Senior Holt Calder, left, is all smiles after being named the Oklahoma State University 2019 Student Employee of the Year while receiving a $1,500 scholarship check from Dr. Douglas A. Hallenbeck, OSU’s vice president for student affairs on April 11, 2019.

OSU names 2019 Student Employee of the Year

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Oklahoma State University Career Services named Holt Calder, data engineer for InterWorks, the 2019 Student Employee of the Year on April 11.

The Student Employee of the Year award is given to someone who goes above and beyond, all while balancing classwork and extracurricular activities. Students are nominated by their employers, then the nominations are reviewed by a selection committee. The committee seeks students who exhibit leadership abilities, have influence within their workplaces and succeed as employees. This year saw 98 students nominated, 10 semifinalists and five finalists chosen before Calder, a senior from Plano, Texas, was selected as the winner. Calder, who has worked at InterWorks since 2017, will continue on the data engineering team after graduation, serving the company’s global technology partners and providing customized data solutions.

“Holt exemplifies the casual, driven, and goal-oriented, leadership style of InterWorks.” nominator Derek Hecksher said. “Projects can often be very demanding in terms of time and deliverables. No matter what the expected outcome of a particular project or assignment was to be, Holt has always done more. He has positively impacted the relationships with our technology partners by demonstrating where those technologies can be most effective for our clients. Most of all he has impacted what it means to be a contributor to the team.”

The Student Employee of the Year contest is sponsored by OSU Career Services in conjunction with the National Student Employment Association's National Student Employee of the Year contest. As the OSU Student Employee of the Year, Calder, an accounting and management science and information systems major, was awarded a $1,500 scholarship and will compete at the regional level and, if successful, nationally.

Other finalists included Chord Fonvielle, a human resource management major from Piedmont; Chapman Howard, a mathematics and mechanical engineering major from Tulsa; Ana Solis Ruiz, a Spanish and French major from Stillwater; and Samantha Homann, English literature and German major from Trophy Club, Texas.

Edmon Low Library was named Employer of the Year.

OSU Career Services facilitates quality career development and outreach services to enhance life-long learning and economic development. Career Services strives to empower all OSU community members with the passion and abilities to achieve their ideal future. For more information, visit www.HireOSUgrads.com.