Student Agencies seek managers to fill gaps left by graduation

Every year before students arrive on campus, they receive a mailing packed with offers from the wide array of student agencies on campus. These coupons advertise dorm room essentials such as water, newspapers or cable television, without which students are left thirsty and bored in their rooms.

The system is easy, as the products usually are reserved for the customer upon arriving in Princeton. However, as agencies work to fill staff holes left by departing seniors, students cashing the checks next September still have not been chosen.

The agencies are looking for a "few entrepreneurial-minded, responsible" students to undertake management positions in a number of student agencies for 2001.

The Student Agencies Office is currently advertising open management positions for seven agencies. At first glance, the ads may seem to be a desperate plea for student participation. However, Mariana Garcia '02, the president of the student agencies, attests this is not the case.

'Stable'

"The agencies are definitely stable," Garcia said. "They are even better than last year."

Garcia, who is the liaison between the agencies' employees, their managers and the student employment office, said student involvement is the same as in past years.

One possible cause of concern is that there are more senior managers than usual, according to Garcia. After this semester, several agencies may be required to look beyond their current staffs to fulfill leadership positions.

Some agencies, such as the Flower Agency, do not have a large employee base — they only have a limited number of employees who work seasonally. Garcia said that in this case, outside applicants could potentially hold many management positions.

Lisa Park '01, manager of the Flower Agency, said the current application and interview process for managers is normal. "There is the same application process every year," she said.

Donovan Campbell '01, the manager of the Water Cooler Agency, said that because he has about 22 employees, he does not foresee any complications with hiring new managers. In addition to the applications, he has already received two or three e-mails regarding the position.

"I'd be surprised if the ads were a desperate act," Campbell said.

Although the ads indicate the agencies' interest in candidates from outside their own ranks, Campbell suggested it is much easier to draw new managers from inside their employee base. He said it is more desirable for managers to know the inside operations of the water agency because it is a difficult agency to run.

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Matt Bacal '01, manager of the Safeguard Agency, said he is not worried about finding a manager for the next round. In fact, he said an advertisement seeking a Safeguard Manager was a misprint. "It was a miscommunication between the agency and the agency office," he said. "We have people lined up to take over for us."

Garcia also said that with larger agencies, such as Tiger Food, Bartending and Safeguard, there is virtually no worry about filling positions. She said these agencies have more workers, and therefore more people within the agency who would want to become managers. For instance, Tiger Food offers nightly managerial positions in order to help monitor the large number of employees.

Like Garcia, Bacal said it might look as if there is distress brooding among some agencies because currently they have "strong senior leadership and a lot of people are graduating."

However, Bacal said he remains optimistic about his agency. "It pays very well," he said. "It is a great experience and a really good job to have."