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National Student Employment Week

This year, it will be April 12 to 16, 2027.

Celebrate and recognize the invaluable contributions of student employees and supervisors! Each year, the National Student Employment Association (NSEA) designates the second full week of April as National Student Employment Week (NSEW) to raise awareness of student employment.

Here are some ideas on how to celebrate your student employees:

  • Highlight them through social media, bulletin boards, and banners
  • Create fun certificates, awards, or thank you notes
  • Make snack bags or give small gift cards or treats (ex - popcorn, tea or coffee, candy, office supplies)
  • Carnival-style games and spinning wheels with prizes or swag
  • Board game or trivia night with pizza

Suggestions for managing the SEOTY/SOTY campus process

  • Call for nominations - publicize the competition widely, put it in your campus newspaper, send flyers to all departments, and announce it on your campus homepage and any departmental listserv.
  • Selection committee - be certain it's more than just faculty and administrators. Include clerical staff and one or two students (undergrad or grad). The committee should total an odd number to avoid ties when voting (five, seven, or nine members are recommended).
  • Promote the nomination process -by posting pictures of nominees around campus as they are received, put articles in the campus paper, on the homepage, and listserv.
  • Selection criteria - have some mechanism to consider all students equally and not give too much consideration to complex job descriptions or longevity of service.
  • Award presentation - Be creative in holding virtual celebrations. Invite your campus president and additional senior leadership to speak with students, play videos of supervisors speaking about their nominees, and create a picture collage of all nominees. Have the state government issue a proclamation.
  • Prizes - arrange for cash scholarship, tuition waiver, or bookstore certificate for the winner. Have trophies, plaques, or certificates for all nominees.
  • Hold your recognition event during National Student Employment Week.

National Student Employment Week was established to increase public awareness and to recognize students who work while attending college. It is also a time to recognize supervisors that oversee the student experience by providing training and development that prepare students for their careers.

Student employees perform invaluable services with enthusiasm, dedication, and initiative. Setting aside a special week to draw the awareness of others, both on and off campus, is the perfect opportunity to show your appreciation.

National Student Employment Week takes commitment, planning, and coordination yet, the effort yields great rewards.

  • Students - Understand their impact and contributions to your campus.
  • Employers - Maximized awareness of the service students provide in the community.
  • Campus - Increased participation and discussion of student employment and career-related issues.

Each institution's ability to celebrate may vary due to institutional budgets, size of events and available resources.

Listed below are fun, easy and inexpensive ways to celebrate your student employees:

Low Cost Ideas

  1. Treat Day, full-time staff bring in treats/lunch for student workers.
  2. Treat Week, each day bring something different – cookies, popcorn, candy, etc.
  3. Take pictures and post student employee pictures and list what wonderful things they do
  4. Notes Home - send a note to the families of your student workers. Let them know what the student does, how their work impacts your department, and how terrific the student is for your department
  5. Print, certificates and make up silly awards for students: best telephone voice, best web-surfer, etc.
  6. Friendship Plants - take cuttings from a plant in the office and give to each student as a live “connection” to the office.
  7. Bright Ideas - spray paint a light bulb gold, screw into a jar of play-dough and make a label around the jar naming who is receiving the “Bright Idea” award.
  8. Snack Goodie Bag- Fill with small packs of crackers, cookies, candy and chips
  9. Healthy Meal – Crackers and Cheese, Spaghetti with Ready Made Sauce.,
  10. Popcorn – Fill a bowl or individual mini bowls daily, inexpensive yet tasty.
  11. Fruit – Have bowl of fresh fruit –apples, plums, oranges etc.
  12. Gift cards – fast food, subway, pizza hut etc.

Ideas that are Free

  1. Let students pick music for the work place to listen to for the day.
  2. Use this week as an opportunity to start an award recognition program. Look around the office or at home for a white elephant item.
  3. Switch roles for a work session, and let your student employee be the boss.
  4. Have everyone participate in carnival activities or games for competitive fun. For example, have a spinning wheel with fun activities or even challenges that your office has to do during specific times.
  5. Create a "Thankful Paper." Have employees in the office pass around a paper with the student employees names on it and have the department fill out what they like about the student employee, how they appreciate them or thankful to have them be a part of the team.
  6. Make a banner to hang for the whole week in your office.
  7. Decorate an office bulletin board or the office door for the week in recognition of your students.
  8. Use YOUR imagination…. A simple THANK YOU for all you do will go a long way!