Student Employee Appreciation Week
April 15 - 19, 2024: Join us in recognizing the work and dedication of Dartmouth student employees!
On this page:
Festival for Student Employees: Tuesday, April 16 (3pm - 5pm)
On Tuesday, April 16, Dartmouth College will honor the work and dedication of each and every student employee during the Student Employee Appreciation Festival, which will be from 3pm - 5pm in Collis Common Ground.
The first 100 student employees to arrive will receive a free gift. All attending student employees are eligible for great raffle prizes, including the grand prize of a 10.2" 9th Gen (2021) iPad.
The event is sponsored by the Student Employment Office, with prizes provided by several college departments. All student employees are invited to attend!
Student Employee Essay Contest
Create a short essay (250-500 words) responding to a prompt in one of the categories listed below:
Category One: Academic/Professional Impact
- How has what you’ve learned on your job enhanced what you’ve learned in your classes? – feel free to describe classes in general, or use one or two classes as examples
- What skill(s) or knowledge have you developed in your student job that you can articulate in your resume? – you are encouraged to use more than one example and where applicable, link it to your career aspirations
Category Two: Personal Impact
- What do you want others to know about working at Dartmouth? – consider an audience of faculty, staff, students, or prospective students
- How has working at Dartmouth impacted you? – share your personal story
Competition Guidelines
- Essays must be the student’s original work and in response to one of the prompts above.
- Deadline for Entry: Essays must be submitted electronically to Student.Employment.Office@dartmouth.edu by 5pm on Friday, April 12, 2024.*
- Eligibility: This short essay contest is open only to 2023-2024 Dartmouth student employees, with a limit of one entry per person.
- Essays must be typed and no more than 500 words in length.
- Essays must be written from your own experience in the first person. We want real stories about real life… from you.
- Entries must be non-fiction and follow the form of a diary, journal, blog, memoir, or essay —whatever you think best conveys your message. Entries must clearly indicate which prompt is being used.
- Once entered, essays will become part of the Student Employment Office’s public content property and will not be returned. By entering, students agree and understand that SEO may reprint the essays (in part or in whole) in publications and/or use them at workshops/presentations. Appropriate citations will be given to the writers.
- Judging will be by a committee of Dartmouth College staff members.
Win!
- One winner will be chosen for each of the two categories. A prize in the amount of $150 will be awarded to each of the 2 winners. Winners will be contacted in April 2024*.
- All contest participants will be entered into the 2023-2024 Student Employee Recognition Festival grand prize drawing for an 10.2" 9th Gen (2021) iPad, held on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. You do not need to be present to win.
- Entries may be shared at the Student Employee Recognition Festival, featured in a news story, or posted on the web.
The Fine Print (Authorization):
By entrant(s) submitting the essay, it is agreed that Dartmouth College, has the right
to use, reproduce, reprint, distribute, and display the essay content for any organizational
purpose, without notification, consent, or compensation to the entrant. A Dartmouth
College, organizational purpose includes, but is not limited to, sharing the essay
on the internet, at conferences, or other venues, regardless of whether fees are charged.
* Deadlines may be extended. Notice of any extended deadline will be published on
the Dartmouth College Student Employment web site.
Are you an employer, looking for ideas on how to celebrate?
- Prepare "care packages" made up of crackers, cookies, trail mix, or candy. Or purchase
the gift item made for you by our Student Employee Appreciation Week Planning Team!
This year's gift item is a pouch (6" H x 7.75" W x 2.5" D
) made of 10 oz cotton canvas. The zipper is light brown adn the front of the bag
is imprinted with the Lone Pine logo. Cost is $4.25 per pouch. Order online on a first-come, first-serve basis. Orders must be placed by Tuesday, April 9, 2024.
[NOW SOLD OUT] - Send a personalized thank you note or an e-card stating your appreciation. You can use one of our MS Word templates - be sure to personalize the name on each one! (e-card 1, e-card 2, e-card 3)
- Hold your own awards ceremony and design awards for unique categories (i.e., Best Attendance, Best Customer Service, Most Organized, etc.).
- Send a personalized thank you note or an e-card stating your appreciation.
- Decorate office doors or bulletin boards with posters expressing appreciation to your student workers and listing all their names.
- Take your student employees out to lunch or have a pizza party.
- Post appreciations on your social media
- Create a video saying thank you to send to your student employees
- Take a screenshot of a office group zoom where each person has written a sign sharing appreciation.
- Bring in a dessert for your student employees.
- Award or raffle off small tokens of appreciation, such as movie tickets or gift cards (bookstores, coffee shops, gas cards if they have a car, etc.).
- Get your student employee a Dartmouth T-Shirt or Sweatshirt.
- Have balloons or flowers at the student worker's desk one day.
- Create a large thank you card and have your staff sign it.
- Organize a social outing for all your student employees.
- Pat on the Back - Draw an outline of your hand on a piece of paper. Photocopy enough copies for all students in your office. On each hand write a note that tells the student why they deserve a "Pat on the Back".
- Treat Day – organize a potluck! Have the full-time staff bring in treats/lunch for student workers.
- Take pictures - post employee pictures and list what wonderful things they do for your department. Place on your staff bulletin board if you have one.
- Have a secret pal that does little things for them throughout the week. At the end of the week, host a lunch to reveal secret pals!
- Candy Ideas:"You are worth 100 Grand!" (100 Grand)
- "You are out of this world!" (Mars or Milky Way)
- "Thanks for the Mounds of work you do!" (Mounds)
- "We love you!!! XOXO" (Hershey's Hugs and Kisses)
- "You deserve an extra Payday!" (Payday)
- "Thanks for always being willing to do Extra!" (Extra Gum)
- "You are a Joy!" (Almond Joy)
2023 Essay Contest Winners
- Personal Impact: David Goodman '22
- Academic/Professional Impact: Michael DelSesto '23
2022 Essay Contest Winners
- Personal Impact: Jennifer Lee '22
- Academic/Professional Impact: Shuxuan "Elizabeth" Li '25
2021 Video Contest Winners
As part of Student Employee Appreciation Week 2021, student employees were invited to create a short video (30 seconds max).
The following entries were selected as our five winners and they are listed in alphabetical order: