COLA Student Employment Guidelines for Spring 2024 Term 

Dates & Deadlines

Business Processes (BPs) affecting pay for Hourly Jobs:  

Effective January 1-15: routed to COLA by noon on Friday, January 12^th. 

Effective January 16-31: routed to COLA by noon on Wednesday, January 31^st. 

Effective February 1-15: routed to COLA by noon on Thursday, February 15^th.

Business Processes (BPs) affecting pay for Monthly Jobs:  

Effective January 2024: routed to COLA by noon on Friday, January 19^th. 

Effective February 2024: routed to COLA by noon on Monday, February 19^th.

• Work-Study Processing Deadline: 7 days prior to Hire (or Reassignment) date. 
  • Students should not begin working in their work-study job prior to the approval of their appointment in Workday.
• Deadline for Mass End Employment Date Extension submissions: Monday, January 8.
• Undergraduate Student Tuition Payment Deadline*:
  • If registered on or before December 15, 2023: Monday, January 8 at 5pm.
  • If registered after January 10, 2024: Wednesday, January 31 at 5pm.
• Graduate Student Tuition Payment Deadline*:
  • If registered on or before January 19, 2024: Friday, January 19 at 5pm.
  • If registered on or after January 20, 2024: Wednesday, January 31 at 5pm.
• International Graduate Student Insurance Waiver Deadline: Monday, January 29 at 5pm.
  • TRB Awards are programmatically cancelled for students that don’t meet eligibility: Monday, March 5.
  • Deadline for Onboarding and Benefits Selection (for benefits-eligible 1/16 new hires): February 15. 
  • Last day a department may hire a Work-Study student: May 1.

*Registration is a requirement for student enrollment. Grad students with $0 tuition bill must still confirm attendance to complete their registration/avoid being dropped 

Automated Mass End Job/Termination Process Dates:

• First Mass End Job/Termination run date for Academic Graduate Student jobs with an End Employment Date of 1/15/24 or earlier: January 16.
  • Any business processes for impacted positions must be completed by noon on Friday, January 12.
• Second Mass End Job/Termination run date for Academic Graduate Student jobs with an End Employment Date of 1/31/24 or earlier: February 1.
  • Any business processes for impacted positions must be completed by noon on Tuesday, January 30.
• Mass End Job/Termination run date for all other jobs with an End Employment Date of 1/31/2024 or earlier: February 9.
  • Any business processes for impacted positions must be completed by noon on Wednesday, February 7.

Priority List for Processing Student Employment 

1. All jobs for benefits-eligible international students 
2. All jobs involving/affecting benefits (TA, AI, GRA)
3. All Work-Study jobs
4. Current hourly workers continuing into Spring.
5. New workers starting in Spring.
6. Current workers who will not be working in Spring.

Business Processes (BPs) to Use for Spring 2024  

Please use Change Job (Transfer) when there is no break in service. Please DO NOT use Add Job.

Effective date for the Change Job must be the day AFTER the end employment date when students transition between semesters.

When hiring a student, it is important to go to the student’s profile > Job tab > All Jobs to determine what process to use to hire your student worker.

Things to Keep in Mind for All Student BPs

• It is best practice to have an offer letter or other written documentation (ex: an email) to the student that includes their employment information (employment dates, weekly hours, pay rate). Graduate student employee and non-exempt student employee offer letter templates can be found on this page.
• Salary/Wage Increases: Pay rates for continuing student employees can only be increased effective September 1 unless there is a change in job duties/position.
• Remote Work Outside of Texas: Any employee requesting to work remotely outside of Texas must have prior approval before they can be appointed. To request approval to hire an individual who won’t work in Texas, please complete the Working Out of State spreadsheet and submit to COLA HR for review.
  • Per Payroll Services, the university is not currently approving employees to work outside the United States.
• Student Resignations: If student resigns prior to their original End Employment Date, use termination reason “Resignation” and attach the resignation letter.
• Graduate academic student titles cannot be combined with non-academic student titles, staff titles, faculty titles, or non-employee titles towards eligibility for insurance benefits.
• Student employees who will have an additional job for 31 days or less should be appointed with the Variable employee type at 0 SWH. This will help prevent any AGS/benefits-eligible student employees from having their insurance PT/FT status change for these short-term sporadic jobs.
• Monitor the weekly student ineligibility report and take action to remedy the ineligibility reason; request an exception from the Graduate School or Central HR (Charmarie Burke); or terminate the student’s employment.

Work-Study Student Appointments

Appointment Dates

• Between 1/1 – 5/31
  • Last day to hire work-study employee: 5/1

• Begin hiring process in Workday no more than a month prior to employment start date

Student Eligibility

• Be awarded Federal Work-Study on the Work-Study Verification (WSV).
• Meet Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy standards as set by the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.
• Must be enrolled in appropriate credit hours as required by the student’s academic or non-academic title. Additional rules may apply in cases where stricter enrollment is required for Work-Study funds.

Processing Info

• Students may be hired for the academic year (August 16-May 31) if the student was awarded Work-Study for the included terms.
• Attach Work-Study Verification Form to the BP. If hiring for the academic year, attach the Work-Study Award for all terms.
• When changing from a non-Work-Study job to a Work-Study job, must process as an Add Job if the student is staying with the same manager. If changing managers, can process as Change Job.
• In the Costing Allocation step, only enter the departmental account numbers. The Work-Study team will enter their accounts once the BP routes to them.
• Questions regarding Work-Study should be directed to work.study@austin.utexas.edu.

Relevant Webpages

• Work-Study Dates & Policies
• Job Profile Conversion Chart for Work-Study and Student Employment

Required BP Comments

• Brief description of job duties
• Number of Scheduled Weekly Hours
• Dates of Assignment
• Date background check request was submitted, or note that a new check was not required.
• Proposed rate
• If hiring/adding job retroactively, please state the reason.
• Attachment: Work-Study Verification Form

Undergraduate Student Appointments  

Appointment Dates

• Between 12/1 – 5/31

Student Eligibility

• Students must meet the minimum enrollment requirements for student job titles.
  • An exception to the 12- or 6-hour enrollment requirement is available for students who are on track to graduate at the end of the current term and who need fewer than 6 hours to graduate.
  • Email Central HR’s Student Employment Consultant, Charmarie Burke (char.burke@austin.utexas.edu), for exception requests.

Undergraduate Student Sporadic Jobs

Sporadic employment is temporary work that will be performed inside or outside an employee's department for a limited time period (≤ 31 days), when the student is already assigned to their maximum allowable scheduled weekly hours. (see Student Eligibility to Work: Enrollment Requirements, Limits on Work Hours)

Undergraduate student sporadic employment must be approved by Central HR's Student Employment Consultant, Charmarie Burke (char.burke@austin.utexas.edu) before the student can be hired for any type of sporadic employment.

• Sporadic Employment Overview for Students
• Student Employee Additional and Sporadic Employment Decision Tree

• Student Employee Sporadic Additional Job Form - attach to Add Job BP

Related Webpages

• Student Eligibility to Work: Enrollment Requirements, Limits on Work Hours
• Student Non-Academic Employment
• Student Academic Employment
• Student Employee Compensation
• Non-Exempt Student Employee Offer Letter Template

Required BP Comments

• Brief description of job duties
• Number of Scheduled Weekly Hours
• Dates of Assignment
• Date background check request was submitted, or note that a new check was not required.
• Proposed rate
• For Academic Titles, also include:
  • Name of supervising faculty member
  • Funding information (account(s), including end date(s) for 26 accounts)
• If sporadic work: Attach (approved) Student Employee Sporadic Additional Job Form

Graduate Student Appointments  

Appointment Dates

• Graduate student academic assignments: 1/16 – 5/31
• Non-academic assignments: Between 12/1 – 5/31

Student Eligibility

• Students must meet the minimum enrollment requirements for student job titles.
  • An exception to the 6-hour enrollment requirement for non-academic titles is available for students who are on track to graduate at the end of the current term and who need fewer than 6 hours to graduate.
  • The only exceptions allowed for the 9-hour enrollment requirement for academic titles are accommodations by the D&A office, Dual-degree, or taking the CPA exam.
  • Email graduate_studies@utlists.utexas.edu for exception requests.

Academic Graduate Student Employee Insurance

An Academic Graduate Student (AGS) employee is benefits-eligible if expected to work in one or a combination of the AGS titles for at least 20 SWH and for at least 4.5 months (135 calendar days). It is critical to review all jobs for AGS employees to correctly determine their eligibility and ensure AGS jobs have the correct employee type in Workday.

• New AGS employees have 31 calendar days from the hire date to make additional insurance elections.

Part-Time & Full-Time Insurance Status is based on total SWH (Scheduled Weekly Hours in Workday)

• Additional jobs, even if non-benefits eligible, impact PT/FT insurance status
  • PT AGS employees are scheduled for 20-29 total SWH, with at least 20 SWH in AGS job titles
  • FT AGS employees are scheduled for 30+ total SWH, with at least 20 SWH in AGS job titles
• Supervisors and/or administrative personnel should check the All Jobs tab in Workday to remain aware of possible insurance changes
• PT/FT changes that occur on the first of the month impact insurance enrollment effective that date
• PT/FT changes that occur mid-month (after the first), impact insurance enrollment effective the first of the following month
• Please let the student know that their insurance will be changing if you are adding a job that will cause them to have 30+ total scheduled weekly hours (SWH).

For more information:

• Academic Graduate Student Employee Insurance Options

TA/AI Requirements

• College policy prohibits funding beyond a student’s sixth year, whether or not the student is from the employing department or another department. Requests for TA/AI assignments for students beyond the 6^th year must be submitted by the student’s home department and pre- approved by the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. The approval and date must be referenced in the Workday BP.
• TA/AIs should be assigned to a maximum of one course per long session. Prior approval is required from the Liberal Arts Office of the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies for a TA or AI to be assigned to multiple courses. 

Graduate Academic Student Rates

The rates in bold are the amounts to be input into Workday so that the student receives the intended stipend.

***Please note that these rates will prorate based on the entered scheduled weekly hours.

• TA: $4,522.89 monthly ($40,706 annual)
  • Non-COLA TA: $3,555.56 monthly ($32,000.04 annual)
• AI: $4,998.89 monthly ($44,990 annual)
  • Non-COLA AI: $4,000 monthly ($36,000 annual)
• GRA: Minimum $54,274.68 annual – 12 months at 100% FTE (40 SWH)
  • Non-COLA GRA: Minimum $42,666.72 annual

Any non-standard (adjusted hours, different dates, etc.) TA/AI/GRA job for COLA students must include approval information from the Liberal Arts Office of the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. The approval and date must be referenced in the Workday BP. The purpose of this is to ensure that students are not being put in a status that denies them health insurance/benefits and that they are not being overworked. With these two things in mind, in the request to the Associate Dean: include the student’s EID, justify the need for a non-standard appointment, and include any other support or funding (work appointments or fellowship, etc.) the student is receiving. Please confirm that student’s graduate advisor has approved this request as well.

Funding Source for TA/AI Assignments

• All COLA Ph.D. students will be paid via their home department’s Graduate Cohort TA/AI account (14-16XX-2002). *Unless the student is employed outside COLA or assigned to a Signature Course.
• All non-COLA students, MA students, Ph.D.s beyond the 6^th year, and Signature Course TAs, will be paid via the employing unit’s regular Soft Money TA/AI account (20-16XX-2002). Signature Course funds will be deposited in the unit’s Signature Course account (14-16XX-2908); units will transfer appropriate funds to their regular Soft Money TA/AI account for any Signature Course TAs.

Converting Stipends to 12-month Rates for GRAs: 

Important Reminder: Stipends are not rates. "Stipend" = an amount of money you want to pay someone. "Rate (or Salary)" = rate of pay = the amount of compensation for a job, affected by the defined annual pay-period (9-month for most faculty/AIs/TAs; 12-month for other job types); the duration of the job (dates); and the hours scheduled to work (SWH). Basically, the annual rate represents the full-time (based on a standard U.S. 40-hour work week) compensation in a job for a year of work. Student jobs are not 40SWH nor (generally) 12-months in length, but since GRAs are paid on a salaried basis, you have to know the annual rate in order to pay them correctly in Workday. 

Example: Intended GRA stipend of $12,000 from 9/1 – 1/15

• The academic year (9/1-5/31) is 9 months, therefore 1 semester (9/1-1/15) equals 4.5 months.

• Divide $12,000 by 4.5 months = $2,666.67/month (the intended monthly stipend at 0.5FTE)

• To convert this to a 12-month stipend, multiply by 12 = $32,000/yr. However, to get from a stipend to a rate, you need to take into account the number of hours the student will be working. Since the standard GRA appointment is for 20SWH or 50% time, you will need to convert the 12-month stipend to a 12-month (annual) rate.

• Workday will prorate the salary based on the SWH entered, so if this appointment will be for 50% (20SWH) we would multiply $32,000 by 2 = $64,000, so that the salary will reflect the full-time (100% FTE) 12-month rate of pay. This is the amount (annual rate) you should enter in Workday, and the compensation will be prorated based on the SWH entered. 
• To double-check, you can follow the steps above in reverse: divide the annual rate by 12 (for the monthly amount), divide by 2 (for 50% FTE), and multiply by 4.5 (to get the semester's stipend amount.)

Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) Requirements

• GRA assignments can be processed for full academic year assuming funds are available. At a minimum, GRA assignments are expected to be for the full term.
• GRAs appointed for at least 20 Scheduled Weekly Hours (either the GRA appointment itself, or in combination with other AGS positions) for a long term (4.5 months or longer) are considered benefits-eligible and should be appointed with the Employee Type: Regular Benefits Eligible – Graduate Student Academic (Fixed Term).
• It is required that departments hiring benefits-eligible GRAs will cover the cost of the graduate student’s tuition, or the relevant proportion of the tuition when a student has simultaneous benefits-eligible TA/AI and GRA employment. GRAs appointed on 26-accounts may receive annual rate increases effective September 1 as allowable by the terms of those project(s).
• Graduate student pay rates must remain consistent within the same job throughout the academic year. 

Graduate Student Sporadic Jobs

Student employees who will have an additional job for 31 days or less should be appointed with the Variable employee type at 0 SWH. This will help any AGS/benefits-eligible student employees from having their insurance PT/FT status change for these short-term sporadic jobs.

If the additional employment will last more than 31 days (32 days or more), use the relevant employee type and average number of Scheduled Weekly Hours (e.g. non-benefits eligible fixed term, 10 SWH).

Graduate student sporadic employment must be approved by the Graduate School (graduate_studies@utlists.utexas.edu) before the student can be hired for any type of sporadic employment.

• • Sporadic Employment Overview for Students

  • Student Employee Additional and Sporadic Employment Decision Tree

  • Student Employee Sporadic Additional Job Form

Graduate Student Relevant Webpages

• Student Eligibility to Work: Enrollment Requirements, Limits on Work Hours
• Graduate Student Academic Employment
• Tuition Reduction Benefit
• Student Non-Academic Employment
• Student Academic Employment
• Student Employee Compensation
• Graduate Student Employee Offer Letter Template

Required BP Comments

• Brief description of job duties

• Number of Scheduled Weekly Hours

• Dates of Assignment

• Date background check request was submitted, or note that a new check was not required.

• Proposed rate (or stipend, for GRAs):

  • Please be sure to note when a student is a non-COLA student for TA/AI rates. If no comment is made about this, we will assume the student is a COLA student.

  • For GRAs: Providing the intended stipend for a GRA will help COLA HR determine the entered annual rate is correct.

• For Academic Titles, also include:

  • Course ID & Unique Number

  • Name of Instructor/Faculty Supervisor

  • GRAs only: Funding information (account(s), including end date(s) for 26 accounts)

• Approval for non-standard appointment (if applicable)
• Attached approved petition (if applicable)

Professional Student Appointments  

The Professional Student – Academic and Professional Student – Non-Academic job families were created for students who are seeking a JD, MD, or PharmD. These students are no longer eligible to be appointed to a graduate student job profile, including the TA and AI job profiles, unless they are a dual degree student where one of their degree programs is a graduate degree.

Appointment Dates

• Professional student academic assignments: 1/16 – 5/31
• Non-academic assignments: 12/1 – 5/31

Student Eligibility

• Students must meet the minimum enrollment requirements for student job titles.
• To request an exception for a student in a Professional Student Academic job profile to work over the 20-hour limit:
  • Email Charmarie Burke (char.burke@austin.utexas.edu) with justification for the work hours and an email from their academic advisor supporting the work hours.

Relevant Webpages

• Student Eligibility to Work: Enrollment Requirements, Limits on Work Hours
• Professional Student Job Profiles
• Student Non-Academic Employment
• Student Academic Employment

Mass End Employment Date Extension Process

Important Things to Remember

• Prioritize the AGS population since the first Mass End Additional Job/Termination process will run for the AGS population on Tuesday, January 16, 2024.
• Deadline for Mass End Employment Date Extension submissions: Monday, January 8.
• Students moving between job profiles or moving between Supervisory Organizations must be processed manually (Ex: TA to AI, TA/AI to GRA, etc.).
• Current End Employment Date: The current end employment date for a job must be on or between 12/1 and 1/15.
• Proposed End Employment Date: The proposed end employment date must be on or after 1/16.
• Proposed Monthly Amount (NOT Prorated by FTE) for Anchor Jobs returning to Paid Status: Only used to transition a summer anchor job to the fall term. Enter the non-prorated monthly amount for the TA/AI.
• Units can still participate in the Mass Extend process if they have fewer than 10 student appointments to extend; COLA HR will combine spreadsheets weekly before submitting to eBITS.

Mass Transaction Submission System (MTSS)

Important Things to Remember

• The MTSS is for student new hires and additional jobs only.
• MTSS requires at least 5 rows of jobs per batch; if you have fewer than 5 jobs, you can submit the spreadsheet to COLA HR to be combined with another unit’s batch.
• MTSS bypasses some Student Eligibility Audits (SEE) and will allow student employees to go over 100% FTS across all of their jobs, so units must be diligent in monitoring the Student Eligibility Reports that are sent to Managers and HR Partners/Associates/Assistants.
• Actions you can take on a batch:
  • Validate: Check for errors
  • Submit for Approval: Route batch to the approver
  • Reupload Spreadsheet: Re-upload and re-validate a batch after correcting issues
  • Delete Batch: Deletes batch in order to start over from scratch
  • Recall from Approver: Moves batch from the Approver to the Creator
• Please remember to send MTSS batches to approver sy5777 (Stephanie Yang).

Additional Resources

HUMAN RESOURCES/GRADUATE SCHOOL/TEXAS GLOBAL  

Minimum Enrollment Requirements for Student Positions (Grad and Undergrad): https://hr.utexas.edu/sites/hr.utexas.edu/files/student_enrollment_requirements.pdf 

Student Employment Insurance and Benefits: https://hr.utexas.edu/student/student-employee-insurance-benefits 

Summary of UT Austin Limits on Hours Worked for Employees in Student Titles: https://hr.utexas.edu/sites/hr.utexas.edu/files/student_work_hours_summary.pdf 

Academic Graduate Student Employee Insurance Options: https://hr.utexas.edu/student/student-employee-insurance-benefits/academic-graduate-student-employee-insurance-options

Graduate School: Conditions for Student Employment: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/finances/student-employment/conditions 

Graduate School: Guidelines for Summer Employment: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/summer-employment

Resident Tuition Entitlement:  https://gradschool.utexas.edu/finances/student-employment/resident-tuition-entitlement

Work-Study Information for On-Campus Employers: http://sites.utexas.edu/hirealonghorn/types/work-study/on-campus/on-hire/ 

http://sites.utexas.edu/hirealonghorn/types/work-study/on-campus/on-policies/ 

MASS PROCESSES

Mass End Employment Date Extension Process: https://workday.utexas.edu/services/student-mass-extension 

Mass Transaction Submission System (MTSS) New Student Hire/Add Job Process: https://workday.utexas.edu/services/mtss 

Link to the MTSS System: https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/erp/mtss/

Direct Link to the MTSS Spreadsheet Template (will automatically save as a download): https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/erp/mtss/static/core/nlogon/excel_templates/mtss_student_hire_aj_batch_template.xlsx 

Monthly Mass End Additional Job/Termination Process: https://workday.utexas.edu/services/mass-term-guidance 

WORKDAY

Workday Sub-Processes Cheat Sheet: https://utexas.app.box.com/file/741202871557?s=d5to81o5b69t66cqsn8ey2nzyp23w8ra

Student Business Process Matrix: https://utexas.box.com/s/2zitxcgs8ofuy6a6p79v1rg37y969ljs 

Hire a Student Worker and Work-Study WIG: https://utexas.app.box.com/s/fad95menhtx17nbqpwo6b7gl5xkgvs0i 

Change Job WIG: https://utexas.app.box.com/s/eaqlu1cld4qnevkclql63o0z0d3zg5lz

Workday Change Job Reason Matrix: https://utexas.app.box.com/s/1hc3ci3q4703alj2nnc96jokf8e8sl8m 

Student Eligibility Engine:  https://utexas.app.box.com/s/z0am8qkjxf2gicb1y20c19j9ntvpk2cm 

Switch Primary Job for Student and Work-Study: https://utexas.app.box.com/s/8ywoh09l0r00qn8tb3hhaxul4zg3sbjy 

Work-Study Questionnaire and Verification: https://utexas.app.box.com/s/gosfltxe8hk3vilb5l5s3yrp4q7nx243