Shelving books and operating cash registers is not all there is to student work.
In light of the National Student Employment Association’s “Recognition Week,” a celebratory event will take place April 7 to recognize student employees on campus.
“We are very excited to hand out the student employee of the year award because this is something completely new for the school,” Luis Mancia, Financial Aid adviser, said.
“The actual recognition week of NSEA is the second week of April, but since that’s when our spring break is, we decided to do it a week in advance,” he said.
The event is planned to include certificates of appreciation handed out for all student employees and to announce a student employee of the year.
The winner of the award will receive a plaque, a scholarship and his or her name engraved on a plaque to be displayed in the Human Resources Center.
“It’s great to hear that an event like this is getting put together,” Gabriel Dulanto, a student employee of three years, said. “The scholarships will be helpful because a lot of us who work here don’t have money.”
The winner of the student employee award will also get a chance to compete in the regional division and national award of NSEA, Mancia said.
“Students are nominated by their supervisors or employers, then the committee meets together to choose the winner of the award,” Mancia said.
Several local businesses, committee members and even the Bookstore have pitched in to sponsor the event, donating gift certificates and money for scholarships.
“We are surprised with the amount of responses from the community,” Mancia said.
Although notification of the event has not been given to all student employees yet, the planning committee is staying optimistic and working hard to plan out all the details of the event.
“We are all upbeat and we all believe that this will be a successful event,” Mancia said.
“The student employees are really assets to the school and this is just something we want to do for them to show our appreciation.”
Mancia estimates that there are about 200 to 330 student employees on campus; however, there are only 150 currently confirmed by supervisors and departments.
The event will be at 12:30 in the Student Activities Center.
“It’s my goal to keep this up as a tradition that the school does every year,” Mancia said. “In twenty years, I hope to see twenty names engraved on the plaque hanging on the wall.”
