Meet A&F's Summer Student Employees

July 17, 2023

Summertime for some University of Houston college students means relaxing, refreshing, and recovering from the spring semester. For others, the summertime offers an opportunity to participate in internships or work summer jobs, including on campus.

There’s no shortage of summer employees helping in the division of Administration and Finance, which currently employs 95 summer student employees. The students gain valuable experience and are exposed to a real-life work environment. Meet some of A&F’s summer student employees and learn their roles and responsibilities with the division.

	Jaylan Ross Classification: Junior – Rising Senior Major: Nutrition Employing Department: Auxiliary Services Job Title and Responsibilities: As a student worker, my responsibilities include performing office administrative and clerical duties such as answer and returning phone calls, responding to email inquiries, receiving and sending fax, making copies, and scan documents, assisting with walk-in customer inquiries, investigating questions or concerns from customers and participates in finding solutions, Conducts customer satisfaction surveys, preparing reports, and other departmental projects, assists with validating UH Cougar Card and POI status for contractors and vendors. What led you to become a summer student employee? I have always worked at the forefront of the food industry. I felt stagnant, so it was time to mix things up and try something new. I've always been interested in getting more involved with the student body, and I figured a position in the Auxiliary Services was a perfect place to start! My past experiences taught me the importance of going above and beyond and striving for satisfaction with every interaction. Being an Auxiliary Services Student Worker allows me to enjoy the best part of working in Customer Service, the people. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? I plan on attending professional school to have a career in healthcare and will dedicate my career to being the voice and advocating for the unheard and ignored. Being a Student Worker in the Auxiliary Services allows me to contribute to and support a community I am part of. Giving back to the community is essential, and it creates purpose by helping those individuals around you. The impact of contributing back to your community is infinite. I'm excited to see what new experiences and connections this opportunity will bring.
	Cristian Romero Major: Technology Leadership and Innovation Management Classification: Senior Employing Department: Environmental Life and Safety Job Title and Responsibilities: As a student worker, my responsibilities include logging data for our chemistry team, helping to test campus safety equipment as needed, and handling other tasks to help others within the office building. What led you to become a summer student employee? The faculty members I work with are incredibly kind, and I have had the privilege of learning many interesting new things during my time at EHS. I am happy to work with EHS at any time. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? I have learned many professional organization skills as a student worker. I have learned a lot about how office work is structured, how to work with other team members (including remotely), and the importance of keeping safe and clean personal spaces.
	Dhanush Raghupathy Major: Construction Management Classification: Graduate Student Employing Department: Facilities Planning and Construction Management Job Title and Responsibilities: My title is Space Management and Analysis. My duties include assisting Space Management team members with various digital projects, updating architectural floor plans to reflect minor and comprehensive renovations, review and modify drawings in AutoCAD, review and field verify civil and landscape drawings in both AutoCAD and ArcGIS. I also Participate with planning team to import architectural and civil drawings from construction projects to ensure accuracy for state and federal reporting and to improve end-user experience. What led you to become a summer student employee? I started working with FCM eight months ago, and I will continue doing so part-time throughout the summer. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? There are many beneficial experiences that I have gained that will help my career, but the two most important are professionalism and workplace etiquette and problem-solving. These skills have laid a solid foundation for my professional success.
	Miguel Carrion Classification: Junior Major: Architecture Employing Department: Facilities/Construction Management \| UH Facilities Design Job Title and Responsibilities: As a Facilities Planning Services Intern, my responsibilities include assisting with FF&E technical development on capital construction projects. Assisting with contract process (i.e. bid documents, project schedules, punch lists, etc.), attending project meetings and job site visits to gain an understanding of the comprehensive approach as it relates to the customer needs and the building's physical space characteristics. What led you to become a summer student employee? I think that having the opportunity to work in the summer is a great way to expand and increase my working experience, mainly because a lot of projects happen over the summer in preparation for the upcoming school year. I also have more availability during the summer, allowing me to be even more involved in future and upcoming projects. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? Working with the design team, I have been able to sit in meetings and get to know contractors, furniture vendors, and clients and see how every team fits into the bigger picture to complete a project on campus.
	Joel Ramirez Major: Construction Management Classification: Senior Employing Department: Facilities Planning Job Title and Responsibilities: As a student worker, I help our team of planners. What led you to become a summer student employee? I am taking summer classes and thought it would be great to continue working and gaining valuable experience this summer. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? I’ve utilized my knowledge of project development from class and have had hands-on experience creating scope documents and preliminary estimates. I’ve also been able to work with many different people since I’m a member of a multi-disciplinary team.
	Rituja Vats Major: Architect\Construction Management Classification: Intern Employing Department: Facilities/Construction Management Job Title and Responsibilities: Space Management and Analysis What led you to become a summer student employee? My decision to become a summer student employee was driven by a desire to gain practical work experience, expand my skill set, clarify my career goals, alleviate financial burdens, and build a professional network. This opportunity would allow me to grow personally and professionally, laying a solid foundation for my future endeavors. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? My experience as a student worker has provided me with a solid foundation of skills and knowledge that will prove invaluable in my future career. From time management and communication to teamwork and adaptability, these learnings will enable me to navigate the professional world with confidence, contribute effectively to organizational success, and continuously grow and evolve as a professional.
	Rajagopal Pamula Major: Management & Science Classification: Graduate Student Employing Department: Facilities and Business Services Job Title and Responsibilities: As a student worker, I work on the budget journal, cost center creation, and voucher, maintaining customer relationships with timely invoicing, cross-functionally, and working with the business service team and Project Managers. What led you to become a summer student employee? Actually, I’m a new international graduate student seeking a master's degree in the field of Supply Chain and Logistics Technology. I have no previous professional experience in America. Working here allows me to adapt to the American work style and culture. This will be thoroughly beneficial for me in the future. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? Many students like me will take up summer employment to gain practical experience in a professional setting. This experience will provide valuable insights into any industry or my career path, helping them to Develop skills and knowledge relevant to their Further Goals. A summer job can provide a platform for enhancing various skills such as communication, teamwork, time management, problem-solving, and adaptability. These skills are valuable in both personal and Professional contexts and can contribute to a student’s overall Development.
	Raaj Thipparthy Major: Management Information Systems (Masters) Classification: Graduate Student Employing Department: Facilities and Business Services Job Title and Responsibilities: As a student worker, my job responsibilities include routing invoices to project managers, paying invoices by creating vouchers, verifying paid invoices, cross verifying previous voucher/invoice data to see if the payment was made. What led you to become a summer student employee? The major takeaways from this job pushed me to take up this role. During the summer, I wanted to enhance some of my skills that could make me more presentable and trained when I sit for full-time job opportunities after I graduate from UH. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? This job teaches me to work with great precision and concentration. I get to work in a team and get to learn how to work together to meet goals. Getting deliverables to the team lead on time with the least mistakes from my end makes this job challenging in a good way and pushes me to strive towards perfection.
	Haley Jackson Major: Marketing Minor: Fashion Merchandising Classification: Senior Employing Department: UH Cougar Card Office Job Title and Responsibilities: I’m a Customer Service Representative. My responsibilities include assisting customers at the service counter who are trying to obtain their Cougar Card or who have any other issues relating to their Cougar Card. What led you to become a summer student employee? I became a summer student employee so I could save up some money that’ll help me pay for my college necessities. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? As a student worker, I’ve learned the essence of providing great customer service.
	Marlenn Gonzalez Major: Computer Science Classification: Junior Employing Department: Cougar Card Office Job Title and Responsibilities: I’m a Customer Service Representative. My responsibilities include receiving and responding to customer inquiries and complaints in person, by telephone and/or email about Cougar Card Services. What led you to become a summer student employee? I wanted to become a student employee to occupy myself in the summer and have the opportunity to gain work experience and valuable skills. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? What I have learned being a student worker is communicating more effectively. I believe this is an important skill that can help me in my future career because it makes me feel more confident, which can lead to building stronger connections and making the workplace run more effectively.
	Sanghamitra Thulasidas Major: Biomedical Engineering Classification: Student - Sophomore Employing Department: Cougar Card Office Job Title and Responsibilities: I’m a Customer Service Representative. My responsibilities include printing out new Cougar Cards, attending to customer issues related to the Cougar Card, attending resources fairs to help the incoming students learn about the importance of the Cougar Card, and updating files. What led you to become a summer student employee? My main goal was to gain professional experience to help prepare myself for future career opportunities. I also wanted to start earning my own money to manage my personal finances and summer seemed to be the best time to help me do so. I also wanted to improve my career-focused skills through the job. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? Through my current role as a Customer Service Representative, I have learned how to deal with and adapt to certain situations. It helped me improve my communication skills, strengthen my empathy and organization skills. The job has provided me with a space to learn how to manage my finances. I also learned to maintain a good balance between my work, school, and personal life.
	Ashley Salazar Major: Marketing Classification: Senior Employing department: Parking & Transportation Services Job title and responsibilities: I’m a Marketing Outreach Ambassador. My job responsibilities are representing Parking and Transportation at various outreach events, serving as an ambassador for Parking and Transportation. Provide customer support and solutions by recommending appropriate services/options. Creating graphic designs, capturing photo and video content for social media, providing insight into student trends and preferences for effective outreach programming, recording participation at all outreach events, and reporting this data to management. And making recommendations, based on data collection, to management on future outreach opportunities. What led you to become a summer student employee? I am currently studying marketing and I was eager to gain more experience in social media and outreach marketing. This role offers the perfect opportunity for me to enhance my skills. I am able to immerse myself and expand my knowledge. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? I have learned how to create graphics to help promote the parking department on campus. I have also learned how to represent the parking department at events so that students are aware of all types of parking.
	Rothnica Marin Major: Global Hospitality Classification: Junior Employing Department: UH Parking and Transportation Services Job Title and Responsibilities: I’m a Marketing Outreach Ambassador. My job responsibilities are representing Parking and Transportation at various outreach events, serving as an ambassador for Parking and Transportation. Provide customer support and solutions by recommending appropriate services/options. Creating graphic designs, capturing photo and video content for social media, providing insight into student trends and preferences for effective outreach programming, recording participation at all outreach events, and reporting this data to management. And making recommendations, based on data collection, to management on future outreach opportunities. What led you to become a summer student employee? I want to expand my marketing and public speaking skills, plus an on-campus job that works with my class schedule. What have you learned being a student worker that can help you in your future career? I have learned graphic design, social media marketing, professionalism, project management, leadership, and time management, which are crucial skill sets that could help me in my future career.