Celebrate Students

Each year Texas A&M University joins colleges and universities across the country in recognizing the importance of the student employee experience during National Student Employment Week. Student employment offers students career-enhancing opportunities, the ability to develop skills relevant in any career, and preparation for the job market upon graduation. 
 
National Student Employment Week enables us to recognize and thank TAMU student employees for the contributions they make as employees to the University and the Bryan/College Station community. Student employees perform invaluable services with enthusiasm, dedication, and initiative. In fact, most schools and surrounding businesses depend on the contributions of this reliable workforce for the efficient operation of the campus and community. 
National Student Employment Week is a week-long celebration held in mid-April each year.  The celebration is dedicated to recognizing the valuable contributions that Texas A&M student employees make to our university and the surrounding community. Student employees serve in many on and off-campus positions that play an integral role in the operation of our organizations and businesses. 
 
The Division of Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness would like to encourage you to plan your own celebration to recognize your student employees’ contributions. Some ways your office or department can celebrate include: 
 
  • Hold your own awards ceremony and give out awards for unique categories (i.e. Best Attendance, Best Computer Skills, Most Organized, and Best Customer Service). 
  • Take your student employees out to lunch or order in and have a pizza party. 
  • Bring in a cake, cupcakes, or cookies decorated for National Student Employment Week. 
  • Award students small tokens of appreciation, such as movie tickets or gift cards. 
  • Have the full-time staff members write notes to the students detailing how they assist them day-to-day and thanking them. Give flowers or balloons. 
  • Decorate a bulletin board for your student employees with pictures and notes from the staff. 
  • Give each student a framed photo of the entire office staff that they can take with them when they graduate. Decorate the frame to show your appreciation. 
  • Gather information on your student employees such as career goals, favorite movie, unique talents, etc. and post in the office break room. Many times, full-time staff know very little about part-time student employees. 
  • Conduct a scavenger hunt for your student employees. 
  • Give the student a “Friendship Plant”; a cutting from an office plant in a small pot decorated to show your appreciation. This way the student will always have a “live” connection to their student employment experience. 
  • Pat on the Back - Draw an outline of your hand on a piece of paper. Photocopy enough copies for all students in your office. On each hand write a note that tells the student why they deserve a “Pat on the Back”. 
  • "Good Egg Award" - Buy plastic Easter eggs, fill with goodies and give out with "Good Egg Certificates". List what the students did to deserve this award. 
  • If you are in a large office, take up a department-wide collection to purchase an advertisement in the Battalion thanking your student employees by name. In addition to making your student employees feel appreciated, this will show other students you are a caring employer. 

The Student Employee of the Year Awards will honor two outstanding student employees selected from nominated candidates who meet the following award criteria:

Nominee Criteria

  • Must be a Texas A&M University - College Station student currently working in a student employee capacity. 
  • Must be employed with a Texas A&M University or a TAMU System Agency serving the Bryan-College Station area.
  • May be undergraduate or graduate but not a Graduate Assistant nor Teaching Assistant. 
  • Must have been employed a minimum of six (6) months by February 1, 2024. 
  • Must be enrolled at least ½ time (6 hours undergraduate, 5 hours graduate) at Texas A&M - College Station for the Spring 2024 term. 

The nomination must be submitted by a supervisor, faculty, or staff member. Only one student employee should be nominated per team within an office/department. Only one nomination form per student will be accepted. All subsequent nomination forms will not be reviewed. Nominations will be submitted via the Laserfiche form linked below. The deadline to submit your nomination is January 31, 2024. 

2024 Student Employee of the Year Nomination Form

The Student Employee of the Year Award was established by the National Student Employment Association to encourage higher education campuses to honor one outstanding student employee for excellence on the job and in their academic pursuits. In 2007, Texas A&M expanded its program to present two student employee of the year awards. Congratulations to all our exceptional student employees who have been recognized through the years for their accomplishments.

2024 Student Employee of the Year Award Recipients


Pictured left to right: Damon Slaydon, Vice President, Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness; Addi Tsirulnik, 2024 Student Employee of the Year; Porter S. Garner III, President and CEO, The Association of Former Students


Pictured left to right: Damon Slaydon, Vice President, Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness; Banesa Arredondo 2024 Student Employee of the Year; Porter S. Garner III, President and CEO, The Association of Former Students

Student Employee Award Received
Jason Mock '99 1999 Student Employee of the Year
Dwain Sparling ‘00 2000 Student Employee of the Year
Preston Pratt ‘01 2001 Student Employee of the Year
Samuel Heardmon ‘02 2002 Student Employee of the Year
Kelley Dees Amort '04 2003 Student Employee of the Year
Lindy Williams Pieratt ‘03 2004 Student Employee of the Year
Kathleen Harris ‘01/’02/’06 2005 Student Employee of the Year
Hannah Peterson ‘05 2006 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Karen Heiner Nall ‘06 2006 Community Student Employee of the Year
Linda Lowe ‘08 2007 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Mathew Griffith ‘06 2007 Community Student Employee of the Year
Meagan Martinez ‘07 2008 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Alison “Kendall” Sullins ‘08 2008 Community Student Employee of the Year
Matthew Moss '11 2009 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Heather Evans ‘10 2009 Community Student Employee of the Year
Eric George ‘09 2010 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Heather Bowden ‘11 2010 Community Student Employee of the Year
Allison Raborn ‘11 2011 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Brandi Sence ‘11 2011 Community Student Employee of the Year
Ashley Payne ‘12 2012 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Kaitlin Mohr ‘14 2012 Community Student Employee of the Year
Ann Clark '13 2013 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Regan Dittmar '13 2013 Community Student Employee of the Year
Dunae Crenwelge '15 2014 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Zachary Cannon '14 2014 Community Student Employee of the Year
Chelsa Thomas '15 2015 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Jena Boyd '15 2015 Community Student Employee of the Year
Joel White '17 2016 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Kurtis Kemper '17 2016 Community Student Employee of the Year
Shelby Schiefelbein '18 2017 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Hannah Hoffman '17 2017 Community Student Employee of the Year
Rachel Welch '20 2018 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Hadley Griffiths '21 2018 Community Student Employee of the Year
Rachel Ullmann '19 2019 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Taylor Olsovsky '19 2019 Community Student Employee of the Year
Allison Milby '20 2020 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Ethan Morse '20 2020 Community Student Employee of the Year
Sarah Roberts '21 2021 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Lynsey Wakeland '21 2021 Community Student Employee of the Year
Meghan Johns '24 2022 Campus Student Employee of the Year
Emily Denton '23 2022 Community Student Employee of the Year
Amanda Hoth '23 2023 Student Employee of the Year
Jordan Gomez '25 2023 Student Employee of the Year
Addi Tsirulnik '24 2024 Student Employee of the Year
Banesa Arredondo '24 2024 Student Employee of the Year

On the occasion of their fiftieth anniversary, the Texas A&M Class of 1956 established the Class of 1956 Student Employee Endowed Award to assist outstanding student employees in the completion of their degree. Congratulations to all our exceptional student employees who have been recognized through the years for their accomplishments.

Beginning in 2023, the Class of ’56 Student Employee Endowed Award will be part of the University Scholarship Application for Continuing Students. The application period is October 15th through February 1st each year.

2022 Class of '56 Award Recipients

Student Employee Award Received
Julian Coleman III '09 2009 Class of '56 Award
Matthew Moss '11 2009 Class of '56 Award
Ieva Romenkova '12 2010 Class of '56 Award
Nicole Sohns '11 2010 Class of '56 Award
Megan Campbell '12 2011 Class of '56 Award
Ashley Payne '12 2011 Class of '56 Award
Ann Clark '13 2012 Class of '56 Award
Ashley Payne '12 2012 Class of '56 Award
Angela Dreiss '14 2013 Class of '56 Award
Branson Rogers '14 2013 Class of '56 Award
Kimberly Johnson '14 2014 Class of '56 Award
Joshua Herrington '15 2014 Class of '56 Award
Brittany Hagan '16 2015 Class of '56 Award
Caroline Peterson '17 2015 Class of '56 Award
Joel White '17 2016 Class of '56 Award
Kurtis Kemper '17 2016 Class of '56 Award
Shelby Schiefelbein '18 2017 Class of '56 Award
Corie Depue '18 2017 Class of '56 Award
Jason Edmondson '20 2018 Class of '56 Award
Kyle Dunlop 2018 Class of '56 Award
Kendal Callen '20 2019 Class of '56 Award
Megan Waldron '20 2019 Class of '56 Award
Manisha Islam '21 2020 Class of '56 Award
Lee Ellen Pearman '21 2020 Class of '56 Award
Brandon Le '23 2021 Class of '56 Award
Brianna Blattman '22 2021 Class of '56 Award
Brooke Elledge '23 2022 Class of '56 Award
Emily Denton '23 2022 Class of '56 Award
Abigail Borden '25 2023 Class of '56 Award
Erin Stockland '25 2023 Class of '56 Award