Student Employment Guidelines

 

Follow these guidelines to navigate the Student Assistant appointment process.

 

  1. Student Assistant appointment processing starts one of two ways:
    1. The department does not have a final candidate to appoint.
      • In this case, the department does not have a student in mind to appoint and will need to find a final candidate. Do this by using CHRS Recruiting guides here to create a job requisition and/or ensure a job requisition gets posted for applicants to apply. The department will review the student applicants and eventually identify a final candidate they want to hire.
    2. The department does have a final candidate to appoint.
      • In this case, the department knows which student they want to appoint – they have a final candidate and can proceed.

  2. Once the department identifies a final candidate to appoint, you must check the following information before proceeding:
    1. Academic standing & number of enrolled units
    2. Work history (check with Student Employment, if needed)
    3. Financial aid status (check with Financial Aid, if needed)
    4. Determine which job code/classification is appropriate for the student (see Student Assistant Job Code/Classification Codes table 2 below)
    5. Ensure the position number matches the job code (check with your budget analyst to get the right position number)

      The above factors influence whether a student qualifies to be appointed as a student assistant, which job code/classification is appropriate for the student, and which system is used to hire.
  3. You are now ready to determine the appropriate appointment path. The student’s work history will determine whether you use CHRS Recruiting to create an Offer or if you submit an MPP Approval for Student Assistant Appointment Form.

    Use the table below to determine the correct appointment path.

    Student Employee Guidelines

    Student Assistant’s Work History Use CHRS Recruiting Use MPP Approval Form
    Hiring a student has never been employed in a stateside student assistant position ✔  
    Hiring a former student assistant who is returning to a student assistant position after more than 12 months of separation ✔  
    Reappointing a currently employed student assistant without a break in service   ✔
    Appointing a currently employed student assistant to a second student assistant job (concurrent appointment)   ✔
    Reappointing a former student assistant who last worked in a student assistant position in the past 12 months   ✔
    Giving a pay increase to a currently employed student assistant   ✔
  4. Complete and submit the MPP Approval for Student Assistant Appointment Form or CHRS Recruiting Offer to complete the department’s part of the appointment process.
    When doing this, bear these important details about appointment dates and federal work study students in mind:

 

Student Appointment Dates:

    • CHRS Recruiting Offer Dates:
      • Start Date:
        • If the student was employed as a student assistant during summer 2024, use a start date on or after 8/30/24.
        • If the student was not employed as a student assistant during summer 2024, use a start date on or after 8/19/24.
          • NOTE: The CHRS Recruiting Offer card start dates must be at least 2 weeks from the date of preparing the offer. For example, if you were preparing an Offer on 9/2/24, set the Start Date field to 9/16/24. (This gives the Offer approvers enough time to review and approve, plus it gives the student time to accept the Offer, complete onboarding documents, and the Sign-in process with Payroll.)
      • End Date:
        • Appoint the student for the whole academic year and set the End Date to 5/31/25.
    • MPP Approval for Student Assistant Appointment Form Dates:
      • Start and end dates on this form are clearly delineated.
      • If giving a pay raise, set the pay increase’s start date to the beginning of the next pay period.


Federal Work Study Reminders:

  • Students who qualify for Financial Aid/Federal Work Study (FWS) should stop working/submitting time by 5/16/25.  
  • When using CHRS Recruiting to appoint FWS students, include Financial Aid in the approval process for Job Requisitions and Offers.
  • Before using the MPP Approval Form for FWS students, verify their award and get approval from Financial Aid.


Questions?

Student Assistant Job Code/Classification Codes

Table 2 - Last revised August 2024

Use this table to determine which Job Code/Classification is appropriate for the Student Assistant.

Job Code/
Class Code

Job Title

Eligibility Requirements
 Note: All students may work no more than 20 hours per week when classes are in session and no more than 40 hours per week when class is not in session.

Additional Information

1870

Student Assistant

Must be enrolled in at least 6 units
Use this job code only during the academic year.

Earnings are exempt from retirement and Medicare tax.

1871

Student Trainee,
On-Campus Work Study

Must have applied for and received a Federal Work Study (FWS) as part of their financial aid award; must be approved by Financial Aid; must maintain a minimum enrollment of six (6) units

Earnings are exempt from retirement and Medicare tax.

1872

Student Trainee,
Off-Campus Work Study

Must have applied for and received a Federal Work Study as part of their financial aid award; must be approved by Financial Aid; must maintain a minimum enrollment of six (6) units

Earnings are exempt from retirement and Medicare tax.

1874

Bridge Student Assistant

Must be enrolled in less than 6 units during the academic year or must be enrolled in the spring and continuing in the Fall semester or must be enrolled in the upcoming Fall semester or must be enrolled in the Summer

Earnings are exempt from retirement and Medicare tax.

1875
(for Summer use only)

Bridge Student Trainee, On-Campus Work Study

Must have a FWS allocation; be newly admitted for Fall or a continuing student enrolled in the Fall semester. Summer enrollment is not required (enrollment can be from 0 – 5 units for the summer session) but must be approved by Financial Aid. This job code is only used in Summer.

Earnings are exempt from retirement and Medicare tax.

1876

(for Summer use only)

Bridge Student Trainee, Off-Campus Work Study

Must have a FWS allocation; be newly admitted for Fall or a continuing student enrolled in the Fall semester. Summer enrollment is not required (enrollment can be from 0 – 5 units for the summer session) but must be approved by Financial Aid. This job code is only used in Summer.

Earnings are exempt from retirement and Medicare tax.

1868

Student – NCS
(NCS: non-citizen status)

Must be enrolled in classes. This job code is used for international students or students without citizenship.

Based on the student’s tax status, earnings may or may not be subject to retirement and Medicare tax. Students on an F-1 Visa are generally hired in this classification, unless their job duties include instruction, grading or tutoring – then they must be hired as an ISA (1150).

NOTE: All student assistants (except for job code 1868) may work an additional term immediately following graduation through the day prior to the beginning of the new semester