Student Employment Program

The Law Financial Aid Office supports faculty and administrators seeking to hire student employees. Through this program, students work as Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants, Clinical Assistants, Library Assistants, and Department Assistants.

Questions should be directed to lawfinaid@udmercy.edu.

Hire a Student Employee

Please follow the process below in advance of each academic year (fall/winter) and each summer term that you will employ a student employee. After the process is complete, the Financial Aid Office will confirm with the supervisor and student that the student is authorized to begin work. A student should not begin work prior to receiving the authorization from the Financial Aid Office.

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    Determine how the student will be compensated

    Federal Work Study Program Funded: Ask the student to contact the Law Financial Aid Office to determine if they are approved for funding through the federal work study program. Through this program, the federal government pays the student as part of the student's financial aid package. Students are paid an hourly rate with paychecks direct deposited every other week. Typically, student earnings cannot exceed $1,500 per semester.

    Law School Funded: Students who are not eligible for work-study funding may be approved for law school funding. Faculty seeking to use law school funds should reach out to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for approval. Administrators should reach out to their direct supervisor and the Assistant Dean for Administration.

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    Complete the Student Assistant Survey – each academic year and summer term

    Complete the Student Assistant Survey in advance of each academic year and summer term that you would like to employ the student. The financial aid office will be notified as soon as you submit the survey and will begin processing the student employee.

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    Pre-Authorization Paperwork – to be completed one time by new student hire

    Student employees who are new to the University human resources system must complete and submit the Pre-Authorization Paperwork to the Financial Aid Office. If a student has completed this paperwork in a prior term, they do not need to resubmit it.

    The Pre-Authorization Paperwork is available for students here and includes these forms:

    • Student Employment Request Form
    • I-9 & I-9 Instructions
    • Federal W-4
    • Michigan W-4
    • City of Detroit W-4
    • Direct Deposit Authorization Agreement
    • Confidentiality Agreement
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    Student Employment Paperwork – to be completed with the student each academic year and summer term

    Each academic year or summer term that a student employee works for you, the Student Employment Paperwork must be completed with the student. The Financial Aid Office will email the forms below to the supervisor and student. You can also request the forms by emailing lawfinaid@udmercy.edu.

    • Student Employment Request
    • Confidentiality Agreement

    These two forms have sections for both you and the student to complete. The Financial Aid Office cannot process incomplete forms or forms without signatures. Emails from a udmercy.edu account are accepted in place of a signature. If you email the form or forward an email from a udmercy.edu account, that will be accepted in place of a signature.

    Below is information to help with form fields that are often sources of questions.

    • Hourly pay-rate: Students will be paid a maximum rate of $20 per hour. Please note that federal work-study student employee pay cannot exceed $1,500 per semester (unless the additional pay is approved for law school funded). For example, if a work-study student employee is paid $20 per hour, the student can work a maximum of 75 hours throughout the semester.
    • Student position title: You can create a title or use one of the following: Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant, Clinical Assistant, Office Assistant, Library Assistant.
    • Job start date: List the first day of classes for the term or the date that you complete the form, whichever is later.
    • Job end date: For academic year employment, list the date classes end for the winter term. For summer term employment, list the date classes end for the summer term.
    • Department: Faculty should list “School of Law”, the CSO should list “Law CSO”, the Law Library should list “Law Library”, etc.
    • FOAP budget numbers: If your student employee is law school funded, please list the FOAP for the budget the student is to be paid from. Faculty should get this from the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. Administrators should reach out to their direct supervisor.

Approve Student Timesheets

Students are required to submit electronic bi-weekly timesheets for approval for their pay to be processed.

More information on student employment such as current timesheet submission, approval, and pay schedule (payroll calendar) is here.

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    Approval & Proxy Process

    Generally, students should submit their timecards on the second Friday of each pay-period and supervisors should review and approve student timecards by 10 AM on the following Monday. Phil Krauss will serve as a proxy when supervisors do not review student timesheets by 10 AM on Mondays. He will review and approve timecards and email the hours worked to the supervisor.

    Electronic Timesheets: Once human resources enters the student employee into the Paylocity payroll system, the student should submit an electronic time card through Paylocity. The timesheets should also be reviewed and approved by supervisors through Paylocity. Generally, students are in Paylocity by the end of the first pay-period.

    If you or your student employee need training or help with the Paylocity payroll system, please contact Phil Krauss.

    Paper Timesheets: Until the student has access to the electronic timesheet, the student should complete a paper timesheet. Paper timesheets should be emailed to Phil Krauss by 10 AM on Mondays.