May 2000 NERALLD Newsletter

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NERALLD queries: Bruce Parkhurst, Director, Geddes Language Center, Boston University,
725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 phone: (617) 353-2640 brucep@bu.edu

We agreed that the next program will focus on lab system hardware, and that Ed Dente at Tufts will host the meeting. However, the details of the topic have yet to be worked out. If you have questions or suggestions, please contact one of these people. The intrepid group in charge includes:

SPRING NERALLD MEETING SUMMARYprepared by Mary Fetherston, URI
The NERALLD Meeting on April 7^th was held at Regis College, in Weston, MA. The focus of the meeting was to combine the suggestions of NERALLD members in student management practices, to address some concerns and hopefully deliver some solutions. The collective wisdom of our members will be written up for possible inclusion in the IALL Management Manual.
Carolyn Fidelman, Language Center Director at Regis, opened the meeting with welcoming remarks. Mark Lewis, Director of Academic Computing, followed with a brief history of the college described the college's swift technological conversion just two years ago.

The Role of Financial Aid Jennifer Porter, Director of Financial Aid, Regis College
To receive Federal Work Study funds, a university or college has to apply annually, to furnish data on student financial need at the institution and overall enrollment statistics. The institution must match the federally awarded funds with at least 25%. Institutions determine individual and departmental assistance distribution. Most institutions distribute funding by department with the allocations determined by either the budget officer or vice president.
Students must apply to receive financial aid and may lose their aid if financial need changes. Basically, the application assesses institutional costs, subtracts what the family can pay and what financial aid the student may already have, and then uses the remaining amount to calculate aid. There is a date for priority filing that students should not miss. Some colleges/universities prioritize disbursement of financial aid, e.g., only lower level students are eligible. If required to hire students with work study, a Lab Manager should be aware of campus financial aid priorities and hire students who fit that profile.
Although Lab Managers can’t change an employee’s financial need, they can help a student apply properly and on time. Because these funds are taxable, Lab Managers should ensure student employees fill out both an I9 and W4. In the Federal Work Study application process, the amount of work study dollars received for one year is discounted from income when applying for the next year’s financial aid. If you have students who run out of financial aid for the year, advise them ask for an increase.

Pay Rates: Who Doesn’t Want to be a MillionaireEd Dente, Tufts University
Ed Dente’s presentation focused on student employee pay rates at various institutions. His interest in the subject was an outgrowth of a minor student rebellion at Tufts over the low wages. Ed posted a note on the LLTI last Fall and got a large number of responses that showed he was not a Scrooge and that most universities do not pay much more than the minimum wage for Language Lab jobs. The pay rates in the following table represent the information gathered last semester. The lowest pay rate reported was $5.00 while the highest was $10.84. The average pay rate was a minimum of $6.03 and a maximum of $6.84 and the median was very close to this at $5.75 for the lowest pay rate and $6.80 for the maximum. The range of lowest rates was $3.15 and $5.84 for the highest. Of the institutions which give raises (all but 4 of those listed), 17 gave raises based on time alone. One school gave raises based only on skills and two schools take into consideration both time and skills. The pay rates also vary between geographic regions as well as between private and public institutions.

Institution	Minimum	Maximum	Country	Promotion*	Notes
ND	$5.95	$5.95	US	None
Georgetown	$6.25	$6.75	US
MIT	$7.35	$8.00	US	Time
U Mich	$6.50	$7.30	US	Time
Harvard	$7.35	$8.10	US	Time
Franklin& Marshall	$5.00	$5.00	US	None
UMass Boston	$5.25	$6.00	US	Time
BU	$6.00	$6.50	US	NONE
BC	$5.75	$6.60	US	Time
Yale	$7.10	$7.85	US	Time	Different levels
Wabash	$5.15	$5.90	US	Skills	Change from time
American University	$6.50	$10.00	US	Both	Different levels
URI	$5.65	$6.50	US	Both
Thiel	$5.15	$5.15	US	Time	Student Mgrs $6.00
U of Vermont	$5.50	?	US	Time?	Student Mgrs $6.80
Creighton	$5.50	?	US
Lutheran	$5.15	$5.30	US	Time
SUNY NP	$5.50	$5.50	US	None
U of Wisc			US	Time
Furman	$5.15	$5.15	US	None
Holy Cross	$5.25	$5.25	US	None
Cornell	$5.50	$6.30	US	Time	Student Mgrs $8.00
U Maryland	$5.50	$7.50	US	Time	Different levels
Long Beach	$5.75	$6.25	US	Time
Middlesex Comm College	$7.00	$7.00	US	None	All college rate
Princeton	$8.15	$8.70	US	Time
Tufts	$6.00	$6.60	US	Time	Student Mgrs $8.00
U of Regina	$6.70	$8.23	Canada	Time
U of Victoria	$7.32	$10.84	Canada	Time

Recruitment methods by various Language Center Directors have included: job fairs; advertisements in campus newspapers, on campus cable TV, student employment and other local web sites; flyers; in-class announcements; faculty and student staff recommendations; personal contacts; e-mail; and word-of-mouth. Student worker and faculty recommendations were cited as a reliable source of good workers. Job fairs are difficult to use as a recruiting tool because Fall job fairs are often held during the most hectic weeks and hires at a spring job fair may not be available by the fall. Only one campus mentioned using ads in a student newspaper and a few have used campus cable television ads in desperation.
The application process may yield a barrage of students for one position, but many of them may not have work study (a prerequisite or priority for hiring at many Language Centers). Cindy recommends clearly stating the work study requirement, as well as pay rates, opportunities to learn valuable skills and meet people of varied cultures on all advertisements. Recently, as base pay rates have risen, incoming student employees have garnered pay rates equivalent to the pay of more seasoned employees. Unfortunately, some Language Center budgets have insufficient funding to raise other salaries as the incoming rates rise. This requires clear communication regarding budgetary limitations with the veteran employees.
Eight of the eighteen Language Center Directors that replied to Cindy’s request for information had specific tips for work applications. These included:
1. 1^st page should be the job description, 2^nd page the application
2. student’s course schedules should have courses which might change clearly marked
3. ask for a list of extra curricular activities and schedule
4. ask how many semesters they are willing to work
5. look for a variety of foreign language experience
6. do not hire exclusively language majors–they don’t always make the best employees
7. ask about work study status
8. legible handwriting and completeness of response are important–spelling and appropriate syntax can be
a good indicator of success (messy handwriting can lead to miscommunication)

Further Resources
"Creating a Culture of Ownership with a Suite of Tools for Staff Development" an IALL ’99 Powerpoint presentation by Kathleen Ford, Manager, UCLA Media Lab.
ftp://164.67.141.31/Pub/iall
"Language Lab Staff Resources" created by Steven Smolnik, Technology Specialist for the CTW Mellon Language and Technology Project at Wesleyan University
http://www.weslwyan.edu/CTWMellon/jobs/jobapp.hqx
"Administering the learning Center: The IALL Management Manual, Module 4: Staff Development" is currently out of print but an on-line version is expected in the near future. For an overview of manual contents:
http://iall.net/pub/manman/manindex.html

Through the Looking Glass —
A Student Worker Becomes Full-Time StaffA.J. West, Boston University
A.J. West had been a student employee of the Geddes Language Center at BU for four years when he was hired after graduation to be a lab manager. A.J. thought there were advantages to being hired after having been a student employee, primarily the need for significantly less initial training. A.J. offered his unique point of view regarding five student worker issues. First, basic assumptions about student employees may be ill-founded–for example, the manager may assume that student workers know how to do something when perhaps they do not. Managers must be aware that students become familiar with many of the numerous details of lab operations only as a result of time. Second, it can be difficult to decide which workers need closer supervision and direction. It is better, for staff development purposes, to reiterate information than to disclose a student’s ignorance. Third, with regard to lateness, managers should issue three verbal warnings, and then 3 written warnings. After the third written warning, the student should be fired. Fourth, schoolwork in the Language Center should be tolerated as long as the work gets done. Fifth, absenteeism is always problem but built in redundancy should help provide a solution (however, students should be responsible for finding their own substitutes).

A Reference Database for Student workers Ruth Trometer, MIT
Ruth Trometer demonstrated two basic versions of a records database developed at MIT. The database functions as a knowledge storehouse that student workers and faculty can access to familiarize themselves with the Language Center’s assets and operations or to seek specific information. The initial database, developed by a student as a summer project, has many features including a search function and the alphabetic listing of resources. Upkeep was a significant problem because as cards changed it was difficult to update all the cross references. The wholesale revision of the database was made because of layout and design issues as well as upkeep. This second version resolved inconsistencies between cards and confusing categories. The new version has several features such as a contents overview, a topic search, and an area where workers can make suggestions for revisions. This second version of the database has become a valuable resource for problem solving and is used by staff when no one is around to help. Ideas for improvement include adding check boxes to indicate if student employees have read them, adding the cards to the training cycle, and marking them with priority and a timeline.

Training & Advancement:
Collaboration with Academic ComputingDick House, Wabash College
The training and advancement program outlined began as an informal gripe session about student employees in the campus computer labs (including the language lab). At the time, Lab Operators were hired by Computer Services and weren’t particularly well trained and they didn’t do much on the job. The two basic problems were: 1) the pay scale at Wabash (freshman get paid the same amount whether they have a skilled or an unskilled job), and 2) there were no incentives for better performance in an unsupervised setting. The solution at Wabash seemed to be training and paying for skill advancement. While this proposition was being processed, the Director of Academic Comp developed another idea: creating senior intern positions that would allow students to study halftime and work halftime. This internship required a commitment of two years as a senior and then a third year beyond graduation when full graduate tuition would be waived for one course per semester at either Purdue or Indiana in return for full time work. But a source of interns was still problematic and a promotion path was needed. Lab operators and media center workers (beginning level) are now paid between $5.15 and $5.90/hour. When promoted to the second level (media center operators or computer services interns or language lab interns), students are given raises of $1/hour and form the pool of candidates from which the master interns will be later chosen.

Sizing Up Students with "Software Olympics"Carolyn Fidelman, Regis College
Before classes started in the Fall of ’98, Regis College held a two-day training workshop for student employees of ITS and the Language Lab. In the Spring of ’98, Regis recruited workers from the students who would be returning for the fall semester. The Regis staff wanted to make this a fun two days, so they developed the Software Olympics. The workshop was composed primarily of team building exercises and software training. Because the campus had been recently and suddenly "technologized," all students and faculty were at basically the same low level of expertise. But, before the training began, student skills on Mac OS, WIN 95, and MS Office needed to be assessed. Student teams had to follow directions to create four different documents that were all based on putting together a party at Regis. These four documents were:
a basic letteran Excel spread sheet
a graphic/postera PowerPoint presentation
Attending this workshop was a condition of employment.

Students as Future Lab DirectorsNina Garrett, Yale University
In the olden days when Language Labs were just a bunch of tape machines, Lab Directors could start with little training. Many of us began as only part-time staff while others began as part-time teachers. Back then, Language Lab Director was not perceived as a career in its own right. Today, the technology is so sophisticated that this is a career possibility and we need to create a pipeline to this career. Our student employees need to understand that there are opportunities for language technology specialists and how our network is used for candidate searches and referrals. The European Union is desperate for language technology specialists, interpreters, and developing countries need people with these skills to teach their teachers. Language majors are usually de facto literature majors–but many may not be interested in literature as a career. Although the number of language majors is declining there may be those who want to combine technology with their language interests, especially at the graduate level. Language faculty often object to grad students working in the lab although this may be where their interests lie because there is still a perception that this is not worthwhile. Not all our student workers will be interested in choosing this career path, but we can make a difference by helping them.

NERALLD Business MeetingBruce Parkhurst, BU
1) Instructional Computing Specialist job at Harvard is open. Connie Christo has posted this to the LLTI. Check the archives if you are interested.
2) Bruce’s term as NERALLD President ends this Fall; she hopes someone will step up to the plate.
3) The IALL Summer Leadership Meeting will be at the end of May, at Rice University in Houston (site for IALL ’01). Bruce will represent NERALLD and is collecting agenda items for this meeting (two were suggested: handling consultant work and adding a new section to the Language Lab Management Manual [on student employee management]).
4) The Treasurer’s report was given.
5) Topics/locations for the fall meeting were discussed. Topic: "What is a Language Lab now and in the future?" The program committee is listed on page one of the newsletter.

The program concluded with a tour of Language Learning Center at Regis College.

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NERALLD Current Officers
President: Bruce Parkhurst, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215brucep@bu.edu
Newsletter: Tamra Hjermstad, Mt Holyoke College, So Hadley, MA 01075 thjermst@mtholyoke.edu
Webmaster: Inge Brown, Dartmouth College, Hanover NH 03755 Inge.Brown@dartmouth.edu
Recording Secretary: Mary Fetherston, Univ of Rhode Island, Kingston RI 02881 fether@uriacc.uri.edu