportation-options/campus-shuttle/catscampus-shuttle
Below is a map of the campus to help guide you on your first couple of days
at work:
Figure 3- Campus Map & Bus Routes

Most documents for deliveries will put into campus mail envelopes (picture
below). These can be found in a large white box in the work room.
Figure 4 Campus Mail Envelopes
Top line:
name of
recipient

Bottom
line:
name of
departm
entand/o
r building

These are to be written with the name of the person who it is designated to
as well as the building and office number of where it is supposed to go. Your
boss will let you know who and where it is to be delivered.
Also, note that depending on the importance of a delivery the envelopes may
be put into the campus mail basket in the mail room. Your boss will also let
you know this information.
These campus mail envelopes can be reused for other errands and
deliveries. If your boss does want a new one she will let you know. In order to
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reuse the envelope, cross out the previous destination information and write
in the new details.

Helping Student Walk-Ins

The Interdisciplinary program consists of two different minors American
studies and Women and Gender studies. There will be many students who
will come into the office with questions about pursuing a minor in these
studies. It is best to know how to answer these questions and if there ever
happens to be a time when you cant answer a question direct them to your
boss.
Be sure to always be kind and welcoming to students. Remember you are a
student; this could be you having a question. Our websites can be found
online with more information on the programs in order to allow you to
become more knowledgeable of the two minors. The websites are shown
here:
American studies - http://americanstudies.uncc.edu/undergradminor
Women and Gender studies http://womensandgenderstudies.uncc.edu/

Bulletin Boards
The bulletin boards on display can be found upon entering the
interdisciplinary offices. There are several boards that the student workers
are in charge of doing with the direction of some of your superiors. The
American studies, Women and Genders studies, Masters in Liberal Arts, and
two student clubs affiliated with the minors Gen-X and Triota are all
boards we are in charge of putting up and decorating. These boards are
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renewed every fall and spring and generally decorated once per year.
Remember that this work will be seen by everyone so be sure to produce the
best bulletin boards that you would like to see because they will certainly
reflect on you.
All the supplies for the bulletin boards can found in the work room within a
big white box found on the top shelf of the workroom (see above image for
reference). There will be borders, construction paper, and some background
paper. There will also be sticky vinyl letters found inside that are used for
titles on the boards that are put on construction paper. A paper cutter is
available for you to use in order to cut out more precise content.

Computer Use
Like in any office there are computers that are always used especially in a
school setting. It is essential for you to know how to work around the basics
of a computer. Also knowing how to operate Microsoft office Word, Excel,
Publisher, etc. is part of a student workers daily
job. There will be several small tasks done on these applications, as well as
bigger projects assigned to different student workers. These tasks will range
anywhere from lists, schedules, spreadsheets, course descriptions, etc. Your
boss will inform you about any individual projects or they can be found in the
student worker folder.

Final Words
There are numerous people that are willing to help you. As you start to work
you will slowly find ways to help others as well. Remember that everyone has

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the same goal in the end and that is to create a functional program for both
the faculty and students.

References
Campus Map [map]. 2014. Scale not given. Facilities Management, Division of Business Affairs.
CampusMaps.http://facilities.uncc.edu/sites/facilities.uncc.edu/files/media/Maps/Uncc_
ampus_Map.pdf (Feb. 17, 2015).
University of North Carolina at Charlotte (n.d.). University of North Carolina at Charlotte logo.
http://www.cpcc.edu/ican/trc/images/uncc_logo.jpg/view (Feb. 17, 2015).

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