Finals week and Winter term schedules

The end of the term is rapidly approaching!  Please complete the following instructions as we prepare schedules for Finals Week and Winter Term.

1.      FINALS WEEK - All students are expected to work their regular work schedule through Saturday, November 21^st.  A finals week schedule is being prepared for Sunday, November 22^nd through Wednesday, November 25^th.  All student assistants are required to sign up to work a minimum of four hours during finals week.  Please see Heidi by 5:00 on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10^th to sign up for your hours.

2.      WINTER TERM SCHEDULES - All student assistants who plan to work Winter Term will be assigned a work schedule before they leave for D-Term.  (If for any reason you don’t plan to work next term, please let Heidi know right away!!)   Please complete the appropriate schedule on this page to indicate when you will be available to work during Winter Term.  Please complete the schedule carefully and thoughtfully!  Also, remember that any form that does not leave enough hours for us to work with when assigning schedules will be returned for revision.  All forms should be given to Heidi by 5:00 on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10^th.

If you have any questions about this process, please do not hesitate to contact Heidi or me. 

Quiet Zone

Hello,

Lately, we have found that people are holding classes in the quiet zone.  This is not acceptable, so please keep an eye on this.  If you see people holding conversations or having a class in the quiet zone please tell the staff member at the information services desk.  

Matsubara's meeting is a Japanese reading club, if they are reading quietly, they are ok but if she starts to actually conduct class or a meeting, please tell the staff member.

Heidi

Phone and Tablet Chargers

Hello,

Due to your suggestions we now have phone and tablet chargers available for patrons to use.  They are located behind the desk by the I-share returns.  At this time we have 3 apple chargers, 6 micro USB chargers and 2 portable chargers with only micro USB cords (eventually these portable chargers will have apple cords but they haven't arrived yet).

When someone wants to use one you need to take a NCC ID or driver's license and put it in the drawer where the charger they are using is housed.  We will only allow a NCC ID or driver's license for exchange.  If they do not have either, they cannot use a charger.  When it is returned, please be sure that all of the pieces are returned before you give the patron back their NCC ID or driver's license. 

For the portable chargers, when they are returned please press the power button, if two or less of the four green lights illuminate please plug it in to the staples plug located on the wall behind the information services desk.

We have placed a sign by the staplers advertising that people can use these items from the library.  Please let us know if you are getting interest or if you have any suggestions on how we should advertise we now have this feature.

Thanks!
Heidi

D-Term Positions

TO:                  Oesterle Library Student Assistants

FROM:           Belinda Cheek, Coordinator of the Student Assistant Program

RE:                 D-Term Positions

DATE:            October 20, 2015

Oesterle Library has the following student assistant positions available for D-Term:

           

     

FIVE PART-TIME POSITIONS (approximately 20-25 hours per week)

·         Expected to work the following dates:

November 30 - December 18

·         Hours will include daytime, evening and Saturday hours

Hours will also be available on the following dates during Christmas Break:

                             

·         December 28-31

·         Hours available will be 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Student assistants working these positions will primarily be assigned to the Information Services Desk and/or the Periodicals Desk.  Student assistants may also be assigned to a few hours in other library units.

Preference will be given to applicants that:

·         are able to work all hours and dates

·         have an excellent attendance and work record

Campus housing is available at no extra charge for any student wishing to stay on campus during D-Term (November 30 - December 18).  Typically campus housing is not available during Christmas break (December 19-January 3).  Student assistants who have questions about the availability of housing during this time should contact the office of Residence Life.

Anyone interested in a position for D-Term should complete the application form by Noon on Wednesday, October  28^th.

Emergency Response Procedures

In light of both local and national events in the past few weeks, we feel that it is an important time to review procedures that can help us deal with emergencies in an informed manner. The library student assistant website has a new link (left column) to Emergency Response Plan. The landing page from this link will lead you to both the North Central College Emergency Response Plan as well as information and quick tips pertinent to specific types of emergencies.

All student assistant are required to review all sections of the  North Central College Emergency Response Plan and our quick tips. Once you have finished this review, you must also complete a short quiz. This work can be done during your normal work hours, and the quiz should be submitted for our review no later than Sunday, October 18. Please do not hesitate to contact Heidi or me if you have any questions about these procedures.

Access services students

Hello!

This note is for the access services students: your sections are up on your schedules.  If you don't have a section and do have an access service shift it means you are shifting when you have an open shift.

Your section is the area of the library that you are responsible for.  You are to make sure that the section is in order, looks nice and there aren't sections with too many books on one shelf.  Also, you should make sure that the signs at the end of the rows are accurate.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Heidi

Response to suggestion that we offer longer work shifts

During the Assessment Activity at the Student Assistant Orientation, it was suggested that we should allow students to work in longer shifts during the academic term. Although I can respect that longer shifts may be appealing to some, I do not feel that it is feasible for us to offer this option.  Here are a few reasons why:

*Many of you have indicated that you like the fact that we don’t hassle you or expect you to get coverage for your shift when you are ill, have an emergency situation, etc. We try to respect your need for time off when we can, but the bottom line is that we need to make sure we have enough staff in the building to maintain normal operations. This is sometimes challenging for a 2-3 hour shift, but each hour added to that shift makes it increasingly difficult to cover your duties when you are unexpectedly absent.  

*Perhaps one of the most common responses we received during the assessment activity was that you like that we are flexible enough in our scheduling to accommodate most of your schedule preferences. And let’s face it, some of your schedules are pretty crazy! Assigning your work schedules for the term is a complicated process, and our ability to honor most of your schedule requests is very directly related to the length of our work shifts. Allowing longer work shifts would make this process even more challenging, and we would lose some of the options that accommodate busy schedules.

*We are legally required to give any staff member who works 4 consecutive hours a 15 minute unpaid break. If we were to allow 4 hour (or longer) shifts, we would need to plan for coverage during break times. This would add one more factor to that complex scheduling matrix, and flexible scheduling would again be at risk.

Always feel free to share ideas for improvement!  We can’t always act on those ideas, but every suggestion will be heard and considered.