Student Volunteering

About Student Volunteering

ESA’s staff relies on student volunteers to help run our Annual Meeting each year. We greatly appreciate your interest in helping us in Salt Lake City. We will select students (undergraduate or graduate level) to assist with various tasks throughout the week. Volunteers who complete their assignments (about 10 hours of work) will receive a refund of their Early Bird registration fee.

If you are presenting at this year’s meeting, you should wait to apply after the scheduling notifications go out in May. We strongly suggest you bookmark this page and come back to fill it out after you know when you’ll be presenting. We’ll mention student volunteering in the acceptance notice as a reminder.

We will consider all complete applications received by June 18. It is in your best interest to submit a complete application on time rather than an incomplete one early. The two most common reasons we can’t offer someone a volunteer slot are:

1. The applicant lists a lot of conflicts during the week, and it would be difficult to schedule 10 hours of work during the times they are available; and
2. The applicant did not register before the Early Bird deadline.

ELIGIBILITY

In order to be considered for a volunteer assignment at this meeting, by the June 18 Early Bird deadline each applicant must:

1. Be a student (Students that graduated in Winter 2019 or Spring 2020, as well as students starting in Fall 2020 are eligible).
2. Register to attend the meeting at the student Early Bird rate (which includes paying the appropriate fee).
3. Complete and submit the online student volunteer application form.

VOLUNTEER ASSIGNMENTS

Applicants will be notified of their selection to volunteer and will be instructed to sign up for assignments in late June or early July. Student volunteers work several shifts throughout the week to complete the 10 required service hours. Shifts are available every day from Sunday, August 2 – Thursday, August 6. Typical assignments are described below.

• A/V Assistance: Help speakers move their slides onto the laptop in the room and serve as a backup presider in cases where a presider does not show up. No previous experience with A/V support is required. All A/V volunteers will be trained on site at one of three 30-minute training sessions.
• Field Trip Check-In: These are usually early in the morning. Help people check in for their trip and pick up any materials they may need.
• Event Ticket Taker: Collect tickets at the door, control access to the event, and direct people without tickets to the Onsite Registration Desk. These assignments do not include a free event ticket.
• Registration Desk: Greet attendees and give them their registration materials, help keep the Registration area organized, and perform other support tasks as assigned by ESA staff.
• Information Desk: Answer questions, help attendees sign up to use a Speaker Ready Room, help session presiders and moderators check out various materials they need for their sessions.
• Session Attendance Counting: Visit the weekday lunchtime workshops and Monday morning special sessions to estimate attendance (to help inform future room assignments).
• ESA Booth (Exhibit Hall): Help sell merchandise at the ESA booth.
• Career Central (Exhibit Hall): Volunteer at the welcome desk and serve as a facilitator.

IF YOU ARE SELECTED

We will notify all applicants of their status in late June or early July. Every student volunteer will sign up for their assignments.

A print time sheet will be included with each volunteer’s registration materials on site.

An online schedule reflecting all student volunteer assignments will be available during the conference.

In order to be eligible for a refund of the meeting registration fee, each volunteer must:

• Sign up for volunteer assignments in July.
• Sign a legal form (an accident waiver and release liability form) at the meeting. This will be printed on the back of the volunteer timesheet.
• Show up on time and complete all volunteer assignments (10 hours).
• Document completion of all volunteer assignments by having an ESA staff member or other designated alternate sign where indicated on the timesheet.
• Turn in the completed timesheet at the Registration Desk by 6:30 PM on Thursday, August 6.

Volunteers will be eligible for a refund of their meeting registration fee after completing all volunteer assignments and submitting a completed timesheet. Volunteers are responsible for securing housing, transportation, parking (if applicable), and meals. Volunteers will be reimbursed for the applicable Early Bird student fee, but not for any optional field trip, workshop, or ticketed event fees. Most refunds will be processed after the meeting but no later than October 1, 2020.

APPLY

— Apply now to be a Student Volunteer

IMPORTANT DATES