Program Provides PEP to NC State Student Work Experiences

Students searching for professional work experiences on campus – and faculty and staff who are looking for undergraduate student help – can turn to a program created and sponsored by the provost’s office.

The Provost’s Professional Experience Program (PEP) helps fund work experiences across campus. From research opportunities to career-developing projects, the program accepts proposals for numerous types of jobs on campus and provides 75 percent of the funding for those positions, with the home department or work unit providing 25 percent.

Students can earn up to $2,000 over the course of an academic year ($1,000 per semester) regardless of other scholarships, work-study programs or financial need, although they may hold only one PEP position per semester.

“PEP students represent every undergraduate college at NC State,” said Krista Ringler, who directs the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, which administers the program. “They have an average cumulative GPA of 3.42 and hail from all across North Carolina, the U.S. and the globe.”

Around 75 percent of the approximately 500 PEP participants are junior or seniors, said Marion Zanga, who coordinates PEP in the scholarships and financial aid office.

“That make the experiences particularly timely and valuable for students preparing to enter the job market,” Zanga said.

Ringler notes that student employment in the PEP program increased 82 percent from 2015-16 to 2017-18, thanks to additional funding from the provost’s office that allows the 75-25 funding split.

That’s important to students like Kelly Goode, a senior majoring in genetics and plant biology whose research experience is funded by PEP. Goode studies Fraser fir trees in Professor John Frampton’s molecular tree breeding lab under the direction of postdoctoral researcher Lilian Matallana. Goode has been selected to present her research, “Cell Separation: The Christmas Story You Haven’t Heard,” at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Edmond, Oklahoma, next month.

Campus employers interested in submitting a proposal for PEP should complete the web form. PEP positions must be renewed each academic year. Position requests will be accepted until April 16, 2018.

Once positions are approved in mid-April, NC State students can submit applications. PEP employers can recruit students by posting jobs through ePack or by directly marketing positions to specific groups of students.

More information about the PEP program and the 2018-19 position request process is available.