This week, the students who work on campus are being honored during Student Employee Appreciation Week. This is a nationally organized event, but every university does it in its own way.
“I think we have a really good program for Student Employee Appreciation Week, and it’s been in place for a number of years,” Jana Nixon, Student Employment Services Coordinator, said. “We do it because our student employees make valuable contributions to the university.”
This has become an important week for Student Employment Services. It has become quite large and has been going on for about eight years.
“This week takes a lot of work and I wouldn’t be able to do it all myself,” Nixon said. “I have to give credit to the Employment Services student workers, who have put so much into this week.”
There are many events going on throughout the week to show appreciation for the entire student employees on campus. All student employees and their employers are invited to an all-day coffee break today, where there will be free food and beverages. There will also be a photo booth, where students can take fun pictures with one another.
The student appreciation luncheon, put on by both Staff Council and Career Services, will take place in Legacy Hall from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Student employees whose supervisors bought tickets are highly encouraged to attend the event, and may come and go as they please.
“Not only will the students get food, but they will be entered into a raffle,” Nixon said. “We are going to be giving away a lot of stuff, from gift cards for local businesses to a bag of gifts from Starbucks.”
The Part-time and Summer Job Fair will also be held in Legacy Hall, but will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 1 p.m. There will be more than 20 employers at the job fair, where students can come learn about opportunities for employment over the summer, or even for next semester.
“If the students come to the fair prepared, they have the potential to walk out of there with a job lined up for the summer or fall,” Nixon said.
Student Employee Appreciation Week will conclude on April 10 with an award ceremony at 4 p.m., where the Student Employee of the Year will be announced. There are a record 19 nominees for this award, so students are encouraged to come see who wins in the Thunder Room.Student employees may also fill out student employee evaluations to be entered into a raffle, and there will also be a Guess the Gumballs game set up at Career Services, where all students may guess how many gumballs are in a jar for a prize.
Aside from showing appreciation for the student employees on campus, this week also shows how important student employment is to students and how beneficial working on campus can be.
“I really like working on campus because it’s convenient,” Roger Henderson, a sophomore Pre-dental major who works at the cafeteria, said. “It’s only a three minute walk and my manager is super nice.”
There are also other benefits to working on campus, which is one reason why there are nearly 1,000 student workers on campus.
“Working on campus is awesome,” Stephen Enriquez, a sophomore computer science major who works in the Engineering Department Computer Lab, said. “I don’t have to drive to work every day, and honestly it pays really well.”
There is more than one reason why Student Employment Services put on Student Employee Appreciation Week, but they highly encourage students to participate in all of the events, to both be honored and find new opportunities for employment.