How to Hire Student Employees

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Hourly, FWSP, Regular Stipend | Graduate Assistantships

The Student Employee Handbook covers pertinent regulations for student hours, overtime and other important policies that you and your employee should know. It walks you through the lifecycle of student employment and includes copies of pertinent documentation. Some of the requirements are included here to assist you to choose what type of student employee you need to hire.

Student Employees are required to follow the other PSU policies and procedures and be aware of the Student Employee Rights and Responsibilities. Along with this, PSU is committed to maintain a drug free work place and you should review the Drug Free Work Place Policy with your student employee.

Also, be aware that student employment records are confidential and are covered under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Hourly, Federal Work Study Program (FWSP) and Regular Stipend Employees

1. Job Posting & Interviewing

Student positions need to be posted on the Career Center web site. If you have any questions about how to post student jobs contact the Career Center at 503.725.4613.

There are resources under the Recruit and Hire forms section such as Behavioral Interview Questions and Position Description development assistance. The Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) website has Technical Assistance with regards to Pre-Employment Questions (Interview Questions) that meet the requirements of the law.

2. Select your employee

You will need to submit a Student Hire/Change form to officially hire a FWSP or hourly student and ensure they are paid on time. Routing the Student Hire/Change form is done as follows: for regular wage students send the original document directly to the HR office and for FWSP students send the original to the Financial Aid (FA) office who will forward it to the HR office after approval.

To qualify for student employment a student must be registered for PSU courses at half time or greater for three of the four terms per year. If a FWSP student would like to have a term off other than Summer they must get permission from the Director of FA. For undergraduates that means 6 credits per term; for graduates that means 5 credits per term. Check that the person you would like to hire meets the minimum requirements for enrollment in Banner or GQL Warehouse:

  • In Banner use the form SFAREGQ. Input the four digit year followed by 01 for Winter term, 02 for Spring term, 03 for Summer term or 04 for Fall term. For example: 200902 would be Winter term 2009.
  • In the GQL Warehouse there is a query to check enrollment.

If you are hiring for a FWSP position, check that the prospective employee has a Certificate of Eligibility verifying their financial aid award. Be aware that this document has an expiration date, usually 31 October of each academic year, and that the award may no longer be available after this date. Federal regulations require that position descriptions be prepared and filed annually with FA for each job that FWSP students fill.

You are responsible for monitoring the FWSP student hours. Any amount earned by the student that exceeds the award amount will be charged to the employing department. The FWSP never authorizes overtime pay. Use the form RJASEAR in Banner to verify the student award balance on a monthly basis prior to signing the time sheet.

If the perspective employee is an international student then you will need to verify that they are authorized to work on campus. The student will have a letter of authorization from the Office of International Affairs if they are allowed to work on campus. Federal law restricts international employees in the United States on an F-1 visa from working more than 20 hours per week while school is in session. During the annual vacation term and when school is not is session, these students may work full time. The annual vacation term is generally summer and an international student is considered to be 'on vacation' if enrolled in less than 9 credits.

3. On the First Day of Work

Hourly Employees: Complete and submit an Electronic Personnel Action Form (EPAF) for an hourly employee by following the instructions in the EPAF User Guide. Click here for information on Student Wages.

Tips for web time entry approvers and proxies.

Stipend Employees: Complete and submit a Student Hire/Change form if this is a stipend position employee. The form along with the Position Description will need to be routed to the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) for approval. They will send it on to Human Resources for payment. See the Student Wages page for more information on paying student employees.

Ensure that all employees complete the New Employee Paperwork with the Office of Human Resources. This must be done on or before the first day of work for payroll and to be in compliance with Federal and State law. Upon completing the paperwork, the student will be given the small green "HRC" sticker to verify that have met both employment eligibility and identity verification. Make sure they know what documents and identification they will need to bring with them to HR.

To check that the new hire has done all the required paper work you can either call the HR Student Payroll Processor at 503.725.5091 or In BANNER use the form PEAEMPL or PHZSNAP to see if the person has been set up as an employee in the system.

Graduate Assistantships

1. Preparation

In advance of recruiting for a graduate assistant, the departments should meet with the dean's office to layout the number of graduate assistant positions available for hire within funding availability for that term/year.

It is also important to draft a Position Description so that you can find the appropriate candidate to meet you needs.

2. Recruitment

HR does not generally post available Graduate Assistantships and we recommend that students contact the individual department or professor if they are interested. Information on available Assistantships may also be advertised through departmental newsletters. Along with this, Graduate Studies and Research will post any GA positions that they receive. The salary schedule, terms of agreement and other information on Assistantships can also be found on this site.

Graduate Assistants are required to be full-time students and complete a minimum of 9 graduate credits per term with the exception of summer. It is your responsibility to check their enrollment by following the instructions in step 2 of Hourly and Student Stipend Workers above.

3. Offer Letters and Assistantship Requirements

After you have interviewed and selected a candidate, draft a Graduate Assistant Offer Letter. The policy for routing offer letters may differ so you should check with your department or your school's Dean's Office to find out the process (i.e., Department, Employee, Dean's Office or Department, Dean's Office, Employee).

For most positions the fully signed offer letter should be sent to Human Resources. However, if it is a Grant Related position the letter must be sent to Research Accounting.

Attach a copy of the current graduate terms of agreement to the Offer Letter and make sure the selected Graduate Assistant understands these terms. The terms may change each year so we recommend getting an updated copy. The terms of agreement as well as information on the current stipend rates, tuition policy and more can be found on the Graduate Studies and Research website.

Talk with your GAs about any other employment at PSU to avoid breaking the .49 FTE rule: GAs are not allowed to exceed .49 FTE as a PSU employee in any term. This means that if they are working an assistantship that is less than .49 FTE they can only supplement with further hourly work up to that amount. Employment outside of PSU does not fall within this rule.

4. After Offer Acceptance

On or before their first day, ensure that the GA has completed the New Employee Paperwork with the Office of Human Resources. This must be done on or before the first day of work for payroll and to be in compliance with Federal and State law. Make sure they know what documents and identification they will need to bring with them to HR. GAs are paid monthly based on their FTE equivalency and are not required to fill out a time sheet.

Also, please make sure your GAs attend the GA Orientation offered in the Fall by the Center for Academic Excellence (CAE) even if they start their GA appointment in the Winter, Spring or Summer prior to the orientation. The CAE also offers additional resources for GA development.