Student employees represent an important and critical part of the library workforce and help to provide great service to the UNLV community. Our goal is to offer a professional, respectful, and supportive working environment that is welcoming and inclusive to all who use and work in the Libraries – approachability, courtesy, professional service are expected of you and your co-workers. Strive to be aware of your working environment and the needs of patrons.
Library-Wide Expectations for All Student Employees
These expectations apply to all student employees working in all library departments and branch libraries and have been developed to help you succeed in your role.
General Behavior
- Job-related tasks and providing service are the top priorities. You are expected to perform assigned work in priority order as directed by your supervisor. When you arrive at work, seek out your supervisor to find out what your assigned tasks or priorities are for the day (if not already assigned). Once you have finished tasks, let your supervisor know the task is completed so they can assign additional work. If you do not complete a task by the end of your shift, let your supervisor know before you leave for the day.
- Communicate in a professional and respectful manner. Avoid use of profanity or graphic language in the workplace. Pay attention to behavior to avoid offending library patrons or co-workers.
- Students work in all staff areas and in public areas – when working in public spaces, be mindful of quiet study areas.
- Socializing with library patrons, friends, and co-workers should be kept to a minimum in the workplace to ensure that service is responsive and timely. While conversations are not prohibited, please ensure that non-work related conversations do not disturb patrons or co-workers or distract you from your work.
- Eating and drinking while working may or may not be allowed depending on the unit and the nature of the work. Generally, eating and drinking at public service desks or in areas such as special collections is prohibited. Check with your supervisor for the policy in your area. If you need a place to eat lunch or a snack, you may eat and drink in the staff lounge or in the designated area of your branch.
- Eating and drinking in any of the library golf carts is prohibited.
- Student employees who are not on duty or working a shift should not hang around the department. When not on duty, you may use the staff lounge or work in public areas of the library.
- Students are expected to work collaboratively and cooperatively with other library employees and comply with directions or instructions provided by library or university employees and emergency personnel.
- Student employees are expected to be aware of and adhere to the Library’s Expectations for User and Visitor Conduct
- Students are responsible for being aware of and adhering to all university and library student employment policies.
- Safety is a shared responsibility of all library employees. If you witness behaviors that are not in accordance with our user conduct policy OR see suspicious activities or objects, report these immediately to the Library’s Safety Office and/or your supervisor.
- In the event of an emergency or dangerous situation, call 911 immediately.
Customer Service
- Student employees help to provide excellent service to the library users as well as other library and university employees and are expected to provide courteous and respectful service to library patrons in person, over the phone, or via email. The REBELS way philosophy of customer service outlines the campus service standards: https://www.unlv.edu/customerservice/about
- In providing in-person assistance, student employees should acknowledge and greet patrons in a timely manner, offer a professional greeting, make eye contact, and offer assistance.
- In answering phones, student employees should answer before the 3rd ring and provide a professional greeting, state the name of the department, and offer assistance.
- If you don’t know the answer to a question or cannot help a patron or another staff member, let them know you that you need to seek out the answer and then find another employee who can help.
- Working in the library may mean that you work with confidential or personal information. Student employees are expected to maintain confidentiality and use discretion at all times.
- It is always our goal to provide excellent service to library patrons and co-workers – however this does NOT require you to tolerate harassment OR any type of abusive or threatening behavior from anyone.
- In the event you are on the receiving end of such behavior from a difficult patron, you should call the Library Safety Office at Extension 5-2228 OR tell your supervisor immediately.
- When you call the Safety Office OR use the radio, you should use the agreed upon message to bring staff to your location. If the Safety Office staff are not available, contact UNLV Police at Extension 5-3668.
Work Schedules & Attendance
- Student work schedules may fall on week or weekend days, involve evening shifts and shifts during extended hours periods, and require work on holidays and during school breaks.
- Student employees will work with their supervisor to establish a regular work schedule at the beginning of each semester taking into account their course schedule and departmental needs.
- Student employees are expected to adhere to their assigned work schedule arriving for work prior to or at the expected start time and are expected to remain on duty through the end of their shift unless other arrangements have been made.
- Once your schedule for the semester schedule has been set, long-term changes to it must be discussed with the supervisor and approved in advance. In some cases, the request may result in a reduction in work hours based on the needs of the unit.
- Showing up late or failure to show up for a shift without letting your supervisor know in advance will be reviewed and may be cause for disciplinary action and/or termination.
Communication
- Student employees are expected to use their UNLV email (@unlv.edu) for communication with their supervisor, NOT their Rebel mail (@unlv.nevada.edu).
- Student employees are expected to check their UNLV email (@unlv.edu) regularly to ensure that they are aware of and responsive to messages from their supervisor in a timely manner.
- Students are encouraged to read email on work days and the evening before a work day AND to check email at the start and end of a shift. Not reading your email is not an excuse for not getting information or for failing to respond to supervisory inquiries
- Student assistants are encouraged to report issues or situations to their supervisor as quickly as possible and to ask questions whenever needed.
Name Badges & Proximity Cards
- Student employees are expected to wear their name badges during their work shift.
- Students are encouraged to keep their name badge at work in their mailbox or locker or at their workstation in their library unit.
- Some student employees may be assigned OR may have access to proximity cards – these cards must be treated with care as they provide access to library facilities or specific areas.
- If a student loses their name badge or a proximity card, they are expected to alert their supervisor as soon as possible. The student will be responsible for paying the replacement fee of a lost proximity card.
Attire
- Student employees working in all departments of the library and in branch libraries are expected to dress for a workplace setting and practice good grooming.
In general, students are expected to adhere to these minimum expectations:
*Wear clothing that is clean and in good repair, comfortable, and enables you to safely do your job and serve library patrons.
*Students should avoid wearing clothing that is too revealing or too tight. Undergarments should not be exposed or visible. Gym clothes or pajamas are not acceptable workplace attire.
*Students may wear clothing that is required in their specific area of study, such as scrubs if in a health science program.
*Avoid wearing clothing that displays abusive, vulgar, offensive, or controversial illustrations, logos, slogans, or words during your work shift.
*Clothing with UNLV logos is permissible.
*Avoid clothing or accessories that may impede your ability to do your job safely.
*Students may be asked to wear closed-toe shoes in certain areas for safety reasons.
Timekeeping & Payroll
- Students are responsible for clocking in at the start of their work shift, clocking in and out for breaks of 30 minutes or longer, and clocking out at the end of a shift.
- Students are responsible for logging into Workday regularly to submit time worked – ideally by the end of each work shift OR submitting the week’s hours when clocking out for their last shift of the week. Failure to submit worked time may delay your paycheck.
- Students are required to submit their time by the end of the closing day of the pay period. It is the responsibility of the student to make sure that all of their time is correctly reflected in Workday. If there are any inaccuracies in Workday, these need to be reported in writing to the supervisor prior to the end of the pay period.
- Students are expected to follow the timekeeping policy
Technology Use
- Library workstation use is prioritized for providing service to library users and for operational needs.
- Students are expected to leave their work areas and workstations clean and ready for use by the next student employee.
- Permission to do school work while on shift at a public service desk or while at work is determined within individual library departments and units and is at the discretion of the supervisor.
- Use of library computers for watching television or videos, playing video or online games, and viewing and posting to social media is generally prohibited during work shifts.
- Students must avoid wearing headphones or earbuds while working at public service desks. Wearing earbuds to listen to music may be allowed for some jobs such as shelving books.
- Students must sign up for REBELSafe messages so they can receive emergency notifications.
- Students should avoid using their personal cell phones during their work shifts, but are allowed to have their phones with them or in their pockets in order to be able to receive REBELSafe or other emergency notifications.
- If you must make an emergency or urgent call, alert your supervisor in advance. Students may use their personal cell phone during their breaks and should step away from the work area to make personal calls.
Department-Specific Expectations
In addition the library-wide expectations outlined above, each department or unit may develop policies, procedures, and practices related to specific aspects of employment and/or work expectations for their student assistants. Most student supervisors provide their students with a document or checklist that explains the policies, procedures, practices, and work expectations for the unit.
