Work-Study Guidelines for Supervisors/Employers
Thank you for your Agency’s participation in the New Mexico State University Work-study program. By participating in our Work-study program, you’re allowing our students to gain valuable experience and to help finance the costs of their post-secondary education. These guidelines were setup to offer assistance to supervisors and employers of work-study students regarding effective procedures and regulations for work-study employment.
-Develop accurate and useful job descriptions for all positions.
-Interview each applicant in a similar fashion. It is recommended that the supervisor ask each candidate of a particular position, similar questions and to put the interviewee at ease during the interviewing process. All questions asked should be job related. Students should have a current copy of the award screen with them at the time of the interview.
-Agree upon scheduled work hours which are compatible with the employer and the student’s class schedule.
-Inform work-study students of all duties and responsibilities and supply any other information they may require such as pay per hour, line of authority, etc.
-Train student employees to successfully carry out all necessary duties of the job.
-Inform student employees of any changes in procedures, scheduling or working conditions.
-Develop good working relations with all employees.
-Correct inappropriate behavior as soon as possible. Immediate action should be taken to explain why the behavior was incorrect and exactly what is expected of the employee. (Refer to the NMSU Policy Manual for guidance).
-Resolve problems pertaining to performance or working relations with an employee. If no resolution can be reached, the supervisor should bring the problem to the attention of the department head.
-If involuntarily termination is necessary, provide a reasonable explanation for the termination to both the worker and the department head.
-It is recommended that evaluations of student employees be conducted at least once a semester. An evaluation system should be established for each department. The immediate supervisor performs the evaluation. It should be made available to the students to let them know how they have been performing assigned duties and responsibilities and methods of improvement if necessary.
-Pay increases are recommended for continuing work-study students upon request of the immediate supervisor. This can be done at the beginning of each semester to students who merit this increase to motivate continued good work and increased responsibility.
-See that all employee work hours are reported accurately and that work performed during that time was satisfactory. Setup a log-in sheet for students to record their time reporting to and from work, this should always be validated by the timesheet approver or supervisor.
-Maintain accurate accounting of employee’s hours worked and meet payroll deadline dates. Four business days are given after the 15th and last day of every month for students to submit their hours worked and for the timesheet approvers to approve the student’s timesheet.
-Employers should have work-study students monitor hours worked each day to avoid any conflict at the end of the pay period. Hours worked must be documented.
-Keep track of all students’ work-study awards and their remaining balances available to earn for each semester. It is very important that the student does not exceed the award; our office has created an Earnings Tracking Sheet to assist you. If any overage does occur, the hiring agency must pay 100% of the overage.
Off-Campus Hiring Process
New student: Post job opening, /interview/select student to fill the position. Make sure the student is eligible to receive financial aid/work-study as it depends on their FAFSA, documents, budget and satisfactory academic progress.
Complete the “work-study hiring form for off-campus agencies” and “work-study certification form” and have the student bring it to the office. At this point, we need to complete the HR I-9 form for employment verification. The form must be handwritten by the student; the student is also required to provide original identification documents. We make copies of these documents and we are required by law to see the original documents, the copies are sent to HR for further processing. HR send us an email letting us know when all this has been processed so the student can start working. We will forward you the email from HR notifying you when the student may start working (The process takes 2-5 business days).
Returning student: You do not need to post the job. Fill out the “work-study hiring form for off-campus agencies” and send it to our office, we will re-new the EPAF and send you a confirmation email, after you receive the email, the student can start working right away. The EPAF process, is the process that creates the electronic time sheet for a student to submit their hours on their MyNMSU, it also defines; organization, index, type of funding, start and end date. This process usually takes 2-3 business days. Make sure the student is eligible to receive financial aid/work-study as it depends on their FAFSA, documents, budget and satisfactory academic progress.
*** Per HR regulations students may not start working until the hiring process has been finalized.