Student Employment

The current minimum wage for student employees at UCM is $13.50 an hour. Effective 01/01/2025, the universities minimum wage is increasing to $13.75 an hour.

Student workers are not eligible for paid leave time off, including, but not limited to vacation or holiday pay. They will not receive compensation for weather related closings. Student workers may not participate in employee health plans, long term disability, unemployment insurance, or retirement programs.

Anytime that you are needing to take action on a current student job, you will need to complete a Student Job Change Form. These changes include, but are not limited to, updating a student employees rate of pay, start or termination date, FOAPAL, hours of work conducted per week, etc..

Student Job Change Form

If your student employee runs out of federal work study funding, the department should first end the student's current work study job with the Student Job Change Form. The department would then submit a Student Job Form for a University funded job to begin after the other job end date.

Step-by-Step Instructions on Switching Students from Federal Work Study to University Funded

Student workers are required to complete timesheets electronically via MyCentral or KRONOS each pay period reflecting the accurate number of hours worked. Student employees will complete their timesheet online and submit it for approval to their supervisor. Some departments file time sheets electronically on behalf of employees and students, so be sure to check with your supervisor for specific department procedures.

Falsification of a timesheet is grounds for immediate termination of employment. Employees and students are not permitted to complete or make entries on a timesheet on behalf of another person.

There are times in which one student can have multiple jobs on campus. The student is limited to 20 hours between all jobs while classes are in session. Unfortunately, as their supervsior, you only have access to the timesheet in which they work for you and not the other department(s). That means, it is up to you and the student employee and supervisors to work together to ensure they do not exceed 20 hours a week between the jobs. It is recommended that an additional timesheet is kept between both departments and the student employee to ensure that time is not exceeded. An example of one of these timesheets is found here.

Many students’ first experience with employment opportunities and processes come from on-campus positions. It is essential that departments conduct effective, efficient, and professional interviews that place the candidate in a real-world scenario as well as provide educational opportunities for the applicant for future employment opportunities. 

Interviews should be limited to asking for job-related questions and information only as The Equal Employment Opportunity Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibit employers from asking interview questions that collect information that could be used for discriminatory purposes. 

Many departments receive a large number of applicants that take a lot of manual screening to occur. If your position has additional qualification besides simply being a student on campus, you can add the question as a “supplemental question” in theNEOED requsition before posting the job. NEOED will automatically screen candidates based on their answers to those supplemental questions, if the supplemental question is set up appropriately. If you need additional help ensuring your supplemental questions are working as you expect them to, please contact the Office of Human Resources.

For example, if you require the person you are hiring to be an undergraduate student majoring in education you can add the question “Are you an undergraduate student majoring in Education?” as a supplemental question and if the student answers “No” to the question, it will automatically disqualify their application where the hiring manager will not see their application at all.

After collecting your applicants, it is recommended to conduct phone interviews prior to in-person interviews. This will allow you to quickly determine if the student is capable of fulfilling your job requirements and needs.  After conducting phone interviews, bring the applicants in for an in-person interview to determine final qualifications and job requirement ability.

Student Employees must remain under 20 working hours a week (Sunday - Saturday) of all on-campus jobs. This regulation is set based on the University of Central Missouri Procedure Staff Employment Categories found here.

Some offices on campus have the ability to schedule their employees the same schedule each week throughout the semester. This is the most recommended course of scheduling, but it is understood not all departments have this luxury. For those that don't it is important to keep a close track of how many hours (Sunday - Saturday) of how many hours each student employee is working. The pay periods do not play a part in hours per week, so if the pay period ends on a Wednesday, the student is still limited to 20 hours a week from Sunday - Saturday.

Both domestic and international students have the ability to work 40 hours a week when the university has a regularly scheduled break that is five consecutive days.  These breaks include, but are not limited to, Spring Break, Christmas Break, etc...) International students are limited to 20 hours a week when breaks are not five consecutive days, such as fall break (classes are only not in session Thursday and Friday, but are Monday through Wednesday). This limitation is due to their visa status.

Remember that student employees are here to be students first. With that in mind, please be as flexible as you can with their working schedule. 

Student employment is a continuous process, full of turnover. Be prepared for continuous and constant training in your department. It is recommended to keep a handbook with written expectations of professionalism, the departments dress code expectations, phone etiquette, etc. Ensure that your expectations of them are clear and concise. 

Be Flexible

As you know, students schedules can change from time-to-time for a number of reasons. Sometimes, students need a little more study time prior to going to class. That is understandable! Work with your student employees to ensure they are putting their classes first, but also making time to be a productive employee and fulfilling the departments needs.

Create a fun work environment!

Student employees want to come to work when they enjoy being at work. While it is understood it can't always be fun and work must be done, make your environment fun to be apart of. Include your student employees to make them feel valued!

Establish Expectations

Setting expectations helps to encourage responsible behavior and ensures that students know what they should be doing while in the workplace. Supervisors should also discuss if and how performance appraisals are conducted, and to what extent these appraisals may affect raises and future employment opportunities within the department.

Have a one-on-one with your student employee within their first week to outline your role expectations. Some examples of expectations to establish are doing homework while on the job, phone usage, professionalism over email and phone, work dress attire, calling into work unexpectedly, etc... If you don't establish expectations, your student will not know what is expected of them in the workplace. 

Creating a climate of open communication

Sharing relevant university information, encouraging students to share thoughts and ideas, and providing on-going feedback will help students see the importance of their roles to your organization and the university.  It will also increase the likelihood of students returning to your department semester after semester.

Having open communication regarding credit hours with your students is also important. If, at any time during their employment, a student withdraws from the university or falls below half-time (6 undergraduate credits & 4 graduate credits), the student is no longer eligible to work under student employment. Communicate new programs, big events, office changes, and general updates to your student employees so they can be aware and provide accurate information to those who may visit your office. Ensure you keep open and comfortable lines of communication open so your student employee can meet with you, email you, or call you as they have questions. 

Reward/Recognition

Providing on-going positive feedback can increase student productivity and also maintains higher levels of morale. Departments are also likely to retain more student employees, and therefore reduce costs associated with training new hires.

Outstanding work can be recognized by participating in National Student Employment Week during the second full week in April.  During that week, schedule little ways to tell your employees "thank you" and that you appreciate them! You can also nominate your student employee for UCM's Student Employee of the Year award when the call for nominations is announced in January of each year!

Set Examples

Set a positive example of professional, polite, and ethical behavior. If students witness a supervisor that is punctual and professional, students will learn to do the same.

For some students, their on-campus job may be their first work experience. You can help them succeed and meet expectations by setting basic work etiquette practices. Discuss the importance of arriving to work on time, how to communicate schedule changes or absences, expectations for attire and other standards for workplace behavior. This can help avoid misunderstandings and teach students valuable knowledge to carry into their careers.

It is important to remember that student employees are hired as temporary at-will employees and employment can be began or terminate at any time, for any reason, with or without cause. Both the employee and UCM has the right to separate employment at any time under the Employment at Will guidelines. 

Discipline should be used for violations of work rules, policies, laws, professional expectation, or poor job performance after efforts to help the student improve. Discipline should be exercised fairly across the department, in accordance with the offense, and in a timely manner. Providing your employees a document containing workplace expectations, behaviors, and policies on their first day of employment is recommended. If you have any questions on disciplining or terminating student employees, you should contact your HR department for further clarification. 

Grounds for disciplinary action, including termination, can include unsatisfactory work performance and violation of University policy and procedures. If disciplinary action is necessary, supervisors should document the incident of inappropriate behavior as soon as possible, as well as action taken, in order to maintain an accurate record of discipline and termination. 

General Tips:

• Progress through discipline and corrective action
• Keep in mind the goal is to improve the students performance and behavior
• Regularly provide constructive and helpful feedback
• Document all workplace behavior, issues, and successes

Performance evaluations for student employees are an integral part in a student’s individual and professional development. Evaluations serve as an important tool that assists student employees in further developing their skills by highlighting their strengths and constructively identifying areas for improvement.  

Performance evaluations serve as an opportunity to discuss the contributions the student employee makes toward achieving the department and UCM goals and objectives, clarify job expectations, ask for feedback, make suggestions, and possibly reward a student for exceptional performance.  

Should you choose to conduct performance evaluations on your student employees, the attachments below can serve as a guide and reference for you. You can use the attached forms if you would like, or create your own. Either way, these are not required, rather encouraged. If you do choose to conduct them, you do not need to send them to HR to remain on file. They are strictly for the betterment of the student employee and for interdepartmental information. 

Student Employee Performance Evaluation Coversheet

Semi-Annual Student Employee Performance Evaluation

Student Employee Annual Performance Evaluation

When classes are in-session

When classes are in session, student workers are limited to 20 hours per week between all jobs, Sunday - Saturday.

When classes are not in-session (Approved breaks such as Christmas Break, Spring Break, etc…)

If department budgets allow, students can work up to 40 hours a week with the approval of their supervisor. Please contact ISS or HR to discuss additional restrictions which may apply to international student workers.

International students can only exceed 20 hours a week when the break is an entire five consecutive day break. When UCM is closed for fall break for two consecutive days, international students are still limited to 20 hours that week, because classes were held during that week. 

Summer Session (May – August)

Student workers must meet one of the following criteria to retain student employment status in summer months:

• Enrolled in 1 or more classes during the summer term, or
• Not enrolled in summer classes, but are enrolled for classes in the following fall semester (continuing student workers only)

Student workers that are actively taking classes in the summer are allowed to work up to 40 hours per week if they are taking one class at any point in the summer session.  If they are taking more than one class that is running consecutively, they are limited to 20 hours per week.  Student workers may adjust their work hours to accommodate schedule changes in the summer sessions if the number of active classes changes.

Student workers that are not taking classes in the summer and have enrolled in classes for the fall semester are allowed to work up to 40 hours per week. Summer semester is determined off of enrolled CRN amount, not the number of credit hours associated with the CRN. If the student is enrolled in one CRN that is 5 hours, the student can still work 40 hours a week as it is only one CRN.

Work hour restrictions are in place regardless of the number of credit hours.

If you have any questions specific to your students enrollment and summer working hour limitation, please contact the Office of Human Resources.

Examples: The following examples are just guides and are not intended to represent every possible situation that may occur with student workers. Please contact Human Resources to discuss your particular situation if needed.

The student is enrolled in one summer class. If that is the only class the student is enrolled in during the  summer semester, they are eligible to work 40 hours a week the entire semester, because they only have one class running at one time.

The spring semester ends effective 5/3. The student is not taking summer 1 (6 week) classes or summer 3 (6 week) classes, but has two classes running during the summer 2 (6 week) semester. Therefore, from 5/5 through 5/25 the student can work 40 hours a week since no classes are occurring. Beginning the Sunday of the week classes start, the student is limited to 20 hours a week. From 5/28 through 7/3 the student is limited to 20 hours a week, as two classes are running consecutively during that period of time. Then, from 7/7 through the end of the summer semester, the student can again work 40 hours a week. 

NOTE: The UCM work week runs Sunday through Saturday. The calculation of hours is based on the UCM workweek.

Once a student has secured a job on campus there are still a few more steps that must be completed before the employee can begin working. The employee MUST complete the appropriate paperwork in the Office of Human Resources and the employee must bring original documents to establish their identity and employment eligibility.    Acceptable I-9 Documents.

The hiring department must also submit a student EPAF, notifying HR that they are hiring that student employee.

To be eligible to be a student employee, undergraduate students must be enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours. Graduate students must be enrolled in a minimum  of 4 credit hours. 

If the student is graduating during the current semester and needs less than the above criteria to graduate, please contact HR to ensure they can still be employed. 

Yes, students may work the week of finals per their availability to work and the department needs. The student is still limited to 20 hours per week during finals week.

While UCM does not have an official dress code, it is the departments discretion to determine the workplace dress code. Although students are students first, it should be expected for them to report to work in clothes that are neat, clean, and unraveling. Supervisors can use their own discretion in determining what clothes are considered appropriate and inappropriate for their workplace. As a supervisor, you can terminate a student employee for failure to comply with your interdepartmental dress code, as long as they have been made aware of the dress code.

Yes, students aren’t limited to the number of jobs, rather just 20 working hours per week of all jobs combined.

Students are not permitted to work during their scheduled class time, even if the class was canceled.

A student worker that is graduating in May may work until 5/31 unless they are an international student and graduating in May. These students will be notified by HR that their employment cannot continue after their graduation date.

A student worker that is graduating in December may work until 12/31 unless they are an international student and graduating in December. These students will be notified by HR that their employment cannot continue after their graduation date.

Yes, you may hire the employee as a Student Worker in your department when they are also a Graduate Assistant in another Department.  The hours combined in both jobs must not exceed 20 hours per week. 

Yes, you may hire this student as a student worker so that they can work for your department during the time that classes are not in session.   A Student EPAF will need to be submitted to ensure they have a timesheet for the duration of work conducted outside their GA agreement.