Student employees honored at ceremony

A crowd of nearly 200 people met in Smith Memorial Student Union Parkway North on Wednesday to honor Portland State’s student employees.

The Student Employee Reception and Recognition was held from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. The event included a catered dessert, a raffle and an award for Student Employee of the Year, with four honorable mentions.

J.R. Tarabocchia, the coordinator of commencement and student affairs outreach, said “The reception [was] for all on-campus student employees and [was] our chance to say ‘thanks’ to the countless student workers who make it possible for PSU to run.”

Michelle Toppe, interim dean of students, gave the welcome speech while Cathy LaTourette, associate vice-president of human resources, gave a short speech on what qualities the selection committee looked for in the Student Employee of the Year.

According to LaTourette, the six desired qualities were reliability, innovation, uniqueness, quality of work, professionalism and community service.

Judith Waswa, the 2009 Student Employee of the Year, announced this year’s award winner Eddie Barnhart. Barnhart works with Campus Recreation as a Rec Club adviser.

Coworkers from the Rec Center cheered and held signs as Barnhart’s name was read.

In his nomination letter, supervisors described Barnhart as an “innovative, creative problem solver,” and “a great mentor to student groups.”

While accepting his award, Barnhart said he enjoyed working on campus with student groups because he has learned more than he has in some of his classes.

Of the 47 students nominated, there were four honorable mentions:
-Carla Ikehara has worked in the Office of Graduate Studies for four years.
-Carmen Anderson has worked in the Women’s Resource Center for almost two years.
-Andy Brown has worked in PSU’s library for almost two years.
-Patrick Sawasy works as an Orientation Team Leader as well as with the Undergraduate Advising and Support Center.

“This event has been a collaboration between the Office of the Dean of Students, the Career Center, and Human Resources for about seven or eight years now,” Tarabocchia said.

Student Ambassadors served as ushers for the event.

According to Tarabocchia, a video of the awards ceremony can be accessed at www.youtube.com/user/PortlandStateU.