Hiring Procedures for Departments / Supervisors

Step 1: Check Student Employment Budget

• Hiring Managers and Supervisors are responsible for monitoring your department’s student employment budget to ensure you are not over-spending. Before hiring a new student employee, verify with the Budget Head of your department that there is funding available in your student employment budget.
• To check your Student Employment Budget:
  • Select Finance Self-Service in the Finance page of your MyRider
  • Go to My Finance Query
  • Click New Query (Blue button on the right)
  • Make sure the drop-down on top says budget quick query
  • Input:
    Chart: R Rider University
    Fiscal Year: enter the current fiscal year
  • All other fields can be left blank or as is.
  • Click submit
  • You will see the total budget allocated with the specific spending from Graduate Assistants, Student Workers, and Federal Work Study Student Workers.

Step 2: Post Available Positions via Handshake:

Every department is required to post all open student employment positions on Handshake to ensure that all students have equal access/opportunity. This includes undergraduate and graduate student positions, Graduate Assistant positions, Internships, and Grant-Funded positions.

To Post Position:

• Contact the Student Employment Coordinator with a detailed job description including all required components and complete the Student Employment Position Information Form. Utilize the employment wage guide to decide the appropriate level for the position you are hiring for.
• A confirmation email will be sent once the job is appropriately reviewed and the position is posted live and available to students on Handshake.
• Departments that choose to re-employ a student in the same job do not need to post the position until/unless the student resigns, graduates or is terminated.

Step 3: Acceptance of Applications, Interviewing Candidates, Hiring Decisions:

• Hiring Managers will receive automatic emails from Handshake with student applications as they are submitted.
• Once a candidate pool is established, Hiring Managers are responsible for administering interviews with qualified candidates. If you are interested in discussing interview best practices, please reach out to the Student Employment Coordinator for resources.
• Once a hiring decision is made, departments should let all applicants know that the position has been filled.
• Once new student worker is confirmed, Hiring Managers must notify the Student Employment Coordinator to remove the job posting from Handshake and the Rider website.

Remember: Student Worker recruitment should be met with the same level of professionalism as full-time professional positions at Rider and are held to the same standards by the FLSA. 

Step 4: New Employee Onboarding

• Student workers are not permitted to begin work until they are approved by the Student Employment Coordinator (SEC).
• To be approved, Supervisors and their employees should complete the Intent to Hire Form.
• Once submitted, the hiring manager and employee will receive an email either approving the student to work, or letting them know they have additional onboarding paperwork to complete.
  • Any department that allows their Student Workers to begin prior to them being approved will be subject to any I-9 noncompliance fines.
• Once the SEC confirms that their I-9 is complete, supervisors must then submit the Electronic Personnel Action Form (EPAF).

New student workers CANNOT begin any work until they are approved by the SEC. 

If you are unsure whether or not this has been completed, check with the studentemployment@rider.edu before allowing your student worker to begin their position.

• Have a discussion with each student employee regarding set work days/times that align with the student’s academic schedule. NOTE: During the academic year student employee’s weekly work hours cannot exceed 20 hours, and must take an unpaid 30-minute break after working more than 6 hours in one day.

Step 5: Returning Student Workers

• At the end of the academic year/prior to new academic year, supervisors will need to resubmit the Intent to Hire form and EPAF for student workers who are returning to their position for the next academic year. Re-issued contracts should include the yearly 5 cent increase for returning student workers as indicated on the Student Employment Wage Chart.

Last Day of Work

• Students’ last official day of work in the Fall and Spring semesters is the last day of classes. Students are NOT required to work the week of final exams, however if they choose to work finals week they may do so as long as they adjust their work schedule to not interfere with their final exams.
• Graduating student workers are not permitted to work past their scheduled graduation ceremony date. Supervisors should meet with graduating students to determine their last work day and finalize any projects or duties prior to their last day.
• Graduating student workers must complete the “Student Employee Post Competencies Evaluation Form” on Bronc Work Canvas. All department supervisors overseeing on-campus employees have a responsibility to guide their student worker graduates through the exit stage by offering constructive performance feedback in a formal setting.

Bi-yearly Student Worker Performance Review:

Supervisors are expected to conduct Student Worker Performance Evaluations (PDP) with their GAs and student staff. If your department already conducts an evaluation similar to the PDP, please feel free to continue to use the assessment that works best for your team.

Student Staff PDPs should be completed twice a year

1. End of Fall Semester
2. End of Spring Semester

Once they are completed, please send your evaluations to studentemployment@rider.edu by the end of Fall and Spring semesters.

See the learning outcomes we measure through PDPs on our Mission Page.

Student Employee Termination Policy

If it becomes necessary to terminate a student’s employment for other reasons — including legal violations, behavioral issues or work-related performance matters — It is recommended but not required that department supervisors inform the student employee (both verbally and in writing) of the department’s expectations and made aware that the deficiency in meeting these expectations led to termination. While three warnings are enough to warrant termination from a job, supervisors should account for everything with written documentation.

Grounds for termination include: 

1. Unreported Absences and tardiness three (3) or more times 
2. Unsatisfactory work performance 
3. Violation of the Student Code of Conduct 
4. Falsification of timesheets 
5. Violation of the Confidentiality Agreement 
6. Use of alcohol or illegal/illicit drugs in the workplace

Please complete the Student Employee Termination form (docx) when terminating a student worker for any of the above reasons or if the student worker resigns from the position.

If you have any questions about the student hiring and employment process, contact studentemployment@rider.edu.