Rebecca Davis '03 got more than her regular paycheck recently for her job in the library.
In honor of National Student Employment Week, the Student Employment Office gave Davis $100 last Thursday as the recipient of the first annual Student Employee of the Year Award. Barbara Mellert of Academic Consulting Services received the first annual Student Employer of the Year Award.
Campus employers were asked to describe in 100 words or less why their student employee is appreciated within their department or office.
Twenty-four nominations were submitted, said Erin Clark, the manager of the Student Employment Office, and the field was narrowed by a committee composed of two members of the Student Employment Office and two student workers.
The committee was especially impressed with the way Davis was able to balance her commitment to work at the library with her other activities, including her duties as an Undergraduate Advisor and a participant on several student committees, Clark said.
For her first three years at Dartmouth, Davis was active in the Student Assembly. She has also worked as a Student Life Intern and was elected to the Senior Executive Committee.
At work at the Baker-Berry Circulation desk since her freshman year in 1999, Davis has consistently assumed new responsibilities with what her employer Joyce Blunt called a "great work ethic."
"She was selected to be a student manager after her first year and has consistently been indispensable to our department," Blunt wrote in her nomination.
Davis coordinates student meetings, scheduling and training for the Circulation Desk along with the two other student managers, Michael Perry '03 and Peter Keenan '04. She also prepares the student payroll and acts as a liaison between staff and students.
Additionally, Davis served as the library's night supervisor when regular staff members were unavailable.
"I'm so impressed she balances it all and is always so dependable, flexible, punctual and diligent about her job," Blunt wrote.
Davis was "really surprised" to learn that she had received the award. She said she enjoys working at the library with a staff she described as great, understanding and supportive.
Davis is a psychology major and a war and peace minor.
The committee also selected four runners up. They were Katie Martin '03, Tatyana Venegas '03, Welton Chang '05 and John Ring III '04. Each received $25. All students nominated were awarded a certificate.
Students also submitted similar nominations for their employers. John Leyba '01 nominated Barbara Mellert -- the manager of social science computing -- who was awarded a plaque for her dedication.
"She really became family. She's not only there professionally, but she was there for the student personally too," Clark said.
Clark called this an experimental year for the employee and employer awards programs, which will be expanded in the future.
Next year, the Student Employment Office plans to request nominations earlier and submit the winners to regional and national competitions administered by the Northeast Association of Student Employment Administrators and the National Student Employment Administrators.
