Nominate your outstanding student employees!
Welcome to Binghamton University's 2026 Student Employee of the Year Program! We are excited to celebrate the hard work and dedication of our exceptional undergraduate and graduate student employees. This program not only recognizes outstanding students but also provides an opportunity for supervisors to acknowledge and showcase the talent within their teams.
| 2025 Student Employee of the Year Winners | |
| Category: Diversity & Inclusion | John Ferrara (EOP) |
| Category: Leadership | Jacey Ruisi (Residential Life) |
| Category: Critical Thinking | Caspar Carson (EOP) |
| Category: Community Engagement | Jenna Vallone (CCE) |
| Category: Innovation & Technology | Casey Lau (Biological Sciences) |
| Overall Undergraduate Student Employee of the Year | Casey Lau (Biological Sciences) |
| Graduate Student Employee of the Year | Matthew Pangburn (Auxiliary Services - Food Pantry) |
About the program
2026 Undergraduate Student Employee Nominations:
This year, undergraduate student nominations will be evaluated in one of five categories, each highlighting a different aspect of exceptional performance:
- Community Service
This category recognizes students who make significant contributions to the community.
Criteria for nomination could include:
- The student employee makes a distinctive contribution to the community with their work
- The impact of the student employee’s work extends beyond the university, leaving a lasting impression.
- The student employee actively encourages and inspires others to engage in service within the university or the broader community.
- Social Impact and Belonging
This category acknowledges those who actively promote and embody social impact and belonging.
Criteria for nomination could include:
- The student employee demonstrates empathy and compassion in their work.
- Recognizing the ongoing importance of social impact and belonging efforts, the student employee actively supports such initiatives in their work, on campus, and in the community.
- The student employee promotes social impact and belonging in projects, discussions, and problem-solving, fostering an inclusive work environment.
- Leadership
This category celebrates students who demonstrate exceptional leadership skills.
Criteria for nomination could include:
- The student employee motivates and inspires others, building trust through encouragement.
- Demonstrating openness to change and new ideas, the student employee takes a proactive leadership role in workplace scenarios.
- The student employee exhibits passion for mentoring and training fellow student employees, contributing to their professional growth.
- Innovation and Technology
This category honors those who bring innovative ideas and technological solutions to their roles.
Criteria for nomination could include:
- Utilizing technology, the student employee enhances the efficiency and productivity of their work.
- Effectively managing technology, the student employee integrates information to support relevant, timely decision-making.
- The student employee consistently generates novel and valuable ideas, contributing to a culture of innovation.
- Critical Thinking
This category commends students who exhibit outstanding critical thinking skills in their work.
Criteria for nomination could include:
- Thriving in a fast-paced environment, the student employee excels in multitasking.
- Decision-making and problem-solving by the student employee reflect sound, inclusive reasoning and judgment.
- The student employee thoroughly analyzes information from diverse sources, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of problems.
How to Nominate:
Nominating an undergraduate student is easy! Follow these steps:
- Select a Category and Draft your Nomination Letter: Choose the category that best aligns with the nominee’s strengths and draft your
nomination letter highlighting the nominee’s specific accomplishments, duties and
attributes as they relate to the specific category selected. *Rubrics for each category can be found above. Please keep nomination letters two
pages or less. Details to consider highlighting include:
- Highlight the nominee’s greatest attributes related to the specific category selected.
- Describe how the nominee's actions have positively impacted the department, university or community through their work in the specific category.
- Discuss the quality of the nominee’s work or work style through collaboration, leadership qualities, problem solving and utilizing appropriate professional methods of persuasion when soliciting agreement or identifying solutions.
- Identify the qualities that set the nominee apart from other student employees or highlights their ability to demonstrate openness to unfamiliar circumstances and promote different ideas and perspectives to bring a positive, tangible impact on the department or initiative.
- Personal anecdotes of your interactions with the student are encouraged!
- Please Note: Nomination letters will be redacted prior to being sent to the review committee to remove identifying information relating to name, gender, specific department, job title and any other specific identifying information so the review committee can score the accomplishments of the nominee based on actions, impact and specific qualities. When drafting your nomination letter, please be sure to highlight your nominee's qualities and accomplishments so redacted letters will still convey their impact.
- Submit Your 2026 Undergraduate Student Employee of the Year Nomination Form and Letter Together no later than Friday, February 20. Please keep the letter to two pages or fewer, and be as evidence based and comprehensive as possible. You may upload your nomination letter at the bottom of the nomination form. *Nominations that do not include BOTH the nomination form and an accompanying letter of nomination will not be considered.
2026 Graduate Student Employee Nominations:
This year, graduate student nominations will be evaluated across all four categories, each highlighting a different aspect of exceptional performance:
- Social Impact and Belonging
Graduate student employees can champion social impact and belonging by:
- Acknowledging the support and contributions of others in achieving results.
- Demonstrating empathy and compassion for others.
- Being flexible, open and receptive to new information, ideas and approaches.
- Showing respect and value for the unique contributions of each associate.
- Impact
Graduate student employees can show impact by:
- Suggesting and helping implement an idea that has a positive, tangible impact on the department.
- Bringing positive recognition to the department.
- Professionalism, Effective Communication and Interpersonal Skills
Graduate student employees can display professionalism, effective communication and interpersonal skills by:
- Collaborating well with peers, manager, department leadership and unit stakeholders.
- Employing appropriate methods of persuasion when soliciting agreement.
- Addressing problems constructively.
-
Leadership
Graduate student employees can display leadership by:
- Being passionate about mentorship and training fellow student employees.
- Acting as an agent of change to support the implementation of new ideas.
How to Nominate:
- Draft a nomination letter and make sure to speak to the candidate’s strengths in EACH
of the following areas:
- Social Impact and Belonging: Student Employee acknowledges the support and contributions of others in achieving results; demonstrates empathy and compassion for others; is flexible, open and receptive to new information, ideas and approaches; shows respect and value for the unique contributions of each associate.
- Impact: Student Employee suggests and helps implement an idea that has a positive, tangible impact on the department or brings positive recognition to the department.
- Professionalism, Effective Communication & Interpersonal Skills: Student Employee collaborates well with peers, manager, department leadership and unit stakeholders; Employs appropriate methods of persuasion when soliciting agreement; addresses problems constructively.
- Leadership: Student Employee is passionate about mentorship, training fellow student employees, and acts as an agent of change to support the implementation of new ideas
- Submit Your 2026 Graduate Student Employee of the Year Nomination Form and Letter Together no later than Friday, Feb 20. Please keep the letter to two pages or fewer, and be as comprehensive and specific as possible. You may upload your nomination letter at the bottom of the nomination form. *Nominations that do not include BOTH the nomination form and an accompanying letter of nomination will not be considered.
Important dates
- Nomination Deadline: February 20, 2026
- Winners Announced: March 6, 2026
Recognition and awards
The students chosen as the Undergraduate and Graduate Student Employees of the Year, along with all nominated students and their supervisors, will be highlighted during National Student Employment Week activities in April on campus.
Individual category winners and our overall Undergraduate and Graduate Student Employee of the Year winners will also be put forward for consideration in the Northeast and National Student Employment Associations for their respective award programs.
Help us celebrate another successful year of the Student Employee of the Year Program by submitting your nominations! Your participation ensures that our outstanding student employees receive the recognition they deserve.
Thank you for being a part of this exciting initiative!