Types of Student & Temporary Positions 

Requesting a Student or Temporary Position  

Onboarding 

Maximum Work Hours 

Coding Hours 

Federal Work-Study 

Payment  

Additional Information & Resources: UChicago Student Employment 

In addition to staff activities, the HR and People-Operations team is responsible for employment activities (onboarding, payroll, time management assistance, etc.) of student and temporary positions in the Division of the Humanities. 

 

Roles managed by the HR People-Ops Team: 

Non-Pedagogical Student Positions- Research Assistant, Event Assistant, Office Assistant, Tutor, etc. 

• These positions are hourly and paid biweekly. 
• Hours are coded in Workday on a daily or biweekly basis using the WebClock or TimeSheet. 
• Students may work up to 20 hours/week total for all jobs combined during the Academic Year. 
• Students may work up to 37.5 hours/week total for all jobs combined during the summer if not enrolled in summer quarter classes. 

Temporary & Seasonal Positions  

• Temps include recent graduates, alumni, students on Leave of Absence, and those who have never been University of Chicago students.  
• A temporary position is a position that is expected to continue for less than twelve months or 1,000 hours. 
• A seasonal position is a position that is a temporary need that is defined by the time of year and service that is not continuous. 
  • Seasonal positions do not code hours in Workday. 
• View the Temporary Employment Policy for more information. 
• View the Temporary Employee's Guide for more information. 

Roles managed by the Dean of Students: 

Pedagogical Training Assignment Positions- Graduate Student Lecturer, Preceptor, Graduate Student-TA. 

• PTA positions are assigned a nominal 10 hours/week, regardless of title. 
• Student stipends are taxed appropriately in the quarter in which they teach. 
• Any questions about pedagogical roles can be directed to humdos@uchicago.edu. 

 

To request a new student or temporary position OR make a change to an existing student or temporary position, please complete the HUM| HR Operations Student & Temp Hire Request Form. To ensure your request reaches our service queue, please complete this form once for each hire or update you'd like to make.  

To submit this form, you will need to provide information as applicable: 

• Documentation of HUM Finance and Grant Services (FGS) approval for use of funds associated with the hire.  
  • Contact: humanities-fgs@uchicago.edu.  
  • In your email to FGS include the following: start and end date, weekly hours, pay rate (Chicago minimum wage is $15.80. Outside of this minimum, faculty/staff are permitted to set pay rates for non-pedagogical positions), and funding source. 
• Documentation of SSD approval for the use of CEAS, CMES, COSAS, and CEERES funds associated with the hire.
  • Contact: Holly Jaffey at holly2@uchicago.edu.
• Federal Work-Study (FWS) Authorization Form. See more on FWS below. 

• Handshake Job Requisition Number (required for undergraduate and FWS students). 
  • Handshake request form: https://studentemployment.uchicago.edu/form.html. 
    1. Please leave a note in the comment box of the Handshake request form if you already have a student identified for the position.  
    2. FAQs: https://studentemployment.uchicago.edu/img/faq-posting-undergraduate-jobs.pdf. 

• Temporary positions require answers to specific questions established by the central position review committee in which you must justify the critical need for the position during the current university hiring freeze. These questions are built into the form.
  • Temp positions go through a central review process and may take weeks to over a month to review/approve. Identified temps may not begin working until the position has received approval and the hire has been full processed in Workday. The HR and People Operations team will keep you informed of the status.

Please only proceed if your temp hire request meets one of the following criteria:

• 100% supported by external funding or is otherwise directly revenue-generating. External funding can include governmental or private grants, gifts from a donor, patient revenues, and other sources. 
• Essential to the safety and security of the University community. 
• Must be filled to meet compliance or accreditation requirements. 
• Critical to the University’s mission. 

 

First time student (and temp) employees of the University are required to complete the HR onboarding process outlined below. 

Complete all “To Do List” actions in Workday. 

• Workday is the unified employee data system for the University. Students and temps will receive automated emails as well as inbox items within Workday to complete their Onboarding To-Do List, which is customized based on their employment history. A Workday onboarding tip sheet is available here.  
• Undergraduate students are required to complete a new student employee orientation. The Student Employment team (studentemployment@uchicago.edu) will contact all new undergraduate hires with information about this orientation.  

Complete Form I-9 & Work Authorization Verification.  

• Form I-9 is used to verify the identity and employment authorization of all individuals hired for employment in the United States. 
• Students and temps consult the List of Acceptable Documents for I-9 and upload their documents to the Secure Portal provided with their onboarding communication. 
  • Foreign nationals must also provide their DS-2019 or I20, most current I-94, and a completed form UPP-192 (instructions on how to complete form UPP-192). 
  • Students and temps schedule and attend an I-9 appointment with a member of our team to present the hard copies of their I-9 related documents in person, no later than three days after they plan to begin work. 
    • Foreign nationals who don't have a Social Security Number (SSN) can request a signed employer letter during their I-9 appointment to facilitate their application for a SSN. Read about applying for a SSN. 

 

• Students may work up to 20 hours per week total for all jobs combined during the Academic Year. 

• Students may work up to 37.5 hours per week total for all jobs combined during the summer if not enrolled in summer quarter classes. 

• Any exceptions to these policies must be preapproved.
  • Graduate students within the Humanities can request an exception from the Humanities Dean of Students Office (humdos@uchicago.edu). 
  • Undergraduate students can contact studentemployment@uchicago.edu or humanities-payroll@uchicago.edu for guidance. 
• Each position is assigned a set weekly hour limit determined by the supervisor. 

 

Students (and temps) must code worked hours in Workday using the Web Clock OR Time Sheet coding systems. 

• Using the Web Clock. 
• Using the Time Sheet. 
• If a student (or temp) has more than one position, they must check that the correct position is selected from the drop-down menu as they code time. 
• All hours must be submitted for review before the end of the biweekly pay period. 
• If a student (or temp) incorrectly codes hours within the biweekly pay period, the Department Administrator (or designated Time Approver) can correct the time in Workday. If the student incorrectly codes hours outside of the current biweekly pay period, please contact humanities-payroll@uchicago.edu.  
• In specific situations, back payment is issued to students (and temps) who worked prior to their hire complete date. Backpay is processed by Shared Services and can only be submitted by the Hum HR People-Ops team.  

 

Federal Work-Study assists students with the costs of post-secondary education through part-time work. Students are awarded Federal Work-Study as part of their financial aid package. 

• Students must provide a copy of their Federal Work-Study Authorization Form to their supervisor during the hiring process. This form must be uploaded along with the hire request.  
• Students can access their Federal Work-Study Authorization form in their my.UChicago portal.

• Log into my.UChicago student portal. 
• Click on Finances > Financial Aid > Student Reports. 
• Select FWS Authorization form from the report drop down and click “view report” (make sure pop-ups are allowed on your browser). 

• Students must accept the use of their Federal Work-Study funds during the Workday onboarding process.

 

Students (and temps) are paid via direct deposit on a biweekly basis. 

• Biweekly payroll calendar.  
• Instructions on how to setup direct deposit. 
• Instructions on how to access your pay slips. 

 

For additional information relating to student employment, please visit UChicago Student Employment.

 

The content of this page may be updated occasionally. If you have any questions or suggestions, please email us at humanities-payroll@uchicago.edu.

Thank you!

Molly Heiler, Director, HR and People Operations
Walker 201B | mollyheiler@uchicago.edu

Eleanor Timmermann, HR Administrator 
Walker 201C | etimmermann@uchicago.edu