Spring 2011 - The Buzz Newsletter

National Student Employment Appreciation Week

April 10 – 16, 2011

The National Student Employment Association (NSEA) sets a week aside each year for student employee recognition. This is a great week to show appreciation to your student employees for all the hard work they do and have done for your department. Even with the tight budgets we are currently experiencing, honoring and thanking your student employees can cost little to nothing. Here are some ideas to show appreciation for your student employees:

• Present them with a certificate of appreciation they can keep and add to their resume. Student Employment can send you a template or you can create your own.
• Have a thank you card or note signed by the office staff and/or department head.
• Have an ice-cream/sundae party.
• Have a chip and dip party.
• Make a cake to share.
• Leave them a bag of candy/cookies.
• Throw a pot-luck from the office to say thank you.
• Give a $5 - $10 gift card to Starbucks, the bookstore or local restaurant in the Vanderbilt area.
• Tell them how much you appreciate them.
• Decorate the office door, office, and/or bulletin board.

How Many Jobs Can A Student Work? How Many Hours Are Too Many?

A Vanderbilt student's first role on this campus is academic. However, many of them must help support their educational expenses with employment. The ideal job for students is a position on campus, which includes Vanderbilt Medical Center.

Please keep in mind that students are limited in their total weekly hours of employment on campus, no matter how many jobs they are working. During academic periods the limit is:

• Undergraduates = 20 hours per week average
• Graduate/Professional = 29.5 hours per week average
• International Students = 20 hours per week

If we receive a PAF for a student that places them over their allowed weekly hours, we will not process the PAF. You will be copied in an email to that student, requesting s/he reduce their hours or contact employers where they are no longer working but still in an ACTIVE status in the system. We will hold the PAF until the issue is resolved. If you have questions, please call (3-4562) or email (workstudy@vanderbilt.edu).

Conflicting Pay Groups: UBA vs. MBB

Students employed by the University have their payroll processed on the “U” pay cycle, while students employed by the Medical Center have their payroll processed on the “M” cycle. Students who have been asked to work for departments whose pay is processed from each division may also have their hiring paperwork held. Students and supervisors will be contacted immediately to discuss a resolution. Often the student is not working as many hours as their employment record indicates. A position change may be required to ensure that the student would not work “overtime” when the two pay divisions' deadlines overlap. If you have questions, please call (3-4562) or email (workstudy@vanderbilt.edu).

Hiring Paperwork: Deadlines?

The VU Human Resource Processing Office set deadlines each month which may be found on the Payroll Calendar.

PAFs are arriving in our office after the posted deadlines. This results in additional paperwork needed from you... in the form of an Additional Pay Form (APF), additional work from our friends in HR Payroll as they have to cut off cycle checks, and it results in unhappy students because they are not paid on time. Please try to adhere to the posted deadlines.

End of Semester Action

May 5, 2011 is the end of the academic year for students employed through the Federal Work Study Program (FWS). Students will be terminated from those positions unless the hiring paperwork indicated their continuation in the position and a directive for SE to process a change in position (paid 100% by the department).

All students not employed over the summer months should have a PAF Turnaround submitted indicating Termination. If the student returns to your department in the fall of 2011 you will then submit the PAF Turnaround to rehire.

Please let us know if you have any questions regarding this process.