Want a Part-Time Job for the Next School Year? Apply to be a Student Engagement Coordinator!

The USC wants you!

For every USC initiative you’ve seen this year, there’s a team of students working behind-the-scenes. All of these start from just an idea; it’s up to the USC Coordinators to bring them to life.

If you’re up for the task, the USC is hiring paid, part-time Coordinators to work during the upcoming school year. As the name suggests, Coordinators are responsible for coordinating the USC’s initiatives, reporting directly to one of the Vice-Presidents. Don’t miss your chance to take a key role in shaping Western’s unparalleled student experience!

Applications for these positions are now open until April 7 at 11:59 p.m.

One exciting opportunity for the upcoming school year is working with the Student Engagement team. To help you find out if you have what it takes, the Coordinators from the team shared their experiences.

Community Engagement

The Community and Collaboration (C&C) Coordinators are the glue connecting the USC to the average student. Starting next year, these Coordinators will be known as Community Engagement Coordinators. 

Responsible for promoting events and collecting feedback, C&C Coordinators ensure students have a say in improving the USC’s initiatives.

This year’s C&C Coordinators are Sophie Luo and Emma Mayne, two fourth-year students at Western.

Throughout the year, Luo and Mayne have been racing around campus, speaking to students about their concerns. 

You may have seen them at booths in the UCC, or spoken to them during your walk to class as part of an initiative they’ve informally termed “USC in the Wild.”

“We decided to do ‘USC in the Wild’ because talking to students in-person seemed like the best way to spread the news about events and get genuine feedback,” explained Luo.

After taking note of student feedback each week, Luo and Mayne brainstorm ways to address their main concerns.

Should there be more free food at USC events? More social media promotion? Should they shift their focus to a different event altogether? Do students even know what the USC is? It’s up to them to raise these questions during the event planning process and find the best solutions.

Now in her second year as C&C Coordinator, Luo describes the role as a mainly supportive one:

“We mainly provide support to our Vice-President and all the other Coordinators from different portfolios. If anyone is struggling to get students to attend events, it’s our job to help.”

Luo, currently a Don at London Hall, emphasizes experience and communication as the key to her success.

“Working as residence staff definitely helped me communicate with students on a personal level,” said Luo. “That’s a huge part of this job.” 

On the social media side of the job, Luo believes it’s also crucial to keep up to date with trends to maximize students’ social media engagement.

“A lot of the work is social media based, which I’m really into,” said Mayne. “Even if it’s a little daunting at first, this job ends up being really rewarding!” 

Brand Journalism

As this year’s Brand Journalism Coordinator, I’m also part of the Student Engagement team! Like C&C, my role is mostly supportive, sharing the USC’s hard work with students.

Throughout the year, I have been writing articles assigned to me by the Vice-President Student Engagement.

Many of these have been promotional, encouraging students to engage with USC initiatives. Others have been informational, offering recaps of events in case students were unable to attend, or providing helpful resources for navigating life at Western.

To write about USC initiatives, I first need to interview the students who plan them. Many of the topics I write about are completely new to me, so interviews are a way to learn. 

My favourite part about this job is how much the USC respects your work-life balance. They understand that we’re students, not just employees.

Every week, I meet with my Vice-President who always checks in to see if the deadlines for my articles are realistic. If there’s a week where I’m really busy with exams or assignments, I can let her know that I probably won’t be doing as much USC work. 

If you’re planning to apply, I would recommend brushing up on your writing and communication skills. If you’re someone who enjoys writing and loves speaking to new people, then articles and interviews might not even feel like work to you!

I also want to urge students to apply, even if you’ve never been involved with the USC before. As someone who was in the same boat last year, the Student Engagement team is so welcoming and it’s a great pipeline into the wonderful opportunities the USC has to offer. 

As the Brand Journalism Coordinator, especially, you really get to learn about all of the USC’s resources and opportunities through writing about them. It’s also fascinating to get to speak directly with the teams behind-the-scenes of some of Western’s most exciting student-run events!

If the Student Engagement team sounds like the right fit for you, don’t miss your chance to apply!