President's Student Employee of the Year Award
President's Student Employee of the Year Award
The President's Student Employee of the Year Award is given annually to an outstanding student employee who has made a positive impact on the University and has demonstrated an exceptional quality of work and commitment to the University’s purpose and core values.
The President’s Student Employee of the Year selection committee is now accepting nominations for the 2025 Student Employee of the Year.
The winner receives a certificate and an award of $1,000, sponsored by the Office of the President. The UT Austin winner is entered in the national competition sponsored by the National Student Employment Association (NSEA).
In addition, ten nominees are chosen as finalists and will receive an award of $250, sponsored by Texas Career Engagement.
Who is Eligible for Nomination?
Only students employed in hourly-paid non-academic and academic student jobs as well as Resident Assistants are eligible for this award. The Graduate School oversees awards for salaried Graduate Academic student employees.
Additionally, only student employees who are assigned to work approximately 240 hours between June 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025 are eligible for nomination.
Nomination Guidelines
Any staff or faculty member can nominate an eligible student employee for an award.
To nominate a student employee, submit the online nomination form (UT EID required) by 01/15/2025. To be accepted, all nominations must be submitted online no later than 11:59 p.m. on that date. The nomination form consists of open-ended questions.
Award recipients are selected based on the quality of the nomination, and not on the quantity of nominations they receive. Nominations selected for an award will provide specific details about the student nominee and address how they have exceeded expectations and demonstrated an exceptional quality of work. The most competitive nominations address all areas below and have examples and/or answers to the prompt questions to showcase the student’s outstanding work.
The open-ended questions on the nomination form are:
- Quality of Work. Consider the following questions and characteristics as you describe the work your student employee performs for your office:
- How do they employ critical thinking skills to analyze and resolve difficult problems?
- How do they demonstrate a good attention to detail and balance responsibilities effectively?
- In what ways do they act ethically with integrity and honesty? How have they demonstrated a commitment to the university’s core purpose and values?
- In what ways have they demonstrated initiative, worked independently, and/or taken on challenging assignments?
- In what ways have they exceeded expectations and demonstrated exceptional performance?
(2500 character limit) - Effective Communication. Consider the following questions as you describe your student employee’s communication skills with other student employees, staff members, and office leadership:
- How well do they communicate verbally and in writing?
- In what ways do they positively represent your office through both their words and actions?
- How do they provide excellent customer service to your office’s stakeholders?
(2500 character limit) - Impact. Consider the following question as you describe the impact of your student employee’s work:
- What has been the outcome of their work product within your office, CSU, and/or across the University?
- In what ways has their work positively benefitted the Longhorn community?
(2500 character limit)
Examples of the level of detail and supporting information expected from quality nominations can be found below. The people and events used are fictional.
Student Employee of the Year Nomination Examples
The Student Employee of the Year and finalists will be notified in March. They will be formally recognized in April as a part of National Student Employee Appreciation Week!
Online Nomination Failure: Please note that the online nomination form is time-limited. To avoid potentially timing out before submitting your nomination, you may want to draft your nomination text into a text editor such as Word and copy/paste it into the online form.
Submit your online nomination today! (requires UT EID)
2024 President’s Student Employee of the Year Award Winner
Congratulations to senior Leilani Cabello, recipient of The University of Texas at Austin 2024 President’s Student Employee of the Year Award!
Leilani is a senior graduating with a B.F.A. in Design from the College of Fine Arts; and she is a Student Technology Assistant 4 for the College of Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services (LAITS). In her role, she has worked on several different design projects including most notably designing a full-page ad for UT Summer Courses that appeared in the Alcalde Magazine. She took on the role of lead designer on a project to create a French e-textbook, a very large and complex project. Her work on these projects and her help leading other student employees has made a lasting impact on LAITS.