WHO QUALIFIES FOR FWS

1. Students apply for work study by completing the Free Application for Federal Aid (FASFA). The Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships advises students to submit the FASFA before February 15 prior to the fall term to be considered for campus based student aid which includes Federal Work Study.
2. When the student's file is complete with the Student Financial Aid Office, the student will be sent an award notice (electronically) which may include an offer of work study with instructions for acquiring employment.
3. The student must accept or decline the award offer by logging into their account and accepting the award (electronically) in self service banner.
4. Once the Student has accepted the award, the Financial Aid Office sends a list to Carol Tinsley in the Career Services Center of students who have accepted work study and are ready to be hired on the FWS program.
    
5. Carol, in the Career Services Center maintains a website which lists the students who have accepted Federal Work Study and are eligible for hire.  Students are added to this list as the Career Center is notified by the Student Financial Aid Office of new eligible students.  No department should hire a student on the Federal Work Study Program who is not listed as eligible for hire on this website.  Departments who do so are responsible to pay wages from their departmental budgets to any student who has been hired and worked who is ineligible for Federal Work Study funds.

POSTING JOBS:

Departments should post their Federal Work Study (FWS) and Part-Time on campus job openings using our new Virtual Career Center "Career Connections".  If you have not received or can't remember your username for Career Connections please contact: ptinsley@astate.edu or crayburn@astate.edu and we will assist you in accessing your account and or resetting your password.  Posting your jobs in Career Connections ensures that students have equal access to jobs and gives us a job description for each position, which is required by the FWS regulations.   

Keep in mind that the funds for FWS are limited and submitting job openings do not ensure that all of your requests can be met.  The Career Services Center will try to meet all of your employment needs as long as the funding is available to pay students with Federal Work Study Dollars.

How do students learn about my opening?

1. Once you have posted your job advertisement in Career Connections, it is immediately available for all of our students to view and apply.  Regulations require that in as much as it is possible students should work in areas that are related to their course of study.
    
2. Students select jobs that interest them. Make your job posting as enticing as possible.
3. Students are responsible to contact departments directly to apply for jobs that you have posted. You can choose in your job posting how you would like the student to apply for your job; in person, by sending a resume via email, or by calling for an interview. The job advertisement that you submit into Career Connections requires a contact person for students to apply for the job. 

HIRING FWS STUDENTS:

Before completing payroll forms to hire a FWS Employee:

1. You must look at the  FWS Roster to see if the Student is "eligible for Hire".
   Please contact: ptinsley@astate.edu or crayburn@astate.edu to obtain the correct username and password for this web site. 
    
2. If the student you are inquiring about is not listed, there is a problem. The student may not have been awarded work study by the Financial Aid Office.
    
3. Tell the student they must first check with their Financial Aid Advisor to see if they have been awarded work study.
    
4. Do not hire the student if they are not listed in the FWS Roster
    
5. Please do not ask the Career Services Center to make exceptions to this policy, if things go wrong, you are responsible to pay wages to a student that has worked before being properly authorized to work on the FWS Program.

HIRING PROCESS:

Here are the steps necessary to hire a FWS Student Employee:

1. Post your openings with the Career Center using Career Connections.
    
2. Interview students who inquire about your opening
    
3. Check the FWS Roster to make sure the student is eligible to be hired. 
    
4. When you are ready to hire, complete the student employee packet. You can access this at the Human Resources website. Also complete an Assignment/Change form also on the Human Resources website. (The employer completes only the Assignment/Change form for students who have worked at ASU previously).
    
5. Send the student to Carol Tinsley in the Career Services Center with the completed employee packet. Do not send FWS student to Human Resources.

How does a FWS Employee get paid ?

1. The Career Services Center receives forms from you. The hiring department or Career Services Center de-activates the job opening from Career Connections. The Career Services Center also removes the student from the FWS Roster as eligible for hire. 
2. The Career Services Center forwards all forms to the Budget Office for processing then the Budget Office forwards the forms to Human Resources.
3. Human Resources completes the necessary payroll setup.
4. Supervisor, it is your responsibility to keep track of your FWS employee’s earnings. Please keep a copy for your records and submit the official time via Banner.
5. We recommend a declining balance system to ensure the student does not earn more than his/her award for the semester.
   
    
6. Payroll issues payroll check or direct deposits the check at the student’s request.

Important note: 

The Financial Aid Office monitors earnings in accordance with student's financial aid award making adjustments and notifying the Career Services Center of any changes to work study awards if necessary.  When this happens, it may be necessary for you to adjust the number of hours a student is working each week or terminate the student depending on the amount of new student aid the student receives.  The Career Services Center will notify you when this becomes necessary.  

It is vital that you do not allow students to earn more than their awarded amount for each semester. This can cause an over-award situation.  When this occurs, the department is responsible to transfer funds back into the FWS account for the amount that the student is over-awarded.  Please keep accurate time records!

It is critical that we do not allow students to make up missed hours from work except within the same time period of the missed hours.

Why are these two points so important?

1.      By managing the FWS Program in a more efficient manner, we have been able to provide more employees for our departments despite of the consistent reduction of available funds from the program. 

2.      This also has made it possible to provide a limited number of FWS Employees for the summer terms. This was not the case for several years

EMPLOYEE ROLES:

The Federal Work Study program offers part-time jobs for students on the ASU campus in a wide variety of departments.  Employers will assign responsibilities based on student’s skills and abilities. There are a limited number of off campus Federal Work Study Community Service Jobs.  All Work Study Jobs are limited to no more than 20 hours weekly and pay the federal minimum wage.  Your employer will calculate the total number of hours per week that you are allowed to work based on your award however; no student employee may exceed 20 hours per week.  

To apply for these jobs students must complete forms for federal student aid and then be awarded Federal Work Study through the Financial Aid office.  Upon receiving an award notice with an offer of Federal Work Study from Financial Aid a student may apply for these jobs. The Jobs are posted in Career Connections on our virtual career center web site. Simply Choose Federal Work Study as the job classification in your search. Each job has a Contact Person listed in the Job Advertisement. Contact these employers directly by phone, email a resume, or apply in person.

• Employees should be dependable to arrive on time to work scheduled hours
• Employees should work the hours scheduled
• Employees who must be absent due to illness, or personal reasons,  should call supervisors before absence occurs and their scheduled work time
• Work Study employees must be enrolled in a minimum of six semester hours each semester.  If student semester hours fall below six, they are no longer eligible for employment. Supervisors please notify the Career Services Center immediately if you become aware of this occurrence
• After four consecutive hours of work student employees must be given a 15 minute break
• Work Study employees are not entitled to sick leave, vacation, or holiday leave
• Work Study employees should be expected to work the full semester, or until they have worked their total number of awarded hours for any given semester
• Employees who do not fulfill this commitment may not be placed on the Work Study Program the following semester

SUPERVISOR ROLES:

Suggestions for supervisors:

• Supervisors are responsible for Student Employee Orientation for all new hires.
• Explain duties and working conditions of each particular job. Student should have a clear understanding of what is expected of him/her
• Provide adequate training for the student employee to perform the job
• Be fair but firm in dealing with minor violations of policy
• Encourage employee to approach you regarding employment problems or adjustments needed
• Federal Work Study Students may be evaluated at the end of each semester by the department this can be done with this electronic evaluation form.
• Please do not interview a student for your job if his or her name does not appear on the FWS Roster as eligible for hire, once you have completed the employee packet,  and sent it to CSC, then and only then may a student begin working.
• If you allow a student to work before they appear on the FWS Roster as eligible for hire you will be responsible to pay that student from your departmental budget.
• Remember students cannot be paid until they return the forms to the Career Services Center.
• No student employee may work more than 20 hours per week or 40 hours per pay period
• Supervisors should never allow Work Study students to work in excess of their awarded dollar amount for the semester. Work Study employees may not begin work before the first day of classes in each semester
• Work Study students may not work beyond the last day of each semester (commencement)

FINANCIAL AID OFFIC E ROLES:

Financial Aid Office:

• Determines who is eligible for Work Study
• Awards Work Study
• Determines dollar amount of award thus determining how many hours a student may work
• Determines when a student must be terminated due to over award of student aid
• Determines when a student's hours must be reduced
• Reports changes to a student's Work Study award to Career Services

CAREER SERVICES CENTER ROLES:

Career Services Center:

• Posts all student employment openings (Work Study, Part-time on-campus, Part-time off-campus, Summer jobs, Internships, Career jobs on the Virtual Career Center)
• Maintains list of students eligible for Work Study on the FWS Roster
   
• Receives department's hiring documents for final completion and forwarding to the Budget Office (prior to student beginning work).
• Maintains records of student employment placements on campus
• Assists departments in resolving student employment problems.

RESOLVING PROBLEMS:

Resolving Student Problems:

·         Address deficiencies or problems as they occur, attempting to resolve problems as they arise.  Proper supervision requires adequate Student Employee Training and Orientation to their job.  

·         Talk to the student employee before the problem gets out of hand and be sure to document the problem and conversation!  

·         If necessary, be firm but fair.  You are the employer; however student employees have the right to be treated fairly and respectfully.

·         If the problem persists, talk to the student employee again, be clear regarding your expectations and the outcomes you require of the student.  Explain to them the next action you will take and document the conversation.

·         If the problem cannot be resolved and termination is necessary, you should have ample documentation to back up your decision, and the documentation should be forwarded to Career Services for inclusion in the student's employment file.

·         Refer problems that cannot be resolved to Ed Rayburn, Ed.D. Associate Director for Career Planning.