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National Student Employee Appreciation Week

National Student Employment Appreciation Week at IUPUI

Each year during the second full week in April, National Student Employee Appreciation (NSEA) Week comes to IUPUI. This year NSEA Week is April 11–15. 

This vibrant and engaging week, in coordination with the National Student Employment Association, brings events and programs to help us appreciate IUPUI students working on and off campus, as well as empowers employers to appreciate and to recognize their student employees. Nominations for Student and Supervisor of the Year are also announced and celebrated during NSEA week.

2021 NSEA Appreciation Video

Over the past couple years, we have all faced many challenges and had to embrace a lot of change, but our student employees have stepped up to the challenge in more ways than one. It became especially clear to many of us how crucial our student employees are to our success and the success of IUPUI as a whole. We have admired our student employees’ strength, resilience, and creativity as they continue to work hard to support their campus and each other. So, to you student employees, we thank you, and we appreciate you, not just this week, but every day. Please enjoy last year’s NSEA week video, and keep an eye out for our 2022 video coming soon.

Virtual appreciation

While working remotely, it is even more important to remind your students that you appreciate them. You can always send an email with a personalized message, but there are some other ways you can send a virtual thank you that will make your message stand out. We have compiled a list of ideas to help your virtual NSEA Week be a success.

During NSEA Week, we see a lot of supervisors write handwritten notes to students to share their appreciation. If you know the addresses of your students, you could mail them a handwritten note. However, you might also consider sending a virtual card that you can personalize for each student.

However, if you like the simplicity of sending an email, you might consider attaching a picture or image to mix things up. We have created a variety of images that you can use in your emails, along with instructions for how to attach them. Browse our images here. If you want something more interactive, you might try creating your own GIF that you can send to your students.

Don't forget to share our 2021 NSEA Week video with them as well. The video will be made available on April 7.

Increasing engagement and a sense of community can be challenging when your team is working remotely, but there are a few ways you can help your students feel connected.

Consider challenging your students to a daily or weekly trivia question that can be guessed through email. You could also encourage them to participate in polls where you can learn more about each other. Polls could also be completed during a Zoom meeting in a live setting through the Zoom platform or a live polling link.

For a fun activity to encourage your students to take a work break, consider sending them a puzzle or a word search that you create on your own. We have created a couple NSEA-themed ones that you can share as well:

NSEA puzzle

NSEA word search

While we rely on Zoom to host staff meetings, you can also use Zoom to host parties and activities. This is an opportunity to unite your team and have some fun. You can convert many games to a virtual format, but we've compiled a list of ideas to help you get started.

If your office has your own social media account, consider posting an appreciation message that your students can see. This public demonstration of appreciation can mean a lot to your students. Follow OSE on social media @jobsforjags for posts that you can reshare, or tag us in your own appreciation messages. Don't forget to use the hashtag #Jagsrocket during NSEA Week!