Eastern Washington University’s student employees were treated to freshly baked pizzas and Eagle red punch during a special appreciation event held to honor their contributions.
President Shari McMahan greeted student employees and thanked them for their work during the April 15 event, which coincides with National Student Employee Appreciation Week.
“We appreciate everything you do every day,” McMahan told the group. “You bring vibrancy to the institution, you bring energy, you bring commitment and passion — we learn from you and we want to continue to learn from you.”
Some 800 students fill vital roles at Eastern, helping with everything from communications and designing materials, to inputting data and recruiting high school students.
It’s applied learning at its finest: As students earn wages to help them cover education and living expenses, they are developing crucial workplace skills while helping the university realize its mission as the region’s polytechnic.
Deborah Haynes, process coordinator for Eastern’s College in the High School program, talked about how crucial student employees are to her work unit.
“College in the High School is a growing program,” Haynes said. “We’ve had to process about 16,000 applications this year, and all the things that go along with that. So, our student employees are very, very helpful”.
She brought Beruk Gared, a 21-year-old junior from Ethiopia who works as an admission processor, to the luncheon.
Gared, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biology and is on a track to become a dentist, shared that she has developed numerous skills on the job that will help her effectively communicate, collaborate and navigate different software programs as a working professional.
“I think I’ve learned a lot,” said Gared, who added that she appreciated the special event. “I think it’s wonderful. It’s nice that everyone can get recognized.”
Jasmine Davis, manager of the Aspire Mentoring program, said their student employees are mentors who essentially run the program.
“They are the ones in the high schools connecting with the high school students, helping them figure out what kind of path they want to do after high school and just making that connection that we as staff could not make, Davis said. “They are very impactful.”
Helping to coordinate those efforts are two Eastern alumni who are part of the program through AmeriCorps.
Cecilia DeLay, who graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology in 2024, was a mentor to students at three different high schools while working as an EWU senior in the Aspire program.
“It was a really rewarding. I learned a ton and I got to build a lot of connections,” DeLay said.
When an opportunity to work in the Aspire program through AmeriCorps arose, she jumped at the change to apply.
Shane Schwake, a 21-year-old business management student from Eugene, Oregon, has worked for EWU’s Advancement Services doing data entry and data management for nearly three years. Most recently he has been working on a widely used customer relationship management software called Salesforce. While on the job he has also helped train two newer student employees: Tyler Clouse, a 20-year-old mechanical engineering student, and Logan Flaa, 20, who is studying business marketing.
Schwake knows that graduating with this position on his resume will help his career prospects, as it demonstrates an extended commitment to stay at a job and proficiency in a range of valuable skills.
“It’s helping a lot because the workflow is similar,” he says. “I have my own office, and I work with professionals. I’ve learned the ins and outs of communications, and stuff like that, and how to work with Salesforce. It really helps to give me an advantage.”
Aaron Weer is a contributing photographer.
