<![CDATA[The mass transition of honorary administrative staff to Government Employees with Work Agreement (PPPK) status in Indonesian public universities has created a contract-based workforce in a bureaucratic yet non-permanent framework. However, the psychological mechanisms driving employee engagement in this context remain underexamined. This study investigates the influence of competence and supervisory support on employee engagement, mediated by work motivation, among PPPK administrative staff at the University of Mataram. A quantitative associative design used PLS-SEM with 126 respondents systematically sampled from 695 PPPK staff via a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire. Results show that competence positively affects engagement both directly and, more strongly, indirectly through work motivation (complementary partial mediation). Supervisory support has no direct effect; its influence is fully mediated by work motivation (indirect-only mediation). Work motivation is the strongest predictor of engagement, serving as the psychological conduit translating personal and job resources into engagement. The model explains substantial variance in engagement. University management should prioritize competence development and design supervisory practices to cultivate work motivation, as support mechanisms alone do not enhance engagement. The study extends JD-R and OST theories by revealing differential mediation pathways in contract-based public higher education.]]>
