Corporate Work Study Program (CWS)
De La Salle North Catholic High School, founded in 2001, has enlisted the support of over 90 Corporate Partners in the Portland Metropolitan Area. The Corporate Work Study Program (CWS) is an integral part of the De La Salle North Catholic education. Students fill entry-level office positions in banking, law, medicine, finance and many other exciting career fields. The CWS experience provides tremendous opportunity for economically disadvantaged students to get a college-prep education, while at the same time providing a diverse, motivated, enthusiastic entry level work force.
What is the Corporate Work Study Program (CWS) ?
Partner organizations contract with CWS to fill full-time, entry level jobs. The fee-for-service contractual period spans approximately ten months from the middle of August to the second week in June. These jobs are paid positions, with the money earned paid directly to De La Salle North Catholic / CWS to cover approximately 50% of the student's’ cost of education. Students are employees of CWS.
The De La Salle North Catholic / CWS staff members provide customer support to our partner’s supervisors in addition to handling all payroll, W-4, I-9, workers’ compensation and other employer issues for the students. CWS trains the students, provides transportation, and works with hiring organizations to assign motivated, enthusiastic student workers who can best meet your business needs!
The graphic below illustrates how a team of four students work together to cover a 1.0 FTE. All students will generally work one day per week (Tuesday through Friday), approximately five days per month including the Monday rotation.
This job share model allows our students to gain valuable experience in the workplace without missing any classroom instruction. The students are first grouped by workday and then by grade level and their schedules are arranged accordingly. For example, if Ana is a Tuesday worker (regardless of grade level), she will report to work every Tuesday, and her classes will only meet Monday through Friday, with the exception of the Tuesdays on which Tuesday students are required to work their Monday rotation. This same concept is applied to Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday student workers respectively.
Using the Model to Fit Your Needs
This model allows our students to balance their time at work and school. Understanding that no two partners have the same work requirements, we work with our partners to help determine what work study model would work best of their needs.
Common Job Sharing: a team of four students is hired to fill a 1.0 FTE entry-level position within one specific department of a business or organization. As a result, each student on this team will have the same job description and will perform the same tasks on each of their workdays every week.
Flexible Job Sharing: if a Corporate Partner's needs are in several departments on a part-time basis, instead of in only one department on a full-time basis, flexible job sharing allows our partners to place one student in up to four different departments of need one day each week. For example, Ana could work every Monday in HR while Jose works every Tuesday in Finance and Maria every Wednesday in Marketing, and so on and so forth.
We realize that the success of our partnerships depend on our partners comfort level with our program, thus we try and go above and beyond to ensure that partners feel informed, supported, and appreciated.
Why CWSP Works
For sponsors
- Creates a diverse entry-level pipeline with capable young men and women.
- Instills a sense of pride in companies, knowing that they are making a difference in the lives of students with limited economic resources.
- Cost-effective since the cost of a team is less than one full-time employee.
- Stabilizes high-turnover positions and reduces burnout in full-time staff. The most-talented workers in the next wave of the labor force can be identified, trained and eventually hired.
For students
- Acquire real life skills necessary for success in the workplace.
- Develop the self-efficacy and sense of accomplishment needed to dream about a viable, productive future.
- Immersion in a world that is unknown to them, increasing their chances of staying in school and connecting with that world after college.
- Learn the value of work and that employment is a privilege.
For the school
- Able to provide a rigorous college preparatory curriculum to students in a faith-filled, values-oriented environment.
- Link real world work experience with academic learning.
For society
- Greater potential for keeping a highly-educated, productive workforce in Oregon after college.
The Corporate Work Study Program positions students for a brighter, more hopeful future by enabling them to develop self-confidence, build self-esteem, and develop lifelong relationships with mentors in the community.
Please click on the link below to view a printable program information sheet.