Student Employee of the Year

The National Student Employment Association (NSEA) coordinates the annual National Student Employee of the Year (SEOTY) program in collaboration with MASEA and our member institutions. The intent of this award is to recognize the outstanding contributions and achievements of students who work while pursuing higher education.

The process begins at the institutional level. Supervisors may nominate an outstanding employee for recognition as their institutions’ student employee of the year. Then, any institution who is a member of MASEA may submit their selected student employee of the year for State and Regional consideration. If the Regional winner is from an institution that is also an NSEA member, the student will be moved forward for National consideration, as well.

Eligible Students:

All undergraduate student employees at institutions with at least one MASEA member are eligible. Graduate Assistants and Teaching Assistants are ineligible. Nominees are not restricted to students employed through the Federal Work-Study program. Nominees must be an employee at an institution that is a member of NSEA, as well as MASEA, in order to be submitted to NSEA as the MASEA regional winner or runner ups. 

Selection Criteria

Students will be evaluated on their contributions to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Competencies for Career Readiness as well as overall commitment to their employment opportunity. 

Timeline

• December 1, 2021 - Regional Coordinators distribute announcement and application materials to members in their region.
• February 1, 2022 - SEOTY nominations are due to the campus Student Employment office.
• February 22, 2022 - SEOTY campus winners are due to the MASEA Regional Coordinator.
• March 15, 2022 - MASEA Regional SEOTY Coordinator will submit the top four regional nominees to the NSEA.
• March 22, 2022 - 16 students will be identified as SEOTY by NSEA. 
• April 10 - April 16, 2022 - National Student Employment Week observed. National SEOTY winners announced.

MASEA Awards

• A SEOTY winner will be selected for each state in the MASEA region. State winners will receive a certificate and check for $50.00
• From the state winners, a regional winner and three runner ups will be selected.
• • The runner-ups will get a certificate and check for $75.00 
  • The regional winner will receive a plaque and a check for $100.00. 
• Winners will receive the monetary award for the highest award they win.
• The regional winner and three runner-ups will be submitted for the NSEA Student Employee of the Year Program if the institution is also a member of NSEA.
• If any of the regional top four nominating schools are not NSEA members, the alternatives will be submitted for national consideration.

Submission Instructions

Nominations will need to include a cover letter that contains the following information (you may use the SEOTY selection form below for a template):

Nominations should be in letter format (2 page maximum-this does not include the cover letter) and include the following requirements:

In order for your institution's student employee of the year to be considered for state, regional, and national Student Employee of the Year, you must email your submission with the required information mentioned above, to info@masea.org no later than 11:59pm CST February 22, 2022. No late materials or previous forms will be accepted.

Please note: the information you provide may be shared with the public through press releases and other promotional opportunities.

Resources

• Career Readiness Guide- Detail on the NACE competencies.
• SEOTY Campus Selection Form- Example Template for cover letter page and/or campus selection. 
• SEOTY Scoring Rubric Full list of criteria and scoring rubric

Student Employee of the Year Implementation Tips

The nominating process is easy! To help you with the process we have some suggested steps listed below:

• Send the SEOTY and SESOTY information, corresponding forms, and a memo explaining the award and nomination process to your supervisors of student employees on your campus for SEOTY nominations and your student employees for SESOTY. Establish a campus deadline date for submissions that allows your selection committee time to determine and submit your campus winner to MASEA.
• Many institutions create an online "survey" or "form" to collect the same information asked on the regional/national nomination as part of their process or you can use our template above.
• Collect all nominations by the deadline date and request a "call for readers" on your campus. Consider adding student voices to your selection committee. Readers will simply read and review all nominations. Be sure to determine a deadline for completion of all ratings to allow time to submit your campus winner to MASEA. See the above rubric and consider using with your campus readers.
• Collect the rating forms and calculate all scores. Select your SEOTY and SESOTY!
• Be sure to submit your campus winner to MASEA.
• Celebrate your winners!

2022 Winner

2022 MASEA Student Employee of the Year

Dakota Roettger, University of Wisconsin-Madison

2022 MASEA Student Employee of the Year Runner-Ups: 

Elena Bissonette, College of St. Scholastica

Michaela Neal, University of North Dakota

Nhi Le, Missouri State University

2022 MASEA State Winners:

Illinois - Emma Ramirez, Dominican University

Indiana - Virginia Carter, Ball State University

Iowa - Bahar Hashemi, Iowa State University 

Kansas - Aylar Atadurdyyeva, University of Kansas

Kentucky - Caylin Allen, University of Pikeville

Michigan - Grace Gruesbeck, Spring Arbor University

Minnesota - Elena Bissonette, College of St. Scholastica

Missouri - Nhi Le, Missouri State University

Nebraska - Lauren Benck, University of Nebraska-Kearney

North Dakota - Michaela Neal, University of North Dakota

Ohio - Jinyoung Lim, University of Dayton

South Dakota - Madelin Smith, Dakota State University

West Virginia - Savannah Toney, West Virginia University 

Wisconsin - Dakota Roettger, University of Wisconsin-Madison*