Student Feature: From classrooms to careers: YSU student employees gain valuable skills on campus

FEATURE STORY

Story by: Hannah Werle, Communication and Journalism major
Photography and Videography by: Spencer Tatta, Marketing major

Beyond conventional coursework, a student’s college experience is often shaped through practical skills gained through many avenues, including campus employment.

Youngstown State University students expressed great appreciation for their student employment offers, explaining how their position on campus has allowed them to immerse themselves in their chosen field, gaining practical experience and enhancing their professional portfolio.

In a more recent example, students working in YSU’s Office of Marketing and Communications coordinated the Penny Awards, a social media campaign created, developed and executed exclusively by student staff.

Katie Buttar, social media student assistant, led the campaign as a play on the various Academy Awards, as an effort to increase engagement across campus.

“The idea for the Penny Awards came about when my supervisor and I had been brainstorming ideas to create a new way for students and faculty to engage with campus and our social media. This was after the Oscars, so I pitched the idea to do something similar here at YSU — and she was all in,” Buttar said.

Buttar, a Marketing major with a minor in Accounting, brought the idea to her boss and fellow student workers, who helped her turn the idea into a reality.

“I’m really thankful that she let me go ahead with my idea and see it through. I really appreciate having a boss who lets me be creative and do my thing,” Buttar said. “I’m also grateful for having a team that supported me and helped every way that they could. I think it was a fun experience — fleshing-out the plan, creating the categories and filming everything — brought us closer together and gave us a good opportunity and experience for teamwork.”

For Buttar, this was an opportunity to practice her professional leadership.

“Having the opportunity to be the project lead on the Penny Awards has really given me more experience with working with a team and has also helped me build up my resume. I would love to go into social media and advertising one day, so leading this campaign has taught me a lot about how to build a campaign for an organization,” Buttar said.

Alyssa Osman, YSU’s Social Media and Communications Coordinator and Buttar’s supervisor, had tasked Buttar with coming up with a new and engaging social media campaign. Not long after, Buttar approached Osman with an idea which would allow YSU to highlight different aspects of campus life.

“In the beginning of the semester, I tasked my students with coming up with a campaign that they can all work on together. [Buttar] came to me and said, ‘I have an idea, but I don't really know where to go with it or how to see it through,’” Osman said.

One of the challenges Buttar encountered with her idea was how to create and present the physical award. This is when the idea to collaborate with the Excellence Training Center (ETC) in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics came about. With the help of the ETC’s lab, Buttar and her coworkers were able to design 3-D printed, custom trophies.

“This campaign started out as a fun, silly idea, but after some time, we turned it into something where we could all collaborate together — between the university, the College of STEM and my students, who are mostly within the business college,” Osman said. “I appreciate that my students are always open to coming to me with these types of ideas and bringing them to life.”

Elijah Buck, a Mechanical Engineering major and a lab assistant for the ETC, worked with the social media team to build the custom trophies.

“There's a lot of different and exciting things going on at the ETC day-to-day, so I get to work on different projects depending on what comes in and I get to work with a lot of different things,” Buck said. “Currently, we are working on Penny statues for YSU, but we have also worked on other projects depending on what gets contracted to the lab or if we have tours going through — sometimes we’ll be giving out tours to high schools — but it can really depend on the day, which is exciting.”

Buck said working at the ETC has given him hands-on experiences with the technology of his field. Since working at the center, Buck has earned certifications in programming FANUC America Corporation robots and Rockwell Island Bradley PLC controls.

“My favorite part of being a student worker here at the ETC is the access to different technologies and softwares that I get,” Buck said. “We have a 3-D printing lab, so I have access to those printers. There's also a CNC and wood shop here that I have access to. Over my time here at the ETC, they have helped me get certifications in various types of robotics programming.”

Aicha Sawaneh, the STEM social media student assistant, helped coordinate communication with the STEM college and conducted an interview with Buck.

“Interviewing [Buck] was one of the best experiences that I've had in this job so far,” Sawaneh said. “I’m still fairly new at this job and talking to him gave me a much better idea of the really cool things you can do in the STEM college.”

Sawaneh, a Communication Studies, Media Track major, runs YSU’s College of STEM social media accounts. Sawaneh said her time working in the office has introduced her to new people and new opportunities.

“Also, I’ve really appreciated the experience I’ve been getting at this job. I’ve gotten to interview people, I went to the STEM Expo and there, I met employers who were all talking about how they wanted students to have experience. After that I was thinking, 'Oh, that’s me right now, that’s what I’m doing,’” Sawaneh said.

Acting as a linchpin to much of this campaign was Spencer Tatta, YSU’s social media video editor. Tatta was the primary lead behind filming, editing and producing the videos included in the Penny Awards campaign.

“For this project, I am the videographer and the editor. Essentially, we were handed an idea and it's my job to help bring that to life. I'm kind of the creative vision behind the whole project, which means anything from helping to guide the shots to scheduling interviews and just coordinating everything overall,” Tatta said.

Tatta, a senior Marketing major, helped the group film category announcements, winner announcements and filmed several interviews for the project.

Tatta said participating in this campaign and working in the Office of Marketing and Communications has given him valuable experiences which he can bring into his future career.

“During my time here I've been able to work on numerous different projects — some of my favorites that I've been able to work on are filming and photographing at commencement ceremonies and filming student features. All these different projects have given me different skills that I'll be able to use in the workplace in the future,” Tatta said.

Through jobs on campus, students are able to keep up with the growing demand for experience among employers, lead organizational strategies, operate the newest technologies in their fields and initiate collaboration in the workplace.

For those interested in student employment opportunities, visit ysu.edu/welcome-student-employment.