More than 60 students, family members, faculty and staff participated in the virtual On-Campus Student Employment Awards Ceremony on April 13, hosted by Career Services, celebrating outstanding on-campus student workers and their supervisors.
“The awards ceremony helps to highlight the accomplishments of our outstanding on-campus student workers and the amazing supervisors who work with them every day,” said Josh Vail, Student Employment Specialist at Career Services.
Dexter Emch, left, was named Supervisor of the Year, and Calvin Sweeney was named the UToledo Student Employee of the Year and the State of Ohio Student Employee of the Year during the April 13 virtual award ceremony hosted by Career Services.
Calvin Sweeney was named the UToledo Student Employee of the Year and the State of Ohio Student Employee of the Year during the virtual award ceremony. The junior majoring in marketing is an undergraduate assistant in the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership.
Sweeney received the award given to a student who, in their work role, exemplifies reliability, quality work, initiative, professionalism and unique contributions.
“Calvin has always exhibited leadership in the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership, but this year he shined through,” Kelly Freeman, previous Program Manager for OSIL, wrote in her nomination.
“Calvin consistently pushes myself and others to be better professionals with the way he can creatively come up with workable solutions to issues OSIL may be facing. Calvin speaks with confidence, clarity, and has an infectious positive personality which shines through when speaking about OSIL. I can tell that potential or first-year students will interact with him in the office and immediately set their goal to be at his caliber of leadership in their collegiate career.”
When asked, “What does having an on-campus job mean to you?” Sweeney said, “I think having an on-campus job has allowed me to plug directly into campus life help understand the uniqueness of the Rocket Culture. I have had the opportunity to network with so many staff members and work alongside my best friends all while getting paid. Oftentimes, people discuss that you work a day in your life if you enjoy what you’re doing and throughout my time at the University, I am so happy to have been afforded that privilege.”
Guidelines for the award were established by the National Student Employment Association and the Midwest Association of Student Employment Administrators. All 18 students and 11 supervisors nominated for the award were recognized during the online event.
The Supervisor of the Year Award was presented to Dexter Emch, Operations Administrator in Parking and Transportation.
“As a supervisor, he does an amazing job listening to his students to hear any of their concerns and doing his best to always take into consideration our opinions,” Nicole Hess, Rocket Patrol Supervisor, wrote in her nomination. “His ability to still provide tasks and adequate supervision without making himself seem superior to the students is outstanding. He works effortlessly and deserves to be recognized for his dedication to his job. Personally, Dexter is one of the reasons I still am a student working for parking and transportation. I can only hope to have a supervisor half as good as Dexter once my time as a student employee is up.”
In response to receiving the award, Emch said, “I am extremely honored that I was selected as the Student Employment Supervisor of the Year. To know that I have impacted my student employees enough for them to nominate me means the world. I have enjoyed connecting with our student employees and becoming someone that they can come to not only with work issues but things outside of the workplace as well. Working with student employees keeps my job fun and interesting as they always bring great energy and positive attitudes to our office.”
Shelly Drouillard, Director of Career Services, added, “We always look forward to this event as it provides an opportunity to recognize the hard work and dedication of our student employee workforce and their supervisors. This year was even more meaningful given the challenges presented from the pandemic and the fact that Calvin also won the Student Employee of the Year Award at the state level.”
A full recording of the 2021 virtual awards ceremony is available on the UToledo Career Services YouTube channel.
