CSB/SJU honor Student Employees/Teams of the Year

Grace Brogan, Dan Greenwood, the Fast Forward Youth Program and the Student Activities Leadership Team student staffs have been named Student Employees/Teams of the Year at the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, and Saint John’s University, Collegeville.

The winners were announced at a reception April 11 at Alumnae Hall, Haehn Campus Center, CSB, during National Student Appreciation Week April 8-14. The winners receive an engraved plague.

Brogan, a senior art and English double major at CSB from Forest Lake, Minn., has been a student writer/naturalist at Saint John’s Arboretum since fall 2003. She teaches environmental classes to youth, writing correspondence and articles for the Arboretum newsletter, land maintenance duties and general office duties. She was nominated by her supervisor, Sarah Gainey.

“Grace is our most reliable, efficient and qualified student employee I’ve ever had during my time at the Arboretum,” Gainey said in her nominating letter. “Often times, I forget that she is a student and not a full-time staff member, due to her quality of work and knowledge of the job.”

Greenwood, a senior dietetics major at SJU from Mankato, Minn., has served as the student manager at the SJU Dining Service for one year. He is responsible for the interviewing and hiring, scheduling, overseeing training, discipline process, evaluation process and computing payroll for SJU Dining Service student employees. He was nominated by his supervisor, Cheri Supalla, administrative manager and dietitian.

“Dan is one of the most solid employees I have ever worked with, and he has never once disappointed me,” Supalla said in the nominating form. “When I started in June 2006, Dan definitely played a huge part in getting me up to speed on all my responsibilities and job duties.”

Two “firsts” occurred in the Student Team of the Year competition. For the first time, two teams tied for the top honor, the Fast Forward Youth Program (FFYP) student staff and the Student Activities Leadership Team. In addition, FFYP was honored for the second consecutive year - the first time that has occurred.

The FFYP student staff of eight seeks to support Latino/a middle and high school students in their academic and personal lives by providing the opportunity for them to interact with volunteer college students who serve as their tutors and mentors.

“Theses students’ ability to inspire their peers to act is what truly makes them stand out,” said Erin Truhler, director of FFYP who nominated them for the award. “They recognize the value of serving the Latino/a community and passionately promote academic excellence and college access among our student participants.”

The FFYP student staff consists of CSB students Gretchen Enninga (junior, psychology, Fulda, Minn.), Megan Fasnacht (junior, elementary education, Mankato, Minn.), Raquel Gudiel (sophomore, English and communication, Bell, Calif.), Carliene Quist (senior, peace studies and Spanish, St. Cloud, Minn.) and Tina Seslija (first-year, political science and peace studies, Sarajevo, Bosnia/Herzegovina), and SJU students Ed Hart (junior, management, Maplewood, Minn.), Andrew Zimmerman (sophomore, history, Gainesville, Fla.) and Simon Fortune (senior, management, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago).

The seven-student Student Activities Leadership Team is responsible for modeling exemplary leadership practices for the campus community. The group was assembled in 2005, with an undefined goal of building student leadership capacity. The self-reflection process resulted in the development of the Inspiring Leaders Certificate Program, which has benefited more than 1,000 students at CSB/SJU.

“Each member of the Leadership Team has individually, but more importantly collectively, affected the lives of the students who choose to invest in building their leadership potential,” said Maribeth Overland in the group’s nominating letter. “The team has strived to model the way for developing an authentic team leadership model that contributes to the enhanced quality of life for the campus community and beyond.”

The team consists of CSB students Laura Adams (sophomore, communication, Mendota Heights, Minn.), Mary Deputie (sophomore, nursing, St. Paul, Minn.), Kate Sinner (junior, environmental studies, Fargo, N.D.) and Bridget Smith (senior, accounting, Nemaha, Iowa), and SJU students Jon Keillor (junior, history, Mendota Heights, Minn.), Ryan LaMere (sophomore, management, New Brighton, Minn.) and Mark Osborne (senior, political science, South St. Paul, Minn.).

Exceptional student workers are nominated for the wards by their supervisors. The students also complete a nomination letter. The Student Employee/Team of the Year five-person committee reviews all applications and makes the decision based on the criteria of the program – reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism and uniqueness of contribution.

The other CSB students nominated for the award (listed alphabetically) and the areas they work in were Katie M. Carlson (SJU archives), Sarah Eisenschenk (CSB athletics), Amy Fiedler (SJU athletic media relations), Ashley Hillyard (CSB security), Karen Lux (CSB athletics), Jennifer Northup (music library) and Rachel Peterson (CSB institutional advancement).

The other SJU students nominated for the award (listed alphabetically) and the areas they work in were Tom Barry (SJU dining) and William Roiger (CSB security).

The other student team of the year nominees were from the CSB/SJU biology department, CSB/SJU bookstore, CSB athletic media relations, CSB events and conferences, SJU Great Hall information desk and CSB residential life.

All students nominated for the awards receive a certificate signed by CSB president MaryAnn Baenninger; SJU president Br. Dietrich Reinhart, OSB;  Barb Fahnhorst, CSB/SJU director of student employment; and Angie Mareck, CSB/SJU student employment coordinator.