Becca Mauller helps in all aspects of hiring student employees

By Kristal Humphrey, university news and communications

Rebecca “Becca” Mauller, senior personnel technician in student employment, knows what it’s like to be a student employee at Miami. She worked in Martin Dining Hall and Shriver Center as a high school student.

After working outside the university for a while and starting her journey toward a degree in labor studies, she was excited to apply and be chosen for a position in Miami’s human resources department in July 2017.

Q: How did you end up at Miami the second time?

A: I worked in billing at McCullough Hyde Hospital for a while. The experiences I had with the hospital’s HR department made me realize I wanted to work in that field. When I left the hospital, I started applying to jobs that I would love to have, and the one at Miami was at the top of the list.

Q: What are you responsible for in your job?

A: Every hiring action for students; processing I-9s (the Employee Eligibility Verification); building jobs in Banner; submitting promotions, demotions and retroactive pay; changing the index codes that students are getting paid from; and working with student financial assistance for students in the work study program.

We audit the student payroll biweekly to make sure it’s accurate and also audit the monthly pay since some students, like RAs, get paid per month. I also process background checks for RAs.

We verify employment for any requests from the federal or state level. If it’s not for a state or federal agency, we refer people to JobTrax—Miami’s online portal. If anyone has a problem with the site, we will assist them with the verification.

Q: What is the best thing about your job?

A: Everyone I work with. It feels like a family, and we’re team-oriented. I’ve always felt comfortable bouncing ideas off of anyone in student or staff employment. The student employees in our department are positive and helpful, and it’s nice to have students helping other students.

I also like that I’m helping departments fulfill their need for part-time help and, at the same time, helping students get work experience.

Q: What is the most challenging aspect?

A: The software and troubleshooting issues. For instance, sometimes departments can't see a student’s name in HireTouch (the online personnel hiring system), and I figure out why they can’t and how to enable them to see it.

It’s also a challenge if departments don’t follow the student hiring process in the right order.

Q: How many student employees are there at Miami?

A: There’s an average of 4,000 student employees at any given time — including all campuses and existing and new hires.

Q: When is your busiest time of year?

A: The beginning of fall is the busiest time. The week before classes it starts getting busy because some students like RAs and international students come to campus early. Tasks come to me in two ways: I-9s being completed and through HireTouch. It’s not uncommon to get 50-100 requests per day in HireTouch in September. It starts to gear up in August and gets busier in September.

In September, we process 20-40 I-9s per day. After students bring in their documents so we can make copies of them and they complete their paperwork, we activate their jobs in Banner. Banner interacts with Kronos overnight to set up their profile. Between I-9s and HireTouch, at least 100 new tasks come in each day during September. Starting about October, it slows down a little.

Q: Are you as busy in the spring?

A: In the spring it’s busy but not as busy as fall. Around the middle to end of November we start filling jobs for spring and get busier December-January. We’re still busy in February not only because of the spring hires but because that’s also when RAs are selected by residence life for the next year.

We send about 100-150 requests to students asking them to complete steps for the background checks. Both new and returning RAs get background checks.

Q: What can departments and students do to help the process, especially during the busiest times?

A: In September, the main thing is to have patience. We understand the importance of getting students hired and work diligently to process the requests as quickly as possible. We process them in the order we receive them.

Also, since September is going to be busy each year, it helps to get your request in earlier than that. If departments know they'll be hiring a student, they can tell the student to watch for an email from us that outlines specific documents they need to have with them to complete their paperwork.

Q: What would people be surprised to know about you?

A: I am a photographer and have been for seven years. I do family photos, senior photos and weddings. Also, I’m a major football fan, but I’m not talking about the NFL or college. I’m a fan of Talawanda Bantam Football since my 9-year-old son plays on the third-grade team.