Sam Ross/ The Johndsonian
Winthrop’s application process for applying for on-campus jobs is now all online. With this new website, winthrop.peopleadmin.com, Winthrop students can use the search engine to find jobs they may be interested in.
Stephanie Martinez, a sophomore at Winthrop, works on campus as an office host at Margaret Nance. “This is my first on-campus job, so I learned about the new process when I was applying,” Martinez said.
When asked how the new process had affected her personally, Martinez stated that she had several friends who have been employed in previous and current years complain about the new process. The new process had been adversely affecting their ability to work.
“I have been in contact with HR, they have been super friendly. I was told my timesheet would be available by this time, but it has yet to appear,” junior Shane O’Reilly Jr. said.
O’Reilly is a peer mentor for Winthrop’s intro to university course, ACAD 101, which all freshmen are required to take. O’Reilly learned about the new process two weeks before school started. Like many previously hired students at Winthrop, O’Reilly had to reapply on the new website to be approved and added to the payroll.
Another ACAD peer mentor, junior Emiliano Gamboa, had similar things to say about the new proceedings in payroll. “The new hiring process has not affected me much,” Gamboa remarked. For Gamboa, the new process was also very simple and did not take more than a few minutes to reapply for his position. Gamboa is “pretty sure” he has already been implemented into the new system.
Some students experienced issues with the change, being unsure that they would be able to work or be paid. Téa Franco, a senior, works in Roddey Hall as a desk host and the switch caused some issues at the Roddey desk.
“We were told we couldn’t work until our timesheets were approved, and they didn’t give us a clear projection of when that would happen. Since I rely a lot on the income I make through on-campus jobs, this was stressful for me,” Franco said. “Thankfully, my timesheet got approved quickly and I am able to work, however, many of my coworkers are still unable to work and it is unclear when they will be able to start. Those of us who can work have had to pick up shifts for those who cannot.”
When The Johnsonian reached out to HR for a statement on the new system, Lisa Cowart, vice president for human resources at Winthrop said, “We are excited about it and believe it will be a positive experience for students who are interested in on-campus employment.”
In addition to becoming an increasingly organized process for hiring new students, the new initiative is helping the campus become more environmentally conscious as it takes out paper applications and forms used in the previous hiring process.
Despite knowing that in the end this will make the hiring process easier, it has still been frustrating for students who rely on their jobs. Without this money, they might not be able to make their next deposit to the University.
“I just wish this was an issue that had been ironed out back in May or sometime over the summer while many students were not currently working but had already completed paperwork and were expecting to come back to school and work right away,” Franco said.
