Students First

In every student leadership position, we tell our students, "you are a student first" and "academics come first." But what doe sthat really mean?

I think many of us (supervisors, administrators) mean that we will support your studies and try to be flexible to work around those. We'll talk with you about your academics and help you figure out a plan to manage your time or refer you to appropriate resoruces. If you have a very stressful week and you ask for an extension on a deadline, we'll try to grant it (if possible) or we may even jump in and help with something (e.g. I usually cover one or two duty nights during Finals Week because I know that's a busy time for my staff).

But I think "being students first" means something different to some of our students. I sometimes get the impression that they expect that the excuse "I need to study" will get them out of any job duty. And I'm sorry but I just don't think that's realistic. Yes, you are a student first, but you also signed up for that job and having a job means that you need to get the job done. Will I try to be flexible? Of course! Am I willing to help out once in a while? Sure. But in the end, the job needs to get done and maybe being a student first means that if you can't manage both, you need to give up the job or leadership role.