Obtaining & Processing Information

"Serving as the Business Assistant in this organization was my first exposure to internal executive operations and processes. This experience prepared me to understand efficient workflow to ensure timely and accurate tracking of information to ultimately produce exemplary services to the student population we served. Through this experience, I learned firsthand the importance of organization and was consistently encouraged to always ask why certain processes are even in place. This allowed for the constant evaluation and evolution of processes to create even more efficient workflow—which, again, in turn increases the quality of service delivery.

"This type of strategic thinking, valuing curiosity - this experience is something that has stayed with me through many different professional environments and I still use a daily excel tracker and binder to manage a now $28 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department."

"I had the pleasure of working at the USU as a Business Assistant during my junior and senior years at CSUN. I am so grateful for this experience because in my role I learned how to be thorough and ensure I presented accurate data to the management team who in turn used the information to make critical decisions that impacted the organization’s success. I learned to be precise, to ask the right questions and to learn to articulate the meaning behind the information I’ve gathered, because data always tells a story.

"In my current profession, I have learned that data integrity is an absolute must and it requires diligence. My experience as a Business Assistant was my first step into learning how to find the correct information to arrive at the right result, and I’m truly grateful to have been set in the right direction because of it."

"Working at the USU, specifically in the Accounting & Finance Department, has shaped me in both the personal and professional aspects of my life.

"This experience, while being an undergraduate, is where my love and passion for student affairs came from. Obtaining and processing information allowed me to learn to pay attention to even the smallest detail. I was able to learn that it is crucial to not only gather information, but to dissect that information and examine efficiency. This method allowed me to think outside the box and step out of my comfort zone by suggesting other methods to those in higher positions than myself. It taught me that in order to keep enhancing what we do in the organization we must not rely on assumptions but actual data.

"Now that I have obtained my degree, I am able to take what I learned as a student and incorporate it into my professional staff role. I am able to bring a student perspective to everything that I do, allowing me to keep students at the center of it all. This wouldn’t have been possible without the student employment opportunity given to me."

50% of students hired in the Reservations (RES) department between FY 16-17 and became Event Coordinators within the first year, demonstrated knowledge about an understanding of reservations terminology and procedures. These students are responsible for coordinating event logistics for complex reservations with guests) within first year of employment.

Student candidates for budget positions complete spelling, invoicing and spreadsheet exercises as part of the hiring process.

“…my new job has many similar qualities as being an event coordinator at RES… a lot of it is updating company profiles per contract…”