Social work student advocates for students with disabilities through MSU's BOSS Program
January 30, 2025 - Brandon Drain
Saara Ashtiani setting up a meeting schedule with one of the MSU STRIDE Center students. Photo by Brandon Drain for Michigan State University.
Social workers play a vital role in strengthening and advocating for marginalized communities, a mission that begins even during their undergraduate years. For BASW junior, Saara Ashtiani, this comes in the form of empowering students with disabilities to get jobs, while subsequently laying out a pathway for future success through the Michigan State University Building Opportunities for Spartan Success (BOSS) Program.
The BOSS Program is a two-part, work-based learning opportunity that matches MSU students with disabilities to campus jobs that align with employment goals. Ashtiani serves as both a job coach for the program and a student research assistant at the MSU Stride Center. The center oversees the BOSS Program, which helps students with disabilities build career pathways.
The program includes 10 weeks of employment and 15 weeks of classes. Each week, Ashtiani works hands-on with two students teaching them skills like how to build a resume, write cover letters, develop social skills and even being a person of support for them at their jobs. In addition, she also facilitates the weekly classes. “As a job coach, it is my specialty to figure out what additional goals they could have for themselves, helping them recognize what they might be and figuring out ways to achieve those goals throughout the semester,” said Ashtiani.
Being in this position has been a rewarding experience for the junior. “One of the most exciting things has been watching one of the students have a dream for what their job was going to be throughout the semester, and watching that finally come into place,” she explained. “Watching them achieve their goals that they've had and then being able to land a position with the job placement for next semester and just continuing that work has been really awesome to see.”
Ashtiani “fell in love” with the MSU School of Social Work after switching majors, she said. “I realized that the School Social Work was the hidden gem of Michigan State,” she explained. “There is just so much support and kindness and friendship and mentorship that you can find within the School of Social Work from literally everyone involved that I don't think there's another place like that.”