Student employee receives regional recognition

Belen Vanegas, a student employee in Northwest Missouri State University’s Office of Title IX and Equity, was selected as the Midwest Association of Student Employment Administrators’ (MASEA) Diversity and Inclusion Student Employee of the Year runner-up.

Vanegas, a senior business management and financial management major from Ecuador, is employed in Northwest’s proctoring center. The University recognized her for achieving the honor Wednesday during its Student Employee and Graduate Assistant Appreciation Event in the J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom. She received from MASEA a congratulatory letter, a certificate and a check for $50.

Paula McLain presented Belen Vanegas on Wednesday with a certificate recognizing her as the Midwest Association of Student Employment Administrators’ Diversity and Inclusion Student Employee of the Year runner-up.

MASEA annually invites institutions within its 14-state region to nominate student employee honorees for regional recognition in the categories of community service, diversity and inclusion, leadership, technology and innovation, and critical thinking. Two student employees are recognized for each category in the regional competition.

“It’s quite a large amount of student employees throughout the United States, so this is a huge honor,” Paula McLain, who coordinates Northwest’s student employment program, said while presenting Vanegas with the honor. “This speaks volumes of your contribution to student employment as well as your strengths in diversity and inclusion.”

Vanegas has worked in the Office of Title IX and Equity since September 2022 and assists students who receive accommodations due to diagnosed disabilities. As a proctor, Vanegas schedules exams, helps students and answers questions, de-escalates situations that arise when a student is feeling anxious or stressed, and administers exams to students in ways that minimize their disabilities.

She plans to graduate from Northwest next fall and aspires to work in a management role in the real estate industry.

“I’m very honored to be given this recognition because I like working to help other people and also build my career path at Northwest,” Vanegas said. “At the same time, it’s just a way for me to achieve my personal goals. So being recognized is a great way for me to keep motivating myself to do more for myself and others.”

Vanegas received the Northwest Award of Excellence for Diversity and Inclusion during the University’s annual Northwest Awards and Recognition program on April 1.

According to her nominator, “Belen is able to connect with anybody that comes through our office, whether it is administering an exam in a way that minimizes a student’s testing anxiety or helping a student schedule their exams when they are stressed. Belen’s ability to empathize with our students is essential and shines during moments of high intensity such as finals week or days where we have a busy exam schedule … Being able to effectively help these students, who are at a higher risk of feeling anxious or distracted during their exams, requires patience and understanding at a very high level, which Belen possesses. Without the help of our proctors, such as Belen, many of the students we serve wouldn’t be able to exhibit their knowledge to the best of their ability. The impact that Belen has made on the University and the Office of Title IX and Equity will leave a mark on many of the students that we serve.”

MASEA is a non-profit, professional organization comprised of administrators and counselors from post-secondary institutions in 14 Midwest states who are involved in securing employment opportunities for students.

Northwest’s internationally benchmarked student employment program offers students about 1,200 opportunities to develop skills and build their résumés in nearly every office on campus. In their varied roles, student employees are actively engaged in the institution’s educational, research and operational excellence.