The Center for Life’s Work views student employment as more than an opportunity for students to earn money. Our research shows that student employment correlates positively with retention, increases students’ sense of belonging, and provides learning and confidence building opportunities that lead to student success. Your help in making sure we continue to provide such opportunities is crucial.
The safety of student workers during the pandemic should be uppermost in the minds of supervisors. Can your work environment allow for appropriate social distancing? Are there modifications to your work space that are necessary to prevent transmission of the virus? What will be the disinfecting procedures you will use? Is it possible for some student work to be done remotely? If you have questions about your physical work space and what modifications may be necessary, please contact Michael LaPoint, Director of Facilities Planning mlapoin5@naz.edu.
For information on transitioning student employment to a remote work arrangement contact the Center for Life’s Work careers@naz.edu and complete the Request to Transition Student Employment to Remote Work Arrangement.
Posting Your Job: In compliance with New York State fair labor practices laws,the Center for Life’s Work posts all available on-campus jobs on its Handshake website for review by all students. If you’ve never posted a job before you will need a Handshake employer account. Email careers@naz.edu for assistance in creating one. If you have posted a job before and wish to repost, first check the posting in Handshake to see if any changes need to be made, then resubmit. Interested students will apply to your job through Handshake. Click here to view a video on how to access applicants to your job posting. The Center for Life’s Work is happy to help you access and use Handshake to source applicants. Contact careers@naz.edu if you would like to arrange a tutorial.
The Center for Life’s Work surveys students in the fall to determine who among them is seeking on-campus employment and when they may be available to work. If you would like to access this information as part of your search for student workers, contact careers@naz.edu.
Timing: Most student job openings occur at the beginning of the academic year. Fall openings should be posted at least one month before the first day of classes. For spring semester, list openings as soon as you become aware of the need to hire someone. Nazareth also employs students in the summer. Summer student job openings should be posted on Handshake with the Center for Life’s Work during April to give students a reasonable opportunity to apply. Please note, you may not hire a graduating senior for summer student employment unless that student is beginning a graduate program at the university or is still attending classes.
Interviewing Students: You may have multiple applicants for your student worker position, and so should interview candidates to determine who is best qualified.
Reference Checks: Many of our student workers handle sensitive information, are responsible for collecting fees, and may be responsible for other activities requiring honesty, maturity and integrity. It makes sense to check the references for such critical student workers before giving them this responsibility.
Once you have determined the student or students you wish to hire, you must login to the work authorization website: https://studentworkauth.naz.edu/ to confirm that they have provided the appropriate documentation to the Payroll Office and are authorized to work on campus (only students who have done so are listed on the work authorization website).
ONLY STUDENTS WHO HAVE COMPLETED THIS PROCESS MAY WORK ON CAMPUS. YOUR STUDENT WORKERS CANNOT BEGIN TO WORK FOR YOU UNTIL THEY HAVE DONE SO.
Be sure to check the appropriate category of employment (Work Study/Non Work Study) to determine your student’s eligibility. When you have selected a student who is authorized to work they will receive an e-mail message asking them to confirm their employment for your department as well as their compliance with Nazareth’s confidentiality agreement. Only then may they begin to work and submit their hours worked through NazNet.
For many new students an on-campus job is their first employment. Your student workers may not understand that like all other jobs, this one comes with expectations that must be met for continued employment. You should explain as clearly as possible what the student's responsibilities are, providing a written job description if possible. In addition you should explain any other expectations you have with regard to dress, telephone etiquette, office behavior, reporting to work on time, etc.
Maintaining Confidentiality and Data Security: When students are added to the University payroll, they are required to read and sign the confidentiality agreement below. As their supervisor you should reinforce these expectations of your workers and make sure that their access to confidential information is restricted to only that information required to do their work. Further, you should familiarize yourself with the University's expectations regarding maintaining the security of confidential data at this link: https://www2.naz.edu/its/security-privacy-policies/information-security. If you have questions about how to best maintain the security of the data you share with students, please contact the office of IT Services at tmsd@naz.edu.
CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT FOR WORKFORCE MEMBERS WHO ARE STUDENT WORKERS OR GRADUATE ASSISTANTS
I understand that as a student at Nazareth University and a Student Worker or Graduate Assistant employed at the institution, I am assuming a great deal of responsibility. I may require confidential information to perform my duties. This information may include, but is not limited to, information on prospects, applicants, students, alumni, faculty, staff and other affiliates of the university. Some of this information is made confidential by law (such as that protected under the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Confidential information may be in any form, e.g., printed, written, electronic, oral, overheard or observed.
I also understand that access to all confidential information is granted on a need-to-know basis, defined as information access that is required in order to perform my work. Though much of the information relates to Nazareth University students, faculty, and staff, I understand that any and all work-related information is considered confidential and therefore, should not be shared with parties who do not have a legitimate need for information. I will not disclose confidential information to friends, relatives, co-workers or anyone else except as permitted by Nazareth University policies, procedures, applicable law and as required to perform my work as a student employee for Nazareth University. I will protect the security and confidentiality of all personal and financial information while at Nazareth University and after I leave Institutions employment. All confidential information remains the property of Nazareth University and may not be removed, accessed, or kept by me when I leave Nazareth University employment.
I will take all precautions to safeguard information, including, but not limited to: (1) Using my own unique user account to access the information systems, (2) Never sharing the password to my own user account, (3) Only accessing information while at work, from a secure office, or participating in an approved remote work arrangement (4) Ensuring that printed and digital information is private and secure.
If I violate this agreement, I may be subject to adverse action up to and including termination of my employment at Nazareth University as well as disciplinary action through the student conduct system. In addition, under applicable law, I may be subject to criminal or civil penalties.
Attendance/Studying While at Work: No student may work during scheduled classes. Needing to study for an exam or to write a paper are not acceptable excuses for missing work. It is recommended that students not work more than 12-15 hours per week to help maintain this balance. Some supervisors allow students to study while at work, when all other responsibilities have been met. This is an individual supervisor's decision.
Terminating a Student Worker who is not fulfilling his/her job responsibilities: It is vitally important that you make your expectations of student workers clear at the beginning of the school year and point out any deficiencies right away. It is advisable that you document such a discussion with a student in writing, keeping a copy for your records. If job performance does not improve, the student may be advised that his/her services are no longer needed by your office and he/she can be directed to the Center for Life’s Work to look for any other open positions. You should inform the Payroll Office that this student no longer works for you and then list your job opening with Center for Life’s Work if you are seeking additional candidates.
Terminating a student worker is a serious business, but a supervisor should not be expected to continue to employ a student who is tardy, insubordinate, unqualified, or who simply does not show up to work his/her scheduled hours. In this litigious day and age, however, a paper trail documenting the behaviors in question would go a long way toward demonstrating that every effort was made to give a student the opportunity to succeed. Putting together a written job description that can be shared with student workers at the beginning of their employment is advisable. Remember that employment under Federal Work Study is not just a campus job but is part of a student's financial aid package.
Along similar lines, the end of the school year is an excellent time to review your student workers' performance. Should you decide that a student has not performed well enough to be retained for the following year, you should set up a meeting with the student and advise him/her of the need to seek other employment for the fall. It would be wise to document this discussion by following up with a letter to the student with a copy retained for your files.
When departmental budget requests are completed each January, requests are made for a number of hours of student labor for the upcoming fiscal year. These hours may be requested as Federal Work Study or Non-Federal Work Study (Regular Campus Employment). Note that no Federal Work Study subsidy is available in summer, so any hours needed to support your department in the summer months must be requested as regular campus employment. For the academic year, your department may request a combination of Federal Work Study and regular campus employment. As students with Federal Work Study have a demonstrated financial need, we strongly encourage departments to prioritize hiring Federal Work Study students.
You should keep track of how quickly your student worker hours are being depleted to avoid overspending your budget. No student wants to be laid off in the middle of the spring semester because the department for whom he/she is working has depleted its budget. By the same token, circumstances arise when the number of hours budgeted is insufficient. Alert your supervisors when you realize this is so and by how much you may overspend your allotted hours. Your department director should contact the Controller to advise of the impending shortfall. In such a circumstance, it may be wise to increase your departmental budget request for student employment during the next budget cycle.
What is Work Study and Why Does it Matter? Work Study is a form of federal financial aid, which helps underwrite the cost of student employment. Only students who have shown a demonstrated need for this form of assistance are eligible. The charge to your departmental budgets for work study students is typically about 60% of the charge for regular student employees; therefore students who have received this form of aid should be given preference in hiring decisions. Some departments have a budget to hire students who do not qualify for work study and many departments have both. If you are unsure if non-work-study funds are available for your department, please check with your administrator. Some students are confused about Work Study because it is listed as a form of financial aid. They may not realize that they will receive a paycheck rather than having what they earn deducted from what they owe the university. Please explain this to new student workers.
Students Running Out of Work Study Hours: Students approved for Federal Work Study may only earn a certain amount through the program. At the beginning of the school year, such students are sent an email message with an average number of hours per week they may work. This number is an average, assuming the student works 15 weeks in each semester. During some weeks, it's OK for students to work more than the stated amount, if they work less in other weeks. A student who skips working in the fall semester may work twice as many hours in the spring semester without going over the stated total amount. Many students have more than one work study job and fail to keep track of their hours adequately. For this reason, financial aid tracks student progress toward the maximum amount and will notify students that they are running low on hours in the spring semester. When a student uses his/her full allotment of work study hours, the student can either stop working or, if your department has regular campus employment money available, be shifted to the regular campus employment payroll for the remainder of the school year.
Approving Student Time Cards Via NazNet: Every two weeks, your student workers will submit their hours for your approval via the university NazNet system. You must review their hours and approve or reject them in a timely fashion, no later than noon on Monday of pay week, in order for students to be paid. The link below describes how to approve a student’s timecard.
https://www2.naz.edu/payroll/timecards
Please be sure to check that students have actually worked the hours that they claim. Honest mistakes can occur in recording these hours, but a student who deliberately reports hours they did not work should be terminated from student employment. If you suspect that a student has deliberately falsified his/her hours, please contact Campus Safety so that a report can be filed and an investigation conducted if warranted. Students who deliberately falsify their hours may be prevented from working on-campus.
Should a student in your department forget to enter their hours on the appropriate timecard in NazNet by the deadline for that pay period, please DO NOT allow them to add those hours to the next payroll's NazNet timecard. The university is required to maintain accurate records of the actual dates and times students work. In such an instance, have your student worker complete a paper timecard (available in the Payroll Office) after they verify that the hours in question were never entered on NazNet. Any students who are unsure if their hours were reported correctly can check the "Time History" link in their NazNet account.
The university provides additional funding for student employment opportunities when these opportunities have not been budgeted. The Enhanced Student Employment program began in 2017 and allows for any on campus department to submit a proposal for supplemental funding for the current budget year. If successful, it is expected that the requesting department will request additional funding through the regular budgeting process in the following fiscal year. To submit a request for Enhanced Student Employment go to this link.
End of spring semester: Talk with your returning workers to see if they are interested in working for you next year. If so, request a copy of their class schedule for fall scheduling purposes.
Early July: Call your returning workers to be sure they still plan to work for you. If Federal Work Study eligibility is in question, confirm with the Financial Aid Office.
Mid-July: Determine your student employment needs for the year. For already existing positions notify the Center for Life’s Work and include time slots available. For new positions (never posted before) please complete the On-campus Student Employment Form and the Center for Life's Work will post the position on your behalf. In either case, be sure to indicate whether Federal Work Study is required for your position.
Late August/Early September: Review the profiles and resumes of candidates that have applied for your positions. Reach out to them to schedule interviews. Check to make sure the students you select have been added to the university payroll and are eligible to begin working at this link: https://www2.naz.edu/payroll/student-work-authorization. Notify both the students who have applied and the Center for Life’s Work of your decisions.
If you have returning workers you will need to select them to work for your department using the work authorization system above. Returning students should notify the Payroll Office if their withholding status has changed or if they have changed banks or accounts for direct deposit.
November: Monitor Federal Work Study and Regular Student Employment lines on monthly departmental budget reports to be sure that these budget items are not being consumed at an excessive rate.
December - January: Notify the Center for Life’s Work of anticipated spring semester job openings so they may be posted on Handshake. Interview applicants for Spring positions. Make hiring decisions no later than the first week of classes. Workers continuing from fall semester have no required paperwork. New hires should follow the same hiring procedure as Fall.
Prepare budget request for student hours for the next academic year. If your department requires additional student worker hours, request them and provide appropriate justification.
February: Monitor Federal Work Study and Campus Employment lines on monthly department budget reports closely through the end of the academic year.
March/April: Notify the Center for Life’s Work of summer job openings. Please note that all summer job openings must be listed with the Center for Life’s Work for at least four weeks before the end of the spring semester. Doing so will ensure that Nazareth students get first priority for summer employment before any other persons are considered. Only regular campus employment is available during summer - no Federal Work Study funding.
May: Federal Work Study ends on the Saturday of graduation weekend.
June 30: Fiscal year ends. Unspent funds for student employment are NOT carried over to the new year. Overspending on student employment may require written justification.
Summer: Contact the Center for Life’s Work regarding any changed student employment needs.
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