Organization
Large Public University (Name Confidential)
At a large public university in the Midwest, more than 41,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees annually. Approximately 650 of them help the busy campus stay running by working in a variety of on-campus part-time jobs. The highly ranked public university employs student staff in about 60 different types of on-campus jobs. These include customer service, facility management, fitness center positions, etc.
Industry: Education
Location: USA
Company Size: 650+ Student Workers
Challenge
At the start of every semester, it was a time-consuming process for department supervisors across the campus to hire and schedule all the students working in their areas. Previously, students submitted their class schedules and availability on paper forms, and student workers would enter that information into Excel spreadsheets. From there, a staff member created schedules to ensure that each student received adequate hours.
The entire process could take up to one full week – just when supervisors are their busiest. In addition to this, re-keying information left room for errors. “If one person’s schedule was incorrect, it could throw all of the schedules off,” said the university’s assistant director of HR-Student Development.
Solution
The university’s HR and IT departments teamed up to evaluate four different student-employee scheduling solutions to simplify the process for supervisors. Their top criteria were: ease of use, strong vendor support, and the ability for students to input their availability online. “Celayix hit all the features we were looking for. It’s the complete package,” said the assistant director of IT. “Web-based collaborative scheduling was a big attraction for us. Students can submit their own availability.”
Furthermore, Celayix offered the flexibility to be configured specifically for the university’s needs. As the university implemented the scheduling software, Celayix consultants worked with IT and HR to migrate existing staff information into Celayix’s system and established business rules regarding notifications. Celayix allows department supervisors to quickly and easily match student staff with work assignments. It also empowers students to go online and enter their own availability, allowing supervisors to schedule student employees without any manual entry.
“Over the course of a semester, department supervisors save 150 to 200 hours of scheduling time, that frees them to focus on other areas of their jobs.”
Assistant Director of HR – Student Development
Results
Celayix provided thorough training for the university’s department supervisors and conducted an orientation for student employees. This resulted in a quick adoption rate by end users. As each semester kicks off, students enter their availability and can indicate changes at any time as conflicts arise.
Huge Time Savings
Now, supervisors have availability details as soon as students enter it, instead of waiting more than a day for manual entry. They can easily match open time slots with students with the correct experience and availability. It’s now up to students to manage their schedules online and check for any changes. Moreover, supervisors enjoy greater confidence that if students entered the information correctly, then availability is accurate.
As a result of Celayix’s scheduling solution, the university’s departments publish work schedules for students more quickly, and office staff receives fewer calls from students regarding changes. In turn, the departments’ workload decreases during the busy time at the start of each semester.
