2009 - 2010 Supervisor Handbook

FINDING STUDENT EMPLOYEES

The best way to fill vacant positions is to post your job online here. In order to operate a position on the Student Employment webpage, you will need to have a user account created for you. Please contact the Financial Aid Office at 617.349.8581 for assistance. You may be asked to submit a Job Description form.

If you have a Lesley Work Program position, please consider an international student. As long as their visa type permits it, an international student is eligible to work part-time up to 20 hours per week while school is in session and full-time during official school breaks.

COMPLETING THE PAPERWORK

Students will apply online for posted positions. Once you have reviewed applications and have decided to hire a student, they must come to the Financial Aid Office to complete any necessary paperwork (either the W-4 or the I-9). No student may begin working before he or she has completed these documents and has been approved to work by the Financial Aid Office.  Both the supervisor and the student will be notified through email that the student has been approved to start working. It is the supervisor's responsibility to make sure that all paperwork is complete before students begin working! Failure to follow these steps, in this order, could significantly delay a student being paid.

Listed below are the paperwork requirements for all students, depending on whether the student is new, returning, or international.

New Student:

A new student is defined as a student that has never worked at Lesley previously and is not an International Student. If you are hiring an International Student, whether new or returning, please see Information for International Students.

The student will need to complete the W-4 (tax exemptions form) and the I-9 * form.

One item from list A OR One item from list B AND one item from list C

*Please note: if the student cannot bring the documentation to complete the I-9, the student cannot begin working. This paperwork shows that the student is eligible to work in the United States.

Returning student

A returning student is defined as a student that has worked at Lesley in a previous year and is not an International Student. If the student is a returning International Student, please see "Information for International Students".

The student will need to complete the W-4 (tax withholding form) and submit it to the Financial Aid Office.

International Students:

Please click here for a step-by-step guide to the approval process for an international student.

PAY SCALE

Please see the current pay rates below:

Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate student pay rates are determined by the level assigned to the position and by the number of years the student has been working at Lesley University (not by the student's grade level). Each position on campus is assigned a level (A, B, C, or D) based on the skills required for the position and the degree of responsibility.  Level D is reserved for tutoring positions. Undergraduate pay rates are as follows:

For Example:

1. A freshman at Lesley with an A level job will be paid $8.00/hour. For the second year, the same student would receive $8.50/hour in an A level job. If the same student took a B level job during the sophomore year, s/he would earn $9.00/hour.
2. A sophomore with a B level job working at Lesley for the first time would earn $8.50/hour.

Graduate Students*

At the graduate level (working towards a Master's or PhD degree), the pay rates are as follows:

*Important!!! Please be advised that the number of years of employmed as an undergraduate student will not be counted in determining the pay rate of a graduate student.

HOW DO STUDENTS GET PAID?

Both the student and the supervisor are responsible for keeping track of the hours the student works on timecards. Timecards for the Federal Work-study program are available from the Financial Aid Office. Timecards for the Lesley Work Program are available from Payroll. These timecards are to be submitted to Payroll Office by the dates listed on the schedule below. Also included in the schedule is the date students will be paid. Directions on how to complete the timecards are also below. Any incomplete timecards and/or incorrect timecards will be returned to the supervisor to be corrected and could delay a student from being paid.

Time Card Procedures for Federal Work-Study & Lesley Work Program Students

In order to be paid, a student must submit a timecard to the Payroll Office according to the schedule and instructions that follow. In reviewing the instructions, please keep in mind that timecards must be complete, legible and correct, or students will not be paid. Any timecards that are incomplete or not legible will be returned to the supervisor. No exceptions will be made.

Instructions for completing biweekly Federal Work-Study timecards:

1. Complete the Name, Social Security Number, Department Name, and Department Budget Number fields (off-campus agencies will not have a Department Budget Number, but the agency name must be printed in the Department Name field). All fields must be completed, and all entries must be legible in order to be processed. You must use ink, NOT pencil. (NOTE: On the Lesley Work Program time card there is no field for social security number, but it is helpful if you include it with your name.)
2. Complete the pay period ending dates using a mm/dd/yy format. For example, November 2, 2008 would be 11/02/08. Pay periods are 2-week periods that begin on a Monday and end a week from the following Sunday. Period ending dates must be legitimate period ending dates that correspond to the attached schedule. If a period ending date entry does not coincide with a legitimate period ending date, the timecard will be sent back for correction and will not be processed until the following pay period.
3. If any changes are made on the timecard, the entry to be changed must be crossed out (do not use white out) and initialed by the supervisor signing the timecard.
4. Entries for number of hours worked on a given day must be in number of hours, not the actual time period. For example, if the time worked on a given day was from 9:15 A.M. to 12:00 noon and from 2:30 P.M. to 5:00 P.M., the entry must be 5.25 hours. If this is not done correctly, the timecard will be returned to the supervisor for correction, and the student will not be paid for these hours until the next pay period.
5. Total the number of hours for each week. Then total the number of hours for the timecard.
6. Please be sure to complete all fields. If the student did not work on a particular day, please insert a "0" for that day.
7. The timecard must be signed by you and your name must also be printed in the space provided on the timecard. Timecards with no supervisor signature will not be paid.
8. Submit the original copy of the timecard to Payroll – tan for Lesley Work Program and white for Federal Work-Study. The Payroll Office will not accept the supervisor's or the student's carbon copy.
9. Timecards must be turned in to the Payroll Office at 815 Somerville Ave. by 9:00 A.M. of the timecard due date listed below. They may be submitted in person, through inter-office mail to Jackie Dunlap (Lesley Work Program) or JoAnn Marsh (Federal Work-Study), or fax 617.349.8112. Timecards should not be sent to the Financial Aid Office. To ensure that they are received by the due date, they should be in the Friday morning mail. Late timecards may not be paid until the following pay period.
10. Please note that on campus work is limited to no more than 20 total hours per week while school is in session for all students. There is no exclusion from the overall on-campus 20 hour-per-week ceiling for work undertaken pursuant to an assistantship, scholarship, etc.

TIME CARD DUE DATES / PAY DATES

To view the time card due dates and pay dates for student employees, please follow the links below:

Lesley Work Program Payroll Calendar

Federal Work-Study Payroll Calendar

WHERE DO MY STUDENTS PICK UP THEIR PAYCHECKS?

All Student Employee Paychecks (Federal Work-Study and Lesley Work Program) will be delivered as follows:

• If your department is on the Cambridge campus (Main Campus, Porter Square, or anywhere in between), your students' paychecks will be sent directly to your department.
• If your department is located at AIB or is an off campus agency, your students' paycheck will be mailed to the address listed on their W-4s. Please remind them to make sure that their W-4 address is their local address.

SUPERVISOR RESPONSIBILITY CHECKLIST

The following checklist can guide you through all required steps, which will ensure that your work-study student will be paid promptly.

1. _____ Complete a job description and have it approved by the Financial Aid Office. If you are creating a new position, you may request a blank Job Description from Financial Aid. Please remember that the position must be approved prior to a student beginning work.  Approved positions will be posted on the Student Employment website.  You will need to contact the Financial Aid Office to create a user account on the Student Employment website.
2.  _____ Find a student whom you would like to hire.  Students will apply to available positions on the Student Employment website.
3. _____ DO NOT ALLOW A STUDENT TO START WORKING UNTIL YOU RECEIVE AN APPROVED HIRE NOTICE, BECAUSE UNTIL STUDENT HAS BEEN APPROVED TO WORK, HE OR SHE CANNOT BE PAID FOR HOURS WORKED.
4. _____ Mark your calendar with the dates of when timecards are due in Payroll as a reminder.

It is important to track the amount of money your work-study employee(s) earns in your department and to track the amount remaining in your department's budget. Students, if eligible, are awarded a maximum amount, which is noted on their Financial Aid Award Letter (usually $1,800 per year for undergraduates, $2,500 for graduate students). Financial Aid will also keep track of the money earned and make an effort to keep you informed when students are reaching their Federal Work-Study funding limit. Some students may have the eligibility to have their Federal Work-Study allotment increased, but this is dependent on the funding of the program. If you would like to see if your work-study employee(s) can have their allotment increased when they come close to earning their original allotment, please contact the Student Employment Coordinator. Please remember, however, Financial Aid may not have any additional funding to offer. 

PLEASE NOTE: If a student exceeds his or her Federal Work-Study allotment and you continue to allow the student to work, your department budget will be charged 100% for the overage amount. For help calculating how many hours your student can work, please see the Hours Calculator.

SUMMER EMPLOYMENT (only applicable to on-campus employers)

The majority of your student employees will be working for you throughout the academic year and then head home for the summer. Some of those students may want to stay in the area and continue working for you. Students may continue working in the summer, but not under the Federal Work-Study or Lesley Work Program. The student must switch from the Federal Work-Study or Lesley Work Program to Lesley Summer Temp, which is administered by the Human Resources Department. If a student will be working over the summer, you will need to submit a requisition form to Human Resources.

WHAT IF MY WORK-STUDY STUDENT IS NOT WORKING OUT?

In an ideal world, every student is perfect for any work-study job. However, sometimes things just do not work out. If you are having a problem with a student, try explaining the problem to the student. Sometimes students are unaware and do not realize they are not completing their responsibilities. Reviewing your students' work at the end of the semester (or more often if necessary) will help students understand what they are required to do in their position and what they might need to do to improve their work performance. If the student still is not working out, you have the option of termination. In that case, please send a memo to the Student Employment Coordinator, indicating the student's last day of employment in your office. The student will remain eligible to work under the Federal Work-Study program and can begin searching for employment elsewhere.

CONFIDENTIALITY

In some jobs, students may be asked to work with other students' files and personal information. These students need to understand that they are viewing confidential information and must maintain its confidentiality. Under no circumstances should students discuss confidential information with other students, faculty, or staff not directly involved.

One way to heighten awareness of confidential matters is to require that the work-study student sign a "CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT", whereby the student acknowledges that the information that he or she comes in contact with is confidential and will not be discussed outside of the office/department.

DOWNLOADABLE FORMS

Access useful forms such as the Job Description form and Confidentiality Agreement.