Student Employment ANCHOR

How to Get Started

• Always Keep In Mind

  No matter how you facilitate your conversations with students, be sure to keep the following in mind:

  1. Student AND Supervisors benefit from reflection before the conversation
     • Send out your selected questions a few days in advance to give students a chance to think about their answers before meeting, which will allow you to have a more meaningful conversation
  2. You are the air traffic controller, not the pilot
     • It can often be difficult to give students space to reflect on learning, but remember our job isn't to provide the correct answer, but give students the space to reflect and make connections.
  3. Make peace with silences
     • It's not unusual for someone to need a little bit of time to think of an answer to a question. Give students a chance to think and reflect. Don't immediately answer for them if they don't answer right away themselves
  4. Make sure to wrap up the conversation
     • Remind student why you have the ANCHOR conversation and that you will continue to talk about learning in the workplace. Frequent reminders create an environment where learning is a key aspect of the student employment experience.
• Steps for Conversations

  1. Determine whether a small group meeting or individual meetings work best for your student employees.
  2. Send your student employees an email or paper memo a few days to a week before your meeting with the following information: 
     1. an explanation of why you're having these conversations
     2. the list of questions you want to discuss
     3. instructions to think about these questions and have answers prepared for the meeting
  3. Remember to approach the questions as if you're just having a conversation. Feel free to ask the questions in whatever order and let the conversation flow naturally. You can always brainstorm with other supervisors, and members of Human Resources or Career Services on the key things you expect students to learn while working in your department. 
  4. If your students are having a hard time answering these questions, feel free to share your ideas or observations on what they are learning in their position.
  5. You may find it useful to take notes during the conversation to refer to in your next chat.
  6. Wrap up conversations by reminding students you'll be meeting again near the end of the quarter. 
  7. For conversation 2, again send your student employees an email or paper memo a few days to a week before your meeting with the following information: 
     1. refer to the previous meeting and inform students that the questions you will be asking are the same questions as in the last meeting
     2. the list of questions you'll be discussing
     3. instructions to think about what the have learned this quarter, particularly anything new they have learned since you last met
        • note that the student may repeat some of the same things you discussed in the earlier conversation. This is fine!

• A Conversation at a Glance

  These are the four main questions that guide conversations between students and supervisors.
  

  1. How is this job fitting in with your academics?
  2. What are you learning here that’s helping you in school?
  3. What are you learning in class that you can apply here at work?
  4. Can you give me a couple of examples of things you’ve learned here that you think you’ll use in your chosen profession?

• Tips for Facilitating Conversations

  The aim of this initiative is to help students connect the skills and knowledge they acquire in the classroom with their work, and vice versa. Furthermore, supervisors regularly check in with students to monitor their workflow, tasks, and assignments. By taking a few extra minutes to inquire about their students' academic progress and helping them connect what they learn on the job to their coursework, you can create strong links that foster learning.

  There are several ways to implement ANCHOR conversations with student employees:

  • Schedule regular one-on-one meetings between supervisory and student staff members.
  • Encourage drop-in conversations between supervisors and student staff during shifts.
  • Facilitate small group conversations during monthly staff meetings with the help of supervisory staff or student leaders.
  • Hold small group conversations with students before or after an event or shift.
  • Implement 15-minute rolling blocks in which student staff can sign up for small group conversations.

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  Conversation Facilitation

  Below we have a provided a few tips for facilitating your ANCHOR conversations with student employees.

  1. Open ended questions: try asking questions in such a way that they can't be answered with a yes or no. The questions we provide are already open-ended, but make sure any other questions you ask are open-ended as well.
     • open-ended question: what are you learning here that's helping you in school?
     • not open-ended question: have you learned anything here's that's helping you in school?
  2. Paraphrasing: summing up what the other person says in your own words is a good way to show that you are actively listening and that you understood what they said. Paraphrasing is also great for reiterating and strengthening connections students make on their own. 
  3. Follow-up probes: follow-up probes are questions you might add in to help your student think more deeply about their answers. It can be as simple as asking "what's an example of that" or "how so?" OR it be specific like "as part of this position, you are developing your writing skills. Tell me how you've improved your writing skills."

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  Facilitating Group Conversations

  Keep your groups small, no more than eight if possible, so everyone has a chance to speak. It's important to provide the questions to student beforehand so they can come prepared to discuss their answers. Below are some potential issues that might arise while facilitating a group meeting, and ways to address them.

  1. One person dominates the conversation
     • acknowledge their contributions, but ask "what do others think?"
     • call on others to speak
     • use round-robin or popcorn format so each person shares
  2. A student remains silent
     • ask in a non-pressuring way if they would like to share
     • use partner-sharing
  3. A student keeps taking the conversation to a negative place
     • acknowledge their frustrations and offer to follow up with them later, then move on to other students that are interested in sharing
• Resources and Tools

  • Link to Iowa GROW video
  • ANCHOR Quickstart Guide
  • Instructions at a Glance
  • Facilitating Conversations
  • Supervisor Reflection
  • Email Template
  • Notes Template