If you’ve ever stepped foot into the Office of Digital Humanities, you’ve probably been greeted by Bonnie Bingham and her students with a warm “Hello!” which might be followed by, “the Testing Lab is in the basement.” But while our ODH front lines are quite good at giving directions, they also serve a vital role in running the FLATS testing program (Foreign Language Achievement Testing Services).
Bonnie and her four students set the tone for the office, bringing a strong orientation to service and a love of learning. Bonnie is the ODH Office manager, but she is also responsible for managing FLATS. Under her direction, our student secretaries run the FLATS show. A nationally recognized exam, the FLATS Testing Program allows examinees across the United States to earn college credit for their language abilities by adding their test scores to their college transcripts. The FLATS test is a 12-credit pass/fail exam that assesses listening, grammar, and reading proficiency, available in 59 languages. Students can register online and pay a very low fee of $50 to take the test at a college or university in their area (or online with Proctor360 if their school allows it).
A One-of-a-Kind Campus Job
When I interviewed each of our FLATS secretaries about their experience on the job, I expected to hear a description about the day-to-day work they did. While they did discuss their job duties, I was blown away by the way each of them described the quality of their job: across the board, our students agree that FLATS secretary is the best job on campus.
So what makes it such a great position? FLATS secretaries’ day-to-day work involves working directly with test-takers by answering phone calls, responding to emails, and sending out test results. It looks like a pretty standard office job. But the distinguishing factor that makes FLATS special is the people. The FLATS team is a tight-knit community that works hard and supports each other–both during work and after. It’s an environment that has fostered a positive work environment and built a springboard to future job opportunities. Our FLATS students have different majors, interests, and career goals, but FLATS has been critical in shaping their academic journey–and their connection to BYU.
For Maren, a double-major in art and art history, the people in ODH have been an integral part of her BYU experience. Her first job in ODH was as a lab attendant with Russell Hansen. After working with Russell, she moved over to the FLATS team. Maren’s experience is not atypical: many of Bonnie’s students over the years have started on Russell’s team and moved over to FLATS, including Hannah, another current secretary. The FLATS secretaries have high praises for both Bonnie Bingham and Russell Hansen.
Our FLATS secretaries love helping people. “Nowadays,” said Maren, “people don’t expect a real person to answer the phone. I would imagine it helps to have students talking to students because we get it.” Kalea, an English major, understands how stressful test-taking can be and mentioned her conscious effort to put FLATS test-takers at ease during phone calls. It makes a huge difference to have someone at the other end who is not only able to answer questions, but to do it in a reassuring way. If there’s any confusion about the test, our student secretaries are there to help.
Reaping the Rewards of Hard Work
Our FLATS students play a critical role in managing the load that testing administration requires. As ODH Office Manager, Bonnie has a host of responsibilities outside of FLATS. “It helps tremendously to have a top-tier team of students who I can trust to do an excellent job assisting our customers and the hundreds of proctors that administer tests across the country.” To be hired in the first place, they need to have a good work ethic. And these students do work hard. In their everyday duties, our students rise to the task, proactive and professional in completing their work.
In turn, working in FLATS benefits our students’ professional development, allowing them to strengthen their office and interpersonal skills, like speaking on the phone. Hannah, a double-major in applied computational mathematics and psychology, noted that FLATS taught her to use Excel: “It has been really helpful for data management in math.” Zinead, an elementary education major with two minors (arts integration and TESOL), finds that the job has helped her develop interpersonal skills, which will be essential for working with parents and other people in schools.
Even without a direct interest in digital humanities, these students find meaning in their work. According to Maren, “I’m not going into digital humanities and I don’t speak a second language, but one of my degrees is in the humanities field. One of the main skills that humanities jobs want is cultural navigation. I didn’t realize until I started taking a class, but I have a ton of cultural navigation skills. A lot of it is because of this job.”
Having a Home Base
For Kalea, working in FLATS has been perfect for a busy senior year. “I’m taking 21 credits, and I don’t know what I would do [in a high-stress job].” In addition to providing great experience in an office job, it has become a “home base” in between classes. “All my classes are in the [JFSB]. I don’t have a commute, and I can leave a book at my work desk.”
Having a place to leave a book at your desk provides more than just storage. It creates a shared space that serves as a home base during a busy semester, fostering the kind of connection and belonging that we seek to develop on campus.
Our FLATS secretaries have discovered that working in ODH means more than working just a job: it means having a “home base:” a place to strengthen friendships and to feel connected to the university and to the Lord. “I love the people I work with,” says Hannah. “We are all good friends.” The environment Bonnie cultivates has led to friendships that last long after students graduate. I’ve personally witnessed at least one happy reunion where a student comes back to visit, and I’m sure there have been and will be many more to come.
FLATS set a high bar for student employment, offering the best of what student jobs hope to offer. Our students rise to the occasion, providing high-quality work and contributing to a positive work environment. So while the job itself is good, it’s our secretaries themselves that make the job–and FLATS–better.
And I’m willing to bet that the best student employees on campus are the ones right here in ODH.