Office of Student Life
Student Employment Experience

SEELA and GROW

The Student Employment Experience Learning Assessment (SEELA) is a tool used to give you more information about your student employees’ engagement in transferable skills.

Guided Reflection on Work (GROW)* conversations help student employees connect their on-campus employment to their academic coursework and future career plans. 

Student employees will be asked to complete the SEELA once a semester during GROW Month (usually held in November during fall semesters and March during spring semesters). SEE supervisors then use these SEELA results to inform and guide the GROW conversations with their student employees. 

*GROW is used with permission from © University of Iowa 

 

Taking the SEELA 

Once a semester, students will be asked to take the SEELA to evaluate their engagement in the following tranferable skills or focus areas:

  1. Professionalism - Students will learn the value of effective work habits and the importance of acting in the interest of the larger workplace or community to achieve maximum productivity and accomplish a shared goal. 
  2. Leadership - Students will recognize the elements of an effective leader within themselves, including how to encourage success through recognizing strengths, inspiring motivation and using innovative thinking and problem-solving skills, while building mutual trust.
  3. Belonging & Inclusion - Students will understand how to support an inclusive community where all members obtain access to the same opportunities so that all can thrive.
  4. Teamwork - Students will discover how active listening, effective conflict management, and collaboration with others contributes to positive working relationships.  
  5. Digital Wellness - Students will learn how to leverage technologies, while being mindful of the impact of their virtual presence and taking steps to create sustainable habits that support their values, goals, community and safety.
  6. Career Wellness & Self-Development - Students will find meaningful ways to utilize their own strengths in both their academic and professional careers, identify areas of improvement and navigate critical skills such as upskilling (learning to expand one’s existing skill set), reskilling (learning new skills outside of one’s existing skillset) and networking.
  7. Critical Thinking & Problem Solving - Students will tackle relevant problems by anticipating needs and actions, identifying reputable sources and accurately reporting and utilizing data.
  8. Communication - Students will understand the importance of clearly conveying information, ideas, facts and perspectives with various audiences in mind.

 

SEELA Scoring 

After completing the SEELA, students will receive a score between 0 and 5 for each focus area:       

  • 0 - The student employee never engages in this skill.
  • 1 - The student employee engages in this skill a few times a semester.
  • 2 - The student employee engages in this skill a few times a month.
  • 3 - The student employee engages in this skill once a week.
  • 4 - The student employee engages in this skill a few times a week.
  • 5 - The student employee engages in this skill more than a few times a week.

High focus areas have an average score of 3 or higher and are skills that students are practicing at least once a week in their current on-campus student employment position.          

Low focus areas have an average score of 1 or lower and are skills that students are practicing a few times a semester or less in their current on-campus student employment position. 

For high focus areas, students will receive a text description of each skill and suggested resume/interview language based on those skills.

 

Scheduling GROW Conversations 

Once a student employee has received their SEELA results, they should forward the results to their supervisor. SEE supervisors will then conduct 30-minute GROW conversations with their student employees. GROW conversations can be held one-on-one or in small groups.  

The specific details of each GROW conversation will vary depending on the student employee’s needs, but there are resources available on our website to provide sample questions and assist supervisors in facilitating the conversation. 

GROW conversations should help the student employee connect their on-campus work to their academic coursework and their future careers, identify opportunities for future professional development and reflect upon their own skills and goals. 

 

Steps to Prepare for GROW Month 

  1. Schedule your GROW conversations with your student employees. They should each last about 30 minutes.
  2. Direct your students to complete the SEE Learning Assessment (SEELA) at go.osu.edu/seela. The assessment should take 15 minutes or less to complete, and you are encouraged to allow your student employees to complete this during work time or just prior to their GROW conversations if you are able.
  3. Review the GROW Guide on our website and determine which questions you plan to ask your students.
  4. Keep track of how many GROW conversations you have. After you have held all of your conversations, please complete the GROW Tracking Form (please be aware that links to the SEELA and the GROW Tracking Form will only be available during GROW Month).