ABBIE MILLER
Editor in Chief
There are very few college students who would reject the prospect of extra money.
As a new semester approaches, Fredonia students new and old enter the job search in hopes of achieving a little extra money during their schooling.
Finding on- and off-campus job opportunities can be difficult when students don’t know what to look for or where to look. While non-exhaustive and subject to change, the list below will provide Fredonia students with the information they need to begin their escapades for employment.
On-campus:
Faculty Student Association
The Faculty Student Association (FSA) encompasses each and every dining hall and cafe on the Fredonia campus. Due to the number of locations being served by FSA workers, FSA generally accepts the most applications out of all on- and off-campus employment opportunities.
When filling out their application, students can select their preference of whether they’d like to work at Willy C’s, the Cranston Marché, Cafe Mason, Cafe McEwen, Catering, Central Prep, the bookstore or Starbucks. Students are also able to select directly within their application the days and times that they would be available to work.
Students employed by FSA are expected to work at least 10 hours a week and are not allowed to work any more than 21 hours a week.
Both on- and off-campus students are hired by FSA.
Interested individuals can apply by filling out this form: https://forms.gle/9ck9EyTKMq64irpFA.
Reed Library
While it hires far fewer students, Reed Library serves as a less intensive working environment than FSA.
Students apply to work at Reed Library by filling out an online job application. Job applications will be posted on Reed Library’s homepage in mid-November of the previous semester for Spring semester positions and in mid-March of the previous semester for Fall semester positions.
A few weeks later, chosen students are called in for an interview with the library’s circulation staff.
According to Dan Quagliana, a supervisor at Reed Library and a senior history and political science double-major, each Reed Library employee is required to work six or eight hours a week, depending on the year the interested student applies. For supervisors, this requirement increases to 12 hours a week.
Despite the existence of the weekly hour requirement, Quagliana notes that “those 12 hours aren’t difficult. In fact, they’re often one of the highlights of my week.”
For Quagliana, “It’s a very low-stress job — it’s the complete opposite of working somewhere like Starbucks, where you just have to ‘go, go, go’ all the time. If you need to sit down for a few minutes and take a break, it’s very accommodating.”
Unlike the other on-campus options included in this list, working at Reed Library is available for both work-study and non-work-study students.
Quagliana expresses the feelings of belonging shared between Reed Library staff, as he says, “Doing my job there doesn’t feel like work because we’re all one big family.”
For more information about the status of a job application or the number of positions available, students can contact libcirc@fredonia.edu.
Residence Life (ResLife)
As the most lucrative but also the most involved on-campus job opportunity, working as a Resident Assistant (RA) for ResLife has a more lengthy hiring process.
Being an RA is also more restrictive in terms of its requirements, as students are only able to apply if they are a full-time student, have lived in a residence hall for at least one full semester, have a 2.25 or higher cumulative grade point average (GPA), are not student teaching and are in good student conduct standing.
RAs are hired by ResLife, which oversees all of Fredonia’s residence halls. Students working as RAs will be selected by a residence hall that is not of their choice, and both live and work inside of that residence hall for the semester they applied for.
As is applicable to all jobs listed here and is the case for the majority of jobs in general, it helps tremendously to know someone who is already working as an RA. This person will be able to communicate to their Resident Directors (RDs) on your behalf and advocate for you to be chosen as one of their building’s RAs.
RAs do not earn money per se so much as they save it. The entirety of the room and board portion of an RA’s semester bill is paid, and RAs additionally receive four installments of $175 over the course of the semester. RAs are also given their own single room, regardless of the residence hall they work and live in.
The downside to being an RA is that RAs are expected to work the most out of the other on-campus jobs. Even if it is not their assigned duty week/weekend, RAs are somewhat on-call all the time, as they interact with their residents throughout their daily travels and resolve issues as they arise within their residence hall itself.
RAs apply during the semester before the semester in which they would like to work. They receive extensive training in the winter, for Spring semester applicants, or the summer, for Fall semester applicants. More information on how to apply can be found here: https://www.fredonia.edu/student-life/residence-life/ra-selection.
Off-campus:
Dunkirk City Schools — Pre-K
A student who has experience working with children and is looking for off-campus employment may find the Dunkirk City School District’s programs to be more conducive to their strengths.
Marissa Burr, a senior writing major, works as a supervisor for the 3PK and 4PK students of Dunkirk City School District’s School #4.
Burr says that she got the job by posting on Facebook seeking job opportunities and getting in touch with the Campus and Community Children’s Center (CCCC), who she initially worked for before getting hired at School #4. According to Burr, there is a healthy relationship between the CCCC and the Dunkirk City School District, with many individuals who worked at one also having worked at the other.
One of the most essential requirements to work for the preschool-aged students at Dunkirk City Schools is experience with caring for young children. Fingerprinting is conducted before an individual is hired, and newly hired applicants are given extensive paid training.
Once hired, pay starts at minimum wage and increases based on promotional opportunities.
Of the job as a whole, Burr describes it as “a really good opportunity, especially for those college students who like to work with kids.”
With accommodations to class schedules and both the Dunkirk and Fredonia locations being relatively close to campus, several students have sought this off-campus job opportunity.
Walmart
Owned by a large corporation, the Walmart in Dunkirk, NY is unique compared to the other jobs on this list. At careers.walmart.com, students looking for a job at the Walmart in Dunkirk can send in an application.
Students may also seek to apply by simply calling the store at (716) 679-3150 or by entering the store and asking for a job application.
Pay is minimum wage and hours may not be as secure as the other options on this list, but this job still offers students the opportunity to earn some extra money in between classes.
Ellicottville Brewing Company (EBC)
As for EBC, a job application is listed on their website: https://www.ellicottvillebrewing.com/employment/.
If a more direct response is desired, students can contact the Fredonia EBC location by dialing (716) 679-7939 or by visiting their location to fill out an application form in person.
The EBC website also has a feature whereby students can contact them if they have already submitted an application and have yet to hear back.
Dan Quagliana, one of the people interviewed for this article, is the Managing Editor of The Leader.
Marissa Burr, one of the people interviewed for this article, is the Opinion Editor of The Leader.