On-Campus Hiring and Onboarding Process

FWSP Wage Range


When determining federal work study wage rates, there are several factors that should be considered. At minimum, students must be paid the greater of either the federal or state minimum wage rate, currently $15/hour. Students employed within a Harvard College office must be paid no less than $15/hr. As a yardstick, we researched our jobs database and found the average wage rate is $17/hour. We do suggest taking a thoughtful approach and have provided, below, some other factors to keep in mind when setting your rate:

· The skills needed to perform the job.

· How much persons with those skills are paid in the area for doing the same type of job.

· Rates you would normally pay students who do not have FWSP.
 

Choosing a Candidate


Once you have posted a job opening, interested students will contact you through the system which will generate an email expressing their interest along with a copy of their resume and any other documents you requested. Choose 2-3 students to interview and be sure to discuss key topics such as work schedule, job duties, and rate of pay. See our Interviewing Guide for more detailed information.

Once you have found a good match inform the student in writing (email is fine) of the job offer. Include start end/end date and hourly wage.

Onboarding Process for On-Campus Federal Work Study

1. Complete a short referral card in order to register the FWSP job. The referral card must be completed by the student, but keep in mind that it requests your department's Tub/Org. The Student Employment Office will reply confirming the student worker's FWSP eligibility within 1-2 business days.

2. Complete the I-9 employment eligibility verification process. If the student has had a job on campus previously then no I-9 form is required.

3. Hire the student in Peoplesoft using Quick Hire which is located Harvard Processes -> Hire Student - Submit (or Approve) *On this screen you will see if student has an active I-9 on file because the box "Eligible to Work in U.S" will have a check if there is one on file. If it is not checked there is no I-9 on file.

4. When entering job information please make sure you check the  "Work-Study Student" box and add the appropriate work group as pictured below.

Enter 3 lines of costing: REG, OTP, and WST and hit save.

costing string

The costing is from your department and the object code is what indicates FWSP: Term—0139 , Summer—0147. These values will auto-fill when you click 'Save Draft'. (WST cannot be setup on a federal fund, these funds typically begin with the number 1) 

4. Once you hit 'Submit to Database' a confirmation box will pop up with the Employee Record Number. Send this value to the seofwsp@fas.harvard.eduThis key step will activate WST coding in Peoplesoft.

5. Have a conversation with your student hire about time reporting and approval responsibilities.

6. Keep track of your student hire's earnings, so they do not exceed their FWSP award amount. Peoplesoft does not prevent administrators from entering/approving after a student has reached his/her ceiling.

peoplesoft job information

Tax and Financial Information for on-campus FWSP

  • Departments are responsible for 25% of a student’s earnings during the academic year.
  • Departments are responsible for 34.9% of a student’s earnings during the summer term.
  • 0139 is the term time on-campus object code (no fringe).
  • 0147 is the summer term on-campus object code (fringed).

 

Documents and Frequently Asked Questions

For Administrators: Peoplesoft Student Quick-Hire Process