In August, Albion College sent out rules and regulations for off-campus work, encouraging students not to work off campus in the midst of COVID-19. While the rule is based on an honor system, students who want to take on campus classes and participate in on-campus activities are encouraged to work on campus instead.
Students who wish to work off-campus can fill out a waiver located on Albion’s Together Safely website. Students who fill out the waiver only have a chance of being approved to work off campus if they meet a requirement of that job being within 25 miles off-campus
After the form is completed, students seeking off-campus work would then have a conversation with Albion’s COVID Response Team, who will decide whether the request is accepted or denied.
“Once I have collected the information and conferred with the COVID Response Team, I will let you know the outcome of your request,” said Troy Case, the director of the Career and Internship Center.
The main reason for students’ being denied the ability to work off campus is that living on-campus and having an off-campus job could pose a threat to bringing COVID onto campus through cross contamination.
“We are trying to limit travel to and from campus to reduce exposure to our campus community,” said Case. “We also understand that there might be certain circumstances that may warrant an exception.”
Kameryn Szalay, a senior from Walled Lake, Mich., is one of those exceptions. Szalay has opted out of living on campus and has decided to take her classes completely online.
“One of the major reasons I decided to stay home was because of my job. I need it to apply to PA schools and accelerated nursing programs ” said Szalay. “I also have my job to pay for my expenses. I feel like students not being able to work off-campus will hinder their ability to pay for school and possibly school after Albion”.
Meanwhile, Skyler Herman, a senior from Union City, Mich., started working an on-campus job at the Dow this week.
“I like being able to pick my own schedule and it being only a five minute walk away. They try really hard to get students hours at the most convenient times for them,” said Herman. “I have never considered working off campus because I didn’t have time, but I know there are students who need their off campus job to support themselves at school.”
To mitigate many students’ fears regarding their financial status, the college states that they would be adding more on-campus jobs to those already available.
Currently, there is only one on-campus job posting available on Handshake for students to apply for. However, on Monday, Albion’s Career and Internship Center sent out an email regarding looking and applying for work on-campus. The email stated that although there are only a few positions listed right now, they are continuing to add new job listings.
According to the same email, the college is actively asking departments to go through extra processes to list their jobs, so students should see more advertised soon.
Even if Handshake does not have jobs advertised or posted, students who send their resume to the Career and Internship Center can be assisted in getting a job on-campus related to their careers or goals.
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