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National Student Employee Appreciation Week, which takes place every year during the second full week of April, is an opportunity for institutions to recognize student’s employees for their vital contributions.
 
At UK, more than 5,000 students work on campus and play a key role in the success of daily operations. UK Human Resources has partnered with the Office of Student Success in sponsoring Student Employee Appreciation Week events. We hope student employees will join us to celebrate their hard work and dedication.
 
We encourage all areas that employ students to show how much you value and appreciate them. To assist supervisors in recognizing their talented student employees, we have developed a Supervisor Recognition Toolkit with creative ways to communicate your appreciation. We hope you will join us in thanking our student employees for all the efforts they put forth on a daily basis to continue to move our campus forward!
 

10 ways to recognize your student employees during National Student Employee Appreciation Week!

  1. Make a banner, decorate office doors, bulletin boards or work spaces expressing appreciation for your student employees. Print out and distribute this flyer in your departments to help publicize the events for the week.
  2. Recognize your student employees with social media spotlights throughout National Student Employee Appreciation Week or throughout the year. Tag posts with #UKStudentEmployment
  3. Honor your student employees with a round of applause or “shout-out” at a staff meeting.
  4. Make treat bags, care-packages, or finals survival kits to give to your student employees.
  5. Have a special office gathering to honor your student employees.
  6. Have staff take turns bringing in snacks/treats for student employees throughout the week.
  7. Take time to handwrite thank-you notes or cards to express your gratitude for all your student employees do. Encourage other staff members to sign or make their own.
  8. Treat your student employees to a meal or coffee. This could be an office pizza party, going to eat at a campus dining location, a coffee surprise, etc.
  9. Take a few moments to say thank you! Taking the time to speak to student employees to let them hear first hand how much you appreciate all they do can be very meaningful and go a long way.
  10. Invest in your student employee’s growth! Meet with your student employees to discuss their career ambitions, what they are learning in classes, talk about special projects or ways you can assist in growing their transferrable skills. Learn about the UK Grow professional development program here.

Bonus: Don’t forget to nominate your outstanding student employees for the Student Employee of the Year award! Nominations are open until Feb. 18.
Print this list (pdf)

Printer friendly shout outs

Create your own personalized Social Media Spotlight

Step 1. Click here and click the box that says, “Use Template”. Sign in to Canva.com or create a free account.

Step 2. Double click in the text box that says, “Type student name here” and type in your student’s name or group you would like to recognize.

Step 3. On the right side of the screen click on the “Uploads” icon and then click the “Upload media” box. Select the picture file you would like to use.

Step 4. Once the photo has uploaded, click on the picture and drag it over the template, it will auto size to fit.

Step 5. In the top right-hand corner click the “Share” button and “Download”. It is recommended to download as a PNG file.

Step 6. Share on your departments social media to spotlight your great student employees and celebrate Student Employee Appreciation Week!