Student Employees and Team of the Year

St. Joseph, Minn. - Sarah Halverson, Tory Oelfke, and the Haehn Campus Center operations managers were recently named Student Employees/Team of the Year at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University. The winners were announced at a breakfast banquet held on April 4, as part of National Student Employment Week. Halverson and Oelfke's nominations were also submitted to a 14-state regional competition.

Halverson, a junior English major, works as a teaching assistant for Michael Opitz, associate professor of English at CSB/SJU, in the English department.

Halverson attends all CORE 100 and 101 class meetings and works with students on writing and discussion skills, academic advising and all aspects of class.

"My student employment position allows me to watch the birth of empowerment in other students, thereby reminding me of the constant journey of learning that we all are immersed in daily," said Halverson.

"I am convinced that the experiences of the students are much richer and that an enormous amount of learning has taken place in Symposium because of Sarah's efforts. She has been very reliable and professional in her work. But she also goes well beyond any expectations I have," said Opitz.

Oelfke, a senior mathematics major, works as a peer leadership trainer, student employee leadership team member (SELT), and life study coordinator at the CSB/SJU financial aid offices.

"My work on these teams has affected me in many ways. With my close work with the life study program and SELT, it has influenced me personally and professionally to pursue a career in financial aid. I now wish to find employment on a college campus with the hopes that my experiences on these campuses will intrigue others to develop similar programs for their student employees and general leadership development programs for all students," Oelfke said.

"He is a quality student, employee and individual. In our 18 combined years of student employment, we see many students that impress us with their contributions to the institutions through their employment, but Tory is indeed exceptional. Tory has certainly made his mark, which will have long lasting benefits to students in years to come,"

said his supervisors Valerie Knopp-Pederson, SJU student employee coordinator in the financial aid office, and Barb Fahnhorst, associate director of financial aid at CSB.

Finally, Britt Fahrendorf, Emily Glenz, David Hartley, Elaine Keppers, Nicole Koenig, Andrea Martin, and Janell Maruska received the Student Employee of the Year Team Award at the CSB/SJU. All seven students are operations managers at the Haehn Campus Center at CSB.

Operation managers run the HCC during the nights and weekends and are responsible for the whole facility including supervising the information desk.

The College of Saint Benedict for women and Saint John's University for men are partners in liberal arts education, providing students the opportunity to benefit from the distinctions of not one, but two nationally recognized Catholic, Benedictine, residential undergraduate colleges. Together the colleges challenge students to live balanced lives of learning, work, leadership and service in a coeducational environment.