Hiring and Managing Your Work-Study Student
Recruiting a Work-Study Student
After Hiring a Work-Study Student
Creating an Appointment on *DEFINE
Change of Status
Termination Policy
The Work-Study Office helps approved employers recruit FWS students
by hosting an annual Work-Study Job Fair and by offering access to
the Hirealonghorn Job Bank. The Work-Study Job Fair, held in late
August each year, provides an excellent opportunity for employers
to actively recruit FWS students for Fall and Spring.
The Hirealonghorn Job Bank at Hirealonghorn.org is
available to employers virtually any time of the day or night.
To post a job, employers login to the job bank using their
Employer ID# and Password. Job postings should include contact
information, position information, and posting information.
After a job is posted, it is reviewed by the Student Employment
Referral Service. If it is complete and meets EEO guidelines,
it is activated for students to view. The Student Employment
Referral Service will contact the employer in the event there
is a problem with the job posting.
FWS students access the Hirealonghorn Job Bank to search for FWS jobs.
When they find a job that interests them, they contact the employer per
the job posting’s Application Instructions. Students also have the
ability to send an electronic inquiry about a specific job to the
employer via the Hirealonghorn Job Bank. In order to see if a student
has sent an inquiry of this kind, the employer must login to the job
bank and check. Another feature of the job bank allows employers to
search for students with matching skills and contact them directly.
Once contact is made and both parties are interested, an interview
may be arranged.
Before beginning the interview, it is imperative
that the employer ask to see the Work-Study Verification
(WSV) to verify that the student has been awarded Federal Work-Study
for the current academic year. The student should bring a copy of the
WSV to the interview.
The employer has the final say in whether a student is hired. If
the student is hired, the employer should close the job on the
Hirealonghorn Job Bank right away. If an applicant is not hired,
the employer should refer the student back to the job bank to
look for placement elsewhere. The paperwork remains with the
unhired student to take to future interviews.
«TIP» Employers must hire their
Work-Study students before the posted last day to hire a Work-Study student
in order to secure funding for the position.
Immediately after hiring an FWS student,
the department should complete and submit the Hire
a Work-Study document to the Work-Study Office (see Important Dates for last day to hire a student).
There are also specific University requirements the FWS student must complete
immediately after hire:
- I-9 -- if student has not been previously employed at the University, an I-9 must be completed and sent to Human Resource Services (HRS), Campus Mail Code J5600, within three business days of the hire date.
- Paycheck Profile/PO-8 online as soon as student’s appointment is approved on *DEFINE.
- PO-14 (Short Application)--if student has not worked at the University previously, a PO-14 must be completed and sent to HRS, Campus Mail Code J5600. Departments are encouraged to retain a copy for their files.
- Ethics Statement online.
- PO-13 (Security Sensitive Position Form)--The University requires criminal background checks on applicants hired for those positions designated security sensitive. When in doubt, departments should require their FWS student to complete the PO-13.
- Employee Biographical Information on UT Direct.
- UT Online Compliance Training, modules CW 121 and CW 123 (EEO and Sexual Harassment).
Hiring departments appoint FWS students on *DEFINE (ANH Screen). When creating the appointment, be sure
to mark the appointment with a "Y" to
designate it as WORK-STUDY... otherwise, your
account will be charged 100% of the student's wages! The Work-Study
Office will not reimburse departments for
payments made on a non-FWS appointment. When you mark the appointment,
a mail message is sent programmatically to the Work-Study Office. It
is critical that you mark the appointment correctly.
When you appoint your students on *DEFINE/ANH, please verify that the
appointment's Start and End Dates are within the dates of the Award
Period (see Important Dates).
These dates are also provided in the Award
Period section of Work-Study
Policies. Departments are not eligible to receive FWS funds for
hours worked prior to the start or after the end of the award period.
If a student has been awarded Federal Work-Study for the Fall and
Spring semesters, the hiring department must create two
separate appointments -- one for Fall and another for Spring.
One appointment for Fall/Spring combined is not allowed. It is highly recommended that employers put only
one appointment on *DEFINE per award period.
When appointing FWS students, the hiring department must assign a
departmental account number to which the institutional share of
wages will be charged. It is highly recommended
that the student's appointment have only one account number.
Those departments with tutoring positions that may qualify for a
100% match (see the Pay Rates and the FWS
Share section of Work-Study
Policies) must contact the Work-Study Office for information on
appointment and payroll procedures.
If changes occur, the hiring department must make an electronic
adjustment on *DEFINE (ACH Screen).
The Work-Study Office will be notified of the changes programmatically.
Particular attention should be paid to the "separation date." The
separation date should be the last day the student worked, not the
last day of a payroll period or the nearest Sunday. Please complete
the "Remarks" on the ACH screen. An explanation is essential.
Changes needing attention are as follows:
- account number
- rate of pay
- hours appointed per week
- job title/code
- appointment dates
- earnings (i.e. award amount earned before the end of the appointment period)
- termination or resignation
| A department should only cancel an appointment on *DEFINE when there have been no expenditures on it! |
«TIP» A new Hire a Work-Study
document for the Spring semester is not needed when the student is
continuing in the same FWS position or when there is a change in pay rate.
«TIP» Call the *DEFINE hotline
at 471-8802 for ACH questions.
If an FWS student's work becomes unsatisfactory, the employer should
make every effort to counsel the student and resolve the performance
issues. After sufficient counseling, if the employer feels the student
can no longer remain in their employ, they should notify the Work-Study
Office. If termination proves to be the best option, the Work-Study Office
will advise the employer to complete the Termination Form, which serves as a
record of the student's INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION, and forward it to the
Work-Study Office with the student's final Monthly
Earnings Report (MER). In all cases, employee problems are to be
handled following HRS policy. If serious misconduct is the reason for
dismissal, the student will be barred from receiving FWS awards in the future.
| Where job performance issues are concerned, FWS student employees should be treated in the same way any non-FWS employee is treated. |
In case of resignation prior to the end of the appointment period,
an ACH needs to be done on
*DEFINE in order to change the ending date to the last day worked
by the FWS student (in "Remarks" enter the reason for the student's
departure.) Please also see the Change of
Status section above.
«TIP» Give FWS
students a written list of duties and responsibilities upon hiring
to avoid a possible miscommunication of expectations.