Hiring Student Employees

• Undergraduate students who are U.S. citizens must be enrolled for a minimum of 6 credit hours each semester they are employed.

  NOTE: Students who drop below the required minimum credit hours will have FICA taxes withheld from their pay. FICA taxes will be charged to your budget for those students employed in 4025 if the student drops below 6 credit hours in the Fall and Spring semesters and if the student is not registered for 6 credit hours in the Summer semester. Please notify E-1S Processing if the student withdraws from the University or is no longer taking classes.
   

• Graduate assistants who are U.S. citizens must be enrolled for and complete the required minimum of graduate credit hours, as specified in the Enrollment Requirements chart, each semester of their appointment to be in compliance with State Appropriations requirements for full-time status.
  • There are two main categories of enrollment requirements for graduate assistants - graduate teaching assistants/graduate assistant administrative and graduate assistant research. S5 funded graduate assistants are also addressed below.
• Graduate teaching assistants and graduate assistant administratives are required to be enrolled each fall and spring semester of their appointment and must register for and complete a minimum of nine hours of graduate course work per semester and three hours in the summer.
• Graduate assistant research are required to be enrolled each fall and spring semester of their appointment and must register for and complete a minimum of six hours of graduate course work per semester and three hours in the summer.
  • For administrative purposes, graduate assistant research will be paid from non S5 funds.
  • S5 Funds - Must be enrolled for and complete 9 graduate credit hours fall and spring and 6 credit hours summer.

Graduate Enrollment Requirements for Stipends & Fellowships Based on Sources of Funding

International Students

Immigration (USCIS) requires that international students be registered as full-time students in the fall and spring semesters.

• In order to be employed as a student worker, international students must be registered for at least the same minimum number of credit hours as a citizen or permanent resident in order to hold a student hourly or graduate assistant position.
• Departments should be aware that all international students on non-immigrant visas are required to complete all hiring documentation (except the E-1SU or the E-1SG) in the Visa and Immigration Services Advising (VISA) office. VISA is also responsible for e-verifying international students.

Authorizing Employment

The E-1SU (Undergraduate Student Employment Data Form) and the E-1SG (Graduate Student Employment Data Form) are the hiring documents for student workers. These forms must be completed, approved, and processed by the E-1S Processing office before a student can begin work. The E-1SU or E-1SG indicates the dates of employment and the amounts a student is expected to earn.

The appropriate E-1S form is the hiring document for all new student workers who have no work history with the University and must be completed, approved, and processed by the E-1S Processing office before a student can begin work and be paid. (Please note that E-1SU forms for Work Study students are completed by the Career Management Center.) The E-1S indicates the contact name, approver (WTE approver), dates of employment and the amounts a student is expected to earn. In addition to the E-1SU or E-1SG form, the following additional requirements must be met before a student can begin work. All forms must be the most current form - available on the Office of Finance web site under Faculty/Staff forms or from the Human Resources web site under Forms.

Additional Requirements

In addition to the appropriate E-1S form, the following additional requirements must be met before a new student can begin work (required forms are part of the New Employee Packet under Human Resources forms):

• Certification for Employment Eligibility (I-9) - Some department representatives are authorized to certify I-9 Forms for student employees only (training required). Training on the I-9 Form is provided by the E-1S Processing staff. Departments authorized to certify the I-9 Form for students must use the new I-9 Form dated October 21, 2019 (expires October 31, 2022 - available on the Human Resources website). No version prior to this date will be accepted. Departments may not complete the I-9 for any other type of employee.
  • NOTE: Be sure to enter the Old Dominion University Address as listed below in the Certification Section on the bottom of Page 2, Section 2!

Learn about ODU I-9 Requirements and Processes, and find helpful reminders when Certifying the I-9 Form.

• Child Support Disclosure - required by Commonwealth of Virginia law.
• Selective Service Compliance Form - required by Federal law for all new male employees.
• Copy of the Social Security Card - The University is required to record each employee's name and social security number exactly as it is shown on the individual's social security card. The card must be signed by the holder to be valid for I-9 or employment purposes.
• Conflict of Interests Dual Employment Reporting Form - Mandatory requirement - part of the hiring package for student workers.
• Elected Official Disclosure Form - Required disclosure to determine employment eligibility for non-tenure track positions - part of the hiring package for student workers.
• Policy Summary Acknowledgement - This forms is required, and covers Policy 1.05 - Alcohol and Other Drugs, and Policy 1.75 - Use of Electronic Communications and Social Media.
• Direct Deposit Information - complete the Direct Deposit Form upon initial appointment before your initial start date. Required for all new hires. If Direct Deposit of Pay information is not complete, the packet will remain unprocessed until receipt.
  • NOTE: Direct Deposit Updates must be made in realtime via Banner Self-Service. Directions on how to do so may be found here.
• Tax Forms - Current year Federal (W-4) and State (VA-4) withholding forms. Submit for initial appointment and when there are changes in withholding allowances for those students subject to withholding. Also, if an employee claims exempt from withholding, tax forms must be filed every year.

Expiration of Forms & Authorization Period

The E-1S (both E-1SU and E-1SG) form expires on the authorized end date. Changes to the end date for students subject to Web Time Entry and graduate assistants must be processed via the EPAF process. Changes for stipend students must be processed via the E-1SU form. EPAF actions must be completed timely to ensure that timesheets are available for student hourly employees subject to Web Time Entry and that pay continues for stipend and graduate assistants.

To pay students (undergraduate and graduate) for services via a one-time payment, departments will use the One-Time Special Payment Form (E-1SP). This form may not be used for awards or recognition payments.

All hiring documents as noted under Required Hiring Documentation for New Student Employees must be received, reviewed, and verified by the payroll student employment office before any payment can be made via the One-Time Special Payment Form (E-1SP). Full instructions are contained in the E-1SP Instructions (see gray box above for the form and instructions).

Use the Payroll Student Award Payment Form (link below) to compensate new and existing student employees (Undergraduate & Graduate) for Awards or Award Recognition payments ONLY. You must obtain approval from the BUD, Dean, or Program Director and return it to the Payroll Office upon completion to begin the Award Payment Process.

Payroll Student Award Payment Form

Before we can create a payroll record for an international student who has a generated UIN, all employed international students are required to complete employment paperwork in Visa and Immigrations Services Advising (VISA) office and apply for a U.S. Social Security card with documentation provided by VISA. Students who apply for a new Social Security Number will then provide the VISA office a receipt from the Social Security Administration indicating they applied for a Social Security card. Once their card is received, they are required to bring the original card to VISA where a copy is made available to Payroll.

Payroll regulations require that employees have a Social Security number for Internal Revenue Services reporting purposes.

• Employment Offer Letter (international students) - If you are employing an international student, you must provide each international student with a graduate assistantship employment offer letter or student hourly employment offer letter, whichever is applicable, on official departmental letterhead with an original signature. International students are required to present the original Employment Offer Letter to the Visa and Immigrations Services Advising (VISA) Office.

Student Hourly/Stipend

Graduate Assistants

The charts contain criteria for determining what type of hiring paperwork is required for employing student hourly wage employees or graduate assistants. They also outline the employment periods associated with student employees.

• Criteria Chart - Hourly Wage Students (4025, 4028, 4029)
• Criteria Chart - Graduate Assistants (4022/4122, 4023/4123, 4043/4143)

To be employed as a student hourly wage employee, including Federal Work Study, during the summer, students must have been attending ODU during the spring semester and be pre-registered for the appropriate number of credit hours in the fall. If the summer semester is a student's first term attending ODU, they may not be employed as a student employee during the summer semester. Summer school students seeking degrees from other institutions are not eligible for summer employment at ODU.

The academic year for student workers ends May 15 for student hourly students and June 9 for graduate assistants. Please review the appropriate guidelines and submit your E-1S forms (or complete the EPAF action) as soon as possible. At the end of each academic year (May 15) and at the end of each fiscal year (June 10 or June 15 for payroll purposes), all student payroll records are deactivated on the payroll system.

If your department does not complete the appropriate action (hard copy form submission or EPAF) by the published deadlines, we will not be able to reactivate the student's record in time for the next scheduled pay date. Please review E-1S Processing criteria for the appropriate student type which includes start/end dates for each semester.

Remember, only students who are continuing enrollment at ODU and are pre-registered for the Fall may be employed during the summer semester.

Graduating Students

If a student is graduating in May and is not pre-registered for at least 6 credit hours for the upcoming Fall semester, he or she is not eligible for student employment in the summer. Summer school students seeking degrees from other institutions are not eligible for summer employment at ODU. Graduating students may be hired as hourly wage employees after graduation by contacting the Department of Human Resources.

Can graduate students ever be hired as regular student hourly wage employees? Yes, as long as the student continues to be registered for at least 6 credit hours during the semester.

Summer Submission Deadlines

Please review the guidelines for the type of student employee (graduate assistant, student hourly/stipend) and complete the appropriate actions via E-1SU/E-1SG or EPAF by the deadline shown on the Payroll schedule to ensure students are paid timely.

• At the end of each academic year (June 9 for graduate assistants), all graduate assistant payroll records are deactivated on the payroll system.

If you intend to continue a student hourly or graduate assistant's employment for the entire summer or a stipend student for the summer, please complete the appropriate action below:

• Complete a new E-1SU for stipend students for the period beginning June 16 through August 15
• Complete an EPAF for student hourly employees for the period beginning June 16 through August 15
• Complete an EPAF for graduate assistants for the period beginning June 10 through August 24

A paper E-1S is no longer required for student hourly students subject to Web Time Entry for the following pay actions. Use of the EPAF process is mandatory for the following actions:

• Rehiring a student hourly in the same position
• Rehiring a student hourly in a different position (whether in initial hiring department or another department)
• Rate changes
• Terminations of a job (person leaving a position)
• Terminations of an employee (person leaving the University)

For stipend students paid from 4025, 4028, & 4029, use of the paper E-1S is required for ALL pay actions (original hire, continuation, changes in stipend amount, changes in end date, termination).

Learn more about Electronic Personnel Action Forms (EPAF) ►

Departments submit EPAFs for graduate assistants for the following specific pay actions (see below). The EPAF process is mandatory for the following actions:

• Rehire a graduate assistant in the same position
• Rehire a graduate assistant in a different position (whether in the initial hiring department or another department)
• Make a pay (stipend) change for a graduate assistant
• Terminate a job record for a graduate assistant
• Termination of graduate assistant

Please allow sufficient time for graduate assistant EPAFs to be reviewed and approved by the appropriate submission deadline.

You must adhere to the Payroll schedule for all submission deadlines. Use the payroll schedule to determine when your hiring paperwork (either hard copy or EPAF actions) must be submitted.

Find the Payroll Schedule ►