Undergraduate assistantship process 75 percent complete

By Gus Bode

Committee held another meeting at 8 a.m. today

The undergraduate assistantship process is about 75 percent complete, but it will still take an unidentified amount of time before students can apply for the positions.

Daniel Mann, director of the Financial Aid Office, said the committee to review and approve the assistantships scheduled another meeting today at 8 a.m. to look over the remaining requests from departments and colleges. He said an exact date when the assistantships will be posted could not be decided at this time.

Advertisement

Hasan Sevim, associate dean of the College of Engineering and committee member, said the committee has already identified about 75 percent of the assistantship projects the committee would like to approve.

But they still have another 25 percent to identify and they will have a final discussion of their choices before submitting a recommendation to the Office of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.

“I think we will be able to finalize it [Tuesday],” Sevim said. “They were certainly good proposals, but we are struggling.”

Sevim said if there were only 150 or 200 proposals to rank and approve for funding, the process would be faster. But he said, fortunately, it is a good competition between departments and colleges.

Shanna Miller, a sophomore in social work from Lanark, does not mind waiting a couple weeks to apply for undergraduate assistantships if the delay continues. She said she could see undergraduate students quitting their current jobs if they had the chance to acquire an assistantship.

“They are beneficial jobs,” Miller said. “More people would want to find a job that is related to their studies.”

Anthony Barbaglia, a senior in plant biology from St. Louis, said he does not have a job in Carbondale and would like to find a job at school.

Advertisement*

“The slow process is discouraging, but it is a good idea and program to offer,” Barbaglia said.

Larry Dietz, vice chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, said he would make sure positions are spread across campus when the recommendation comes to his office.

“I hope they have something over to me by middle of week and begin to advertise this week or first part of next,” Dietz said.

Reporter Samantha Edmondson can be reached at [email protected]

Advertisement