About 20 percent of St. Thomas students work as university employees, and because the second week in April is National Student Employee Week, many departments on campus are recognizing those students.

“We offer many suggestions about ways to recognize your students like having the department bring in lunch or cookies, gift certificates or movie tickets, flowers, thank you notes or certificates of appreciation,” Human Resources Specialist Alaina Ericksen said.

Ericksen said about 2,200 students work for St. Thomas in different departments, including Dining Services, Residence Life, Campus Life and Information Resources and Technologies.

Todd Empanger, director of Dining Services, said student employees make up a major portion of the workforce.

“Roughly 75 percent of the staff is students,” Empanger said. “We have around 250 students [who] work between two to 20 hours per week.”

Senior Margo Heifetz said she enjoys working at the C-Store because she doesn’t have to travel far.

“It’s a pretty easy job, and I get to talk to people,” Heifetz said. “It’s close to home so I can walk back and forth, even if it’s late at night.”

Athletic Director Steve Fritz said the athletics department hires students to work several types of jobs.

“We do employ over 100 students,” Fritz said. “Some work for facilities, some are in athletic medicine, some are gameday employees, some work for coaches and some work in the equipment area.”

Cari Fealy, associate director of residence life, said Residence Life has different year-round jobs for student employees.

“We have desk workers, night access attendants, resident advisers, apartment coordinators and in our main office, we have students who work our main desk,” Fealy said. “I would say we have between 150 to 200 students who work with us at different times throughout the year.”

Senior Andrea Gehrman, who has worked as a residence hall desk worker since her sophomore year, said one benefit of working on campus is having understanding supervisors.

“Your supervisors know that academics are important,” Gehrman said. “So if you have conflicts, they’re probably a lot more flexible than off-campus supervisors.”

IRT Operations Manager Eugene Binfa said the department will recognize its 100 student employees for National Student Employee Appreciation Week.

“We usually treat our students to a day of fun activities, food and treats,” Binfa said.

Michele Goodson, Campus Life administrative assistant, said the department plans to acknowledge its student employees’ “excellent customer service” to students, staff and faculty.

“We are planning a special treat to let them know how much they are appreciated,” Goodson said. “Our student staff is here to support our office, and there isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t hear the words ‘thank you’ from someone [who] has had the pleasure of having been assisted by them.”

Koch desk worker and junior Don Kneepkens said appreciation for student employees can be seen throughout campus.

“You definitely get a lot of gratitude from students and staff,” Kneepkens said. “It’s just part of the atmosphere at St. Thomas.”

Cynthia Johnson can be reached at john3175@stthomas.edu.