New York Tech Celebrates Student Employees

Each April, New York Tech joins colleges and universities across the country in celebrating National Student Employee Appreciation Week, honoring the outstanding work and contributions of student employees. This weeklong celebration is organized by the National Student Employment Association and is planned and managed at the institutional level by the Office of Career Services.

In late winter, Career Services issued a call to all 260 New York Tech supervisors and their 883 student employees asking for nominations in award categories including Student Employee, Graduate Assistant, and Supervisor of the Year. This year, a new category was added—“Do. Make. Innovate.”—to honor the student employee who “encompasses New York Tech’s mission, takes initiative, contributes new ideas and methods, and thinks about future advancements creatively and imaginatively.”

Career Services had originally planned to host a series of appreciation lunches and other events to honor student employees, but when the COVID-19 crisis caused in-person classes and gatherings to be suspended, they had to pivot to a virtual celebration.

“Although we were not able to gather in-person to celebrate, we still wanted to highlight and recognize the work that has been done this year by student employees and their wonderful supervisors,” said Jessica Boudouris, assistant director of student employment.

Boudouris encouraged supervisors to find new and creative ways of showing their appreciation to their student employees for all the work they’ve done and continue to do. Among her suggestions:

• Send an e-card or thank-you note.
• Host a virtual “Bring your own lunch” session.
• Highlight student employees on social media.

To announce the honorees, Career Services showed off its own creativity and that of student employee Nicole Varone, who created a brief video capturing some of the impressive work New York Tech student employees were doing on campus.

This year’s winners are: 

• Graduate Assistant of the Year: Puja Das (NYIT-Long Island), Jay Patel (NYIT-New York City)
• Student Employee of the Year: Ahmed Addeltawab (NYIT-Long Island), Elis Cucka (NYIT-New York City)
• Supervisor of the Year: Madeline Leonard (NYIT-Long Island), Kevin Park (NYIT-New York City)
• Do. Make. Innovate Award: Alfonso Dehesa Baeza (NYIT-Long Island), Tanvi Patel (NYIT-New York City)

Watch the full video to learn more about this year’s award winners.