Human Resources

With the beginning of the spring semester, it is time to confirm that your new and returning student workers are on-boarded and prepared for the rest of the academic year.

Verify Your Student Worker is Authorized to Work
Hiring managers must provide each new student worker the New Student Employment Packet and ensure he/she is authorized to work by verifying his/her Form I-9 is appropriately completed.

To make the process more seamless, HR requests that students schedule an appointment to fill out the Form I-9. The appointment can be scheduled here: Schedule an I-9 Appointment. It will request their SMU ID and anticipated start date before booking the appointment. Walk-ins are strongly discouraged due to our current social distancing protocols in the office.  

Supervisors should not assume their student worker already has a Form I-9 “on file” OR that a Form I-9 completed previously is acceptable. To confirm your student is I-9 compliant, supervisors should verify directly with HR or verify that HR has signed off that the student is I-9 compliant on his/her Student Worker Employment Checklist.

Supervisors hiring International Student Workers must follow the instructions provided by the International Scholars & Students Office (ISSS) to confirm the student’s work eligibility. The student’s ePAF start and end date must stay within the ISSS-authorized dates and scheduled work hours. Failure to do so could endanger your student worker’s ability to remain within the U.S. to complete his/her education and/or to work in the U.S. after graduation.

Complete the ePAF to Ensure Your Student Worker is Paid on Time
As employees of the University, it is essential for each student worker to be set-up correctly in the payroll system in order to receive timely pay.

• Supervisors must initiate a new hire/rehire ePAF for each student worker as the employment offer is accepted by the student.
• End date for ePAF: financial aid work-study student employment must end on or before by May 6, 2022. Non-financial aid work-study students must have an employment end date on or before May 20, 2022.
• Non-Work-Study Student Worker jobs that are paid from an unrestricted source (fund 10 or 12) will require additional approval.
  -Approver for an academic area will be the financial business manager for the school or Provost’s area
  -Approver for an administrative area will be the vice president
  -Other non-work-study student worker jobs that are paid from a restricted source (fund 20 or higher) including grants/sponsored projects will continue to be routed for approvals required for the type of job/funding source
• Work-Study Student Worker hire forms will follow the normal approval routing—regardless of funding source
  -If the student does not have work study funds as part of his/her financial aid package, the hire form will be recycled for the initiator to resubmit it as a non-work-study job; additional approval may be required. (See above)

Manage Student Worker Schedules to Remain Within Weekly Limits
The tax benefits student workers are eligible to receive are contingent on SMU limiting these recipients to no more than 20 hours of work per week. Hiring managers must ensure each student worker’s schedule abides by the 20 hour per week limitation. This applies to any student being paid under a student worker ePAF.

Training for Student Workers
Student workers are required to complete two (2) training tutorials via Everfi (SMU’s vendor for e-learning training). They are:

• Youth Protection required under SMU’s Program for the Protection of Minors and
• Data Security and Privacy

Data Security is a one-time assignment with no refresh required.  Youth Protection has a two (2) year refresh schedule.  If the student has not completed the training or if they are outside their refresh schedule, they will receive an email notification to their SMU email address announcing the assignments with a link to access the training. As with regular employees, students should use the SMU ID and password to log in via the single sign on portal at smu.edu/Foundry. Additional training may be assigned based on job responsibilities; for example, FERPA for those requesting access to student records or Golf Cart Safety if they will have access/use.

Those supervising student workers should manage training completion within the allocated timeframe. This may be confirmed by asking the student to provide a copy of their training summary in my.SMU or by providing a certificate that may be generated within the Everfi dashboard.

Engage Your Student Worker
Student workers are a vital resource to the University. Students should be on-boarded and orientated to work expectations similarly to the on-boarding our regular employees’ experience. Introduce your student workers to the work team, make sure they understand the role your team/department plays in achieving the University’s goals. Share dress codes and culturally specific information so they feel included. Set clear expectations for the work they will do as well as how and when to notify you when they are ill or have conflicts with their work schedule. Provide regular feedback about the work they are doing and the impact they are having. Doing so will ensure your student is engaged and providing maximum support to your team.

Resources:

• Student Worker Employment Packet
• Student Worker ePAF
• HR webpage for hiring student workers