Supervisor Checklist for Hiring Student Worke
rs
The beginning of the fall semester signifies the end of summer and, for anyone supervising student workers, it is also the time to confirm your new and returning student workers are on-boarded and prepared for the upcoming academic year in your department.
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, we request that students schedule an appointment to fill out a I-9 by emailing smuhr@smu.edu to request their appointment and provide their SMU ID and anticipated start date.
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.
- Start date for ePAF: Employment start dates should commence on or after August 15, 2020.
- End date for ePAF: financial aid work-study student employment must end on or before by May 7, 2021. Non-financial aid work-study students must have an employment end date on or before May 21, 2021.
- Student workers whose start date was before August 15, 2020 must have two (2) separate ePAFs forms submitted: to ensure they are paid for work before the fall start date of August 15
-
- A temporary staff or student worker ePAF, depending on summer classification, for work prior to August 15, 2020 and
- A student worker ePAF effective date on or after August 15, 2020
- 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.
Required Training for Student Workers
Student workers must be compliant with training requirements via Everfi (SMU’s vendor for e-learning training). First time student workers will be automatically assigned the training. Those who were previously employed in a student worker role will only be assigned the training if they have achieved the refresh schedule for a particular training.
- SMU’s Program for the Protection of Minors course titled Youth Protection
- Data Security and Privacy
Student workers will receive an email notification to their SMU email address announcing the assignments with a link to access the training. Students should use their SMU ID and password to log in via the single sign on portal. Additional training may be assigned based on job responsibilities; for example, FERPA for those requesting access to student records via the OIT Help Desk or golf cart safety if they will have access to this resource.
Those supervising student workers should manage training completion within the allocated timeframe. This may be confirmed by having the student print a completion certificate from within the Everfi system or by accessing their training summary in my.SMU.
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 Universities 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:
