Earning While Learning: Paid Practicums for Students

Please provide a one-paragraph overview of the session.‎ (200 words or less): Having student interns in an Admissions or Student Affairs office brings tremendous value. They offer fresh perspectives, bridge connections with the wider student body, and contribute meaningful labor that strengthens programs and services. At the same time, it’s critical to recognize the inequities of unpaid labor. Many students face significant financial stressors and expecting them to contribute without compensation exacerbates barriers to access, retention, and equity. Paying students for their work acknowledges both their expertise and their economic reality. In our college, we have responded by implementing multiple strategies with the goal of ensuring students are compensated for the value they bring. This includes creating stipends or awarding scholarship funds, pursuing grant funding, and utilizing Federal Work Study opportunities. Each pathway has allowed us to increase the number of paid roles, expand access to diverse students, and model practices rooted in fairness and justice. The goal of this presentation is to provide participants with practical strategies for implementing similar approaches within their own institutions. Our aim is to share a road map that helps attendees begin to identify existing funding streams, build partnerships with Financial Aid, and create roles that support both student learning and the needs of their offices.

Session Agenda/Outline (200 words or less): 1. Welcome & Introductions (Brief background of the presenters, Overview of our college and its mission, Introduction to the social work profession and its values)

2. Higher Education Practicum Opportunities (Benefits of placing social work students in Admissions and Student Affairs, Examples of meaningful roles and responsibilities, How these placements align with core competencies and professional development)

3. Unpacking the Financial Realities (The impact of unpaid practicum requirements on students, Increasing financial stressors faced by graduate students, particularly for programs requiring an internship, Equity concerns tied to unpaid labor in practicum settings)

4. Compensation Strategies (Overview of funding mechanisms we've implemented in our office: Scholarships, Stipends, Work-study opportunities; Other initiatives at the college level, such as grant funding; Partnerships and advocacy efforts to secure support)

5. Lessons Learned & Key Takeaways (What successes have we experienced, Challenges and how we addressed them, Recommendations for other institutions)

6. Q&A and Discussion