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Student Employee of the Year (SEOTY) Award

Each year, colleges and universities across the country recognize the outstanding contributions and achievements of students who work while attending college. Faculty and Staff at BYU can nominate students, and a committee selects winners from our university to be BYU's Student Employee of the Year. We then submit the name of our first-place winner to compete for the National Student Employee of the Year Award.

Student Employee Appreciation Week

The SEOTY Award launches a week long celebration of the student work experience called Student Employee Appreciation Week. BYU has many qualified and exceptional student employees, and this is a wonderful time to recognize their efforts. This coming year, Student Employee Appreciation Week will be celebrated from March 10-14, 2025. It is recommended that departments recognize the student employees in their area during appreciation week with activities, awards or any other acclamation fitting the unique circumstances for their department. Click here for recognition ideas.

Nominating Your Student

Individual departments, managers and supervisors are encouraged to nominate outstanding student employees for BYU's SEOTY Award. Nominations for SEOTY 2025 will begin on December 2nd, 2024, and will close at 8:00am on February 3rd, 2025.

A committee of Faculty, Admin and Staff are randomly selected from across campus to assist in judging between each nomination. The top three applicants selected by the SEOTY committee will be recognized during BYU's Student Employee Appreciation Week, March 10-14, 2025. The first-place winner will be nominated for NSEA's (National Student Employment Association) nation wide competition.

To be eligible, the nominee must be a current BYU student employee at the time the award is given who has completed or expects to complete at least six (6) months part-time or three (3) months full-time employment during this academic year, April 30, 2024 to April 30, 2025.

Nominations are now closed.

Previous Winners

Year: 2024
Winner: James Hall
Department: PF AVP Office
Nominated by: Michelle Gioglio

Year: 2023
Winner: Juliette Ball
Department: General Counsel Office
Nominated by: Andrea Hill
Year: 2022
Winner: Hannah Koford
Dept: Ballard Center
Nominated by: Steven Fox
Year: 2021
Winner: Eric Forbush
Department: The Universe
Nominated by: Ellen Hernandez
Year: 2020
Winner: Summer Ethel Herlevi
Department: University Communications
Nominated by: Jonathan David McBride
Year: 2019
Winner: Brenna DeLyn Scadden
Department: OIT-Development Foundations
Nominated by: Nancy M. Norman
Year: 2018
Winner: Dallin Glen Squires
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Nominated by: Jeremy Kenneth Peterson
Year: 2017
Winner: Jaren Michael Oldroyd
Department: University Police
Nominated by: Loyd Russel Fuller
Year: 2016
Winner: Nathan Thomas Hawks
Department: Bean Museum
Nominated by: Kathryn Birgithe Knight
Year: 2015
Winner: Haven Marie Simmons
Department: Catering
Nominated by: Adam Sherman Jones
Year: 2013
Winner: Kelsey Brooke Smith
Department: English
Nominated by: Carolyn Tuitupou

Previous Nominees

2024 Student Employee of the Year

2023 Student Employee Of The Year

2022 Student Employee Of The Year

2021 Student Employee Of The Year

2020 Student Employee Of The Year

2019 Student Employee Of The Year