The best kind of work
Posted on: May 13, 2015; Updated on: May 13, 2015
By Liz McCarthy, lwhite@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-777-2848
Augusta Schneider reinvented her career several times but it’s the latest position at the University of South Carolina that has proven to be the most rewarding.
“What could be better than working with young people who are just starting out on their life?” she says. “It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done and I’ve had some really high profile jobs.”
Schneider started her career traveling the world as a buyer for companies like JC Penney and Belk. Later, she started a wholesale printing business with her husband in South Carolina, but when the couple sold the business, Schneider needed another career.
She landed at UofSC as the business manager of the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity. While she wears many hats in the position, managing the staff of student workers has been her favorite part of the work and keeps her young, she says.
“We can’t run our office without incredible student assistants,” she says. “We process over 3,000 cases a year and they are the first eyes and ears.”
Each semester Schneider hires 16 undergraduate students and five graduate students to help process student conduct reports. Student workers are an important part of the student conduct process, and the training for the positions is intense.
“The office culture here is nurturing. It’s a great team,” she says. “We don’t have much turnover, which I think speaks volumes.”
Schneider says campus jobs are an important part of the college experience, offering students a chance to understand what it means to work.
“You’re trying to train them to get ready for the real world. And the real world can be not so fun and not so wonderful,” she says. “What we try to do is give them the opportunities that can work in a real work environment.”
In recognition of her efforts, the Leadership and Service Center named her this year’s Supervisor of the Year as a part of the university’s celebration of student employees. It’s work that Schneider says makes her thankful every day to come to campus.
“The students have so much enthusiasm. They’re young; they’re energetic. They tell you the truth when your hair doesn’t look good. They are just a lot of fun,” she says. “I can’t imagine at this stage of my life being able to do anything I’d enjoy more.”
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