Page Contents

• What is a division coordinator?
  • Division coordinator's relationship to division and departments
• Developing a Job Description
  • Job Description in MS Word
• Posting an FWS Position
  • Job description
  • Job posting locations
  • Posting or removing positions
  • Posting newly created or updated positions
• The Hiring Process
  • 1. Determining students' eligibility for FWS
  • 2. Schedule an interview
  • 3. The interview
  • 4. After the interview
  • 5. When the student can begin working
• The Student's Responsibilities
• The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships responsibilities
• Determining the Pay Range
  • How to determine a student's pay range
  • Table: Federal Work Study Pay Range and Definitions
• The Payroll Process
  • Time sheet
  • Time sheet in MS Excel format
  • Reviewing the time sheet
  • Submitting time sheets
  • Table: Payroll Calendar
• Monitoring Students' Earnings
  • The Division Report
  • The Department Report
  • Create an internal monitoring system
• How FWS Funds are Allocated
• Monitoring Division and Departmental Allocations
  • OFAS support
• Maximizing and Exceeding Division Allocation Limits
  • Request for an allocation increase
• Consequences of Unused FWS Funds
• Changes in Students FWS Status
  • Making changes in pay rates
  • Making changes in job responsibilities
  • Terminating a student's employment
  • Reasons for student terminations

What is a Division Coordinator?

The term "division coordinator" refers to the contact person in a division or agency who is responsible for coordinating information between the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (OFAS), supervisors, and student employees. The division coordinator is responsible for—

• developing job descriptions for student positions in the division,
• posting, updating, and removing job postings,
• tracking all students hired in the division,
• monitoring student earnings throughout the division, and
• forwarding information (regarding FWS policy, procedures, or a specific FWS student's eligibility to work) to all affected supervisors and employees.

Division coordinator's relationship to division and departments:

Generally, each division consists of several departments. Each department supervisor works closely with his/her Federal Work Study (FWS) division coordinator to administer the FWS program in the division. In most cases, the person responsible for the division's budget assumes the role of the FWS division coordinator.  Sometimes, a division coordinator may also assume the role of supervisor if he/she supervises FWS employees.

If you have questions or concerns, contact the FWS program coordinator at 594-1629.

Developing a Job Description

The purpose of the Job Description is to establish a written record of the duties and responsibilities of a job for both the student and employer. Each FWS position should have a Job Description that includes the following—

• the name and address of the employer,
• the purpose of the student’s job,
• the student’s duties and responsibilities,
• the job qualification requirements,
• the pay range, and
• the name of the supervisor.

Download the Job Description form in MS Word format.

Posting an FWS Position

The purpose of the FWS Program is to provide part-time employment to help students' meet their educational expenses, preferably in an area related to his/her educational and/or career goals.

Job description:

A Job Description must be completed for each different type of job within the division. The job description is reviewed by the FWS program coordinator to ensure that FWS regulatory requirements have been met and to determine that the pay range is appropriate in light of the job duties and responsibilities (see Pay Range Definitions table).

Job postings locations:

Jobs that are available are posted on the job board outside the OFAS (SSW-3605) and from a link in AidLink at https://studentaffairs.sdsu.edu/faodad/webal$al.ws_job?p_faoyear=2008. (Note to coordinators:  This link will change in early August.)

Posting or removing a position:

Division coordinators should contact the FWS program coordinator by e-mail when they wish to post or remove a position. Include in the e-mail —

• the FWS job number,
• the job code,
• the division number,
• the department ID, and
• the department contact.

The position will be removed from the bulletin boards and AidLink within 48 hours.

Posting newly created or updated positions:

• If the position is newly created, attach a completed Job Description to the e-mail.
• If the job duties and responsibilities for an existing position change, attach a completed revised Job Description to the e-mail.

The Hiring Process

1. Determining students' eligibility for FWS:

Before contacting a department regarding employment, students must check their award status on AidLink, available through this Web site (http://www.sdsu.edu/financialaid) to determine whether they have an FWS award.

Students with an FWS award should click on the FWS link in AidLink to open a new page with a description of the FWS Program and a downloadable PDF version of the Student Employment Authorization Form which has instructions on how to apply for an FWS position.  From the AidLink page they are able to link to a listing of current FWS job openings.

Students not awarded FWS should contact the OFAS to find out if their student loan eligibility can be converted to an FWS award.  Students should not assume that loan eligibility can be automatically converted to an FWS award.  Please refer these students to the OFAS.

2. Schedule an interview:

Students will usually telephone the department contact listed on the Job Posting to ask for details about the open job and to schedule an interview. During the initial telephone contact, introductory screening can be done to determine if the student—

• meets the minimum requirements of the position,
• has FWS eligibility and the amount of his/her award, and
• continues to show interest in the job.

If mutual interest is established, an interview should be scheduled.

3. The interview:

The student should bring the Student Employment Authorization Form he/she downloaded from AidLink to the interview.

The interviewer should explain the department's expectations for the job which should be thoroughly discussed and agreed upon.

4. After the interview:

If the interviewer determines the student is suitable and the student accepts an offer for the job,

• the student and interviewer complete the Student Employment Authorization Form and submit it to the division coordinator for signature, and
• the division coordinator provides the student with an employee sign-in packet that includes a schedule of new employee sign-in sessions held at the Center for Human Resources.

The student completes the payroll sign-in process by attending one of the new student employee sign-in sessions (no reservation needed) scheduled at the beginning of each semester. If unable to attend one of the prescheduled sessions, a student may schedule an appointment by calling the Center for Human Resources, (619) 594-1143.  For the open session or appointment, the student should bring the following items to the Center for Human Resources:

• completed and signed Student Employment Authorization form,
• student's original Social Security card,
• photo identification, and
• any other documentation specific to the student, as indicated in the sign-in packet.

5. When the student can begin working:

The student may not begin working until his/her names appear on the FWS Certification spreadsheet sent to division coordinators.

The Student's Responsibilities

For the interview, students are expected to come prepared and must—

• bring the Student Employment Authorization Form, and
• know the amount of their FWS award.

Upon being hired, the student must—

• complete the payroll sign-in process as described in item 4 and in the sign-in packets.

After the student has been cleared by the division coordinator and the Center for Human Resources he/she must—

• submit the completed Student Employment Authorization Form to the OFAS for final certification.

The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships' Responsibilities

The FWS coordinator will review the student's Student Employment Authorization Form for accuracy and completeness.

• The data from the form is then entered into the FWS database.
• The student’s name and information from the form will be entered onto a spreadsheet.
• The spreadsheet will be sent daily to division coordinators for dissemination to supervisors.

Determining the Pay Range

How to determine a student’s pay range—

• use the Pay Range Definitions from the table below to determine the position's pay range for the Job Description,
• set the range based on the job duties and responsibilities, and
• determine the pay rate based on the student’s length of employment at that particular job.
  (Generally, a lower pay rate is used for a new employee unless he/she has prior work experience or specialized skills related to the position.)

A pay rate increase should normally occur after one year (or approximately 500 hours) of employment in the same position.

The Payroll Process

Time sheet:

Hours worked are recorded on a standardized time sheet for each payroll period (download the MS Excel time sheet).

Reviewing the time sheet:

In reviewing a student’s time sheet—

• initial all corrections and notations
• check employee information for—
  • name
  • Red ID Number
• check employer data for—
  • division number
  • FWS job number
  • job code
• check recorded time to making sure the days worked correspond to the payroll month you are processing
• verify that the student did not work—
  • more than 20 hours a week during school
  • more than 40 hours a week when school is not in session
• initial the hours worked on any weekends or university holidays.

Incomplete or inaccurate time sheets may result in a late paycheck for the student.

Submitting time sheets:

Time sheets are due in the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships by 4:30 P.M. on the third business day of every month.

Due to time constraints we highly discourage the submission of late time sheets. Please contact the Work Study coordinator if you have a problem turning your time sheets in on time.

Monitoring Students' Earnings

Students may earn no more than the Earnings Limit (FWS award amount) set by the OFAS.  Any earnings that exceed any student's FWS Earnings Limit must be paid entirely by the employer from student assistant or departmental funds.

Students and supervisors are responsible for monitoring earnings to ensure that gross earnings do not exceed the Earnings Limit. Students must stop working under FWS once the limit is reached. Before students reach their limits, you as division coordinator should ask the students to contact the OFAS to see if an increase of their FWS award is possible.

To maximize students' Earnings Limit while not exceeding the allocated amount, supervisors and students should plan the students' work schedule for the semester or academic year. 

• Students forfeit any amount not earned by the end of the award period (summer or academic year).  
• Any portion of students' allocations not earned during fall semester can be carried forward to the spring.

The OFAS sends Division and Department Reports to each division coordinator on a monthly basis, 2-3 weeks after a payroll is processed. These reports provide detailed information regarding each FWS employee's earnings in the division and include a Division Report and a Department Report.

The Division Report:

This report contains a listing of all FWS students employed within the division in alphabetical order, plus payroll and certification information for each student. 

The Department Report:

This report contains a listing of all FWS students employed within a particular department in alphabetical order.

• The division coordinator mails the printout to the respective department supervisors.
• Before distributing the printout, the division coordinator should check for any differences between the totals on the report and the office record. Contact OFAS if any discrepancy is found.
• The division coordinator highlights which students are nearing their limits for the department in order to determine when the students need to stop working.

The reports are the most up-to-date record of the student’s actual earnings and earning limits, as well as the department’s expenditures and include any changes to a students's earnings limit due to an adjustment to his/her award.

Create an internal monitoring system:

Since reports from the OFAS are only issued monthly, they should not be your only tool for monitoring student earnings. Your division and department(s) should also create and implement separate processes to ensure that students do not underutilize or exceed their available earnings. You may use the MS Excel time sheet spreadsheet to create your division/department monitoring system to track student earnings and departmental expenditures.

How FWS Funds are Allocated

The U.S. Department of Education authorizes funding for SDSU's FWS Program each fiscal year.

1. After SDSU is notified of its federal authorization amount, the OFAS and the Office of Budget & Planning make initial allocation recommendations to the President's Cabinet Budget Committee (CBC), usually in late summer.
2. The CBC reviews the proposed allocations, makes needed changes, and releases approved allocation amounts in mid to late October.
3. The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships then notifies the university divisions (e.g., Academic Affairs, Business Affairs, Student Affairs) of their fiscal year FWS allocation and matching share requirement for earnings.

Monitoring Division and Departmental Allocation

The division allocation is the maximum amount that may be earned by all students employed by the division during the fiscal year (July 1-June 30). This amount includes the 30% match which the departments contribute toward each student’s earnings.

OFAS support:

To assist the division and department in monitoring the allocations, the OFAS mails the Division and Department Reports to each division coordinator approximately 2-3 weeks after time sheets are processed by the OFAS (approximately the 15th of the month).

Please note: During the first couple of months of the fall semester, the division allocation may show as $0 until the Campus Budget Committee has finalized FWS allocations for the year.

Maximizing and Exceeding Division Allocation Limits

Once the division allocation is expended, all FWS employees must either stop working or be switched to another student employment program, for example to student assistant employment.

All submitted earnings that exceed the division allocation will be charged to the division at 100%.

Request for an allocation increase:

The department or division may ask for an increase in their FWS allocation, if necessary. The procedure for requesting additional FWS funds is as follows—

1. The department supervisor should contact the division coordinator to request additional funds.
2. The division coordinator should attempt to reallocate funds from within the division, if possible.
3. If all divisional funds are utilized, the division coordinator should make a written or e-mail request to the FWS program coordinator for additional funds.

If the increase is approved by the OFAS, the division coordinator will receive a written memo confirming the transfer of funds.

Consequences of Unused FWS Funds

All funds not utilized by the end of the fiscal year will be returned to the FWS Program.  Underutilization of the division allocation may result in reduced FWS allocations for subsequent years.

Changes in Students' FWS Status

Making changes in pay rates:

First the student's supervisor must make sure that the new rate falls within the current pay range for the position then send an e-mail to the division coordinator requesting a pay rate change and the reason for the change. 

If the division coordinator agrees with the change, complete section E of the original Student Employment Authorization and forward to the Work Study Coordinator in the OFAS.

The completed copy of the Student Employment Authorization must be submitted by the 15th of the month to ensure that the change is effective for hours worked during that month. No retroactive raises will be permitted.

Making changes in job responsibilities:

If a student's job responsibilities change and a pay range increase is warranted, please complete a new Job Description and submit to the FWS coordinator in the OFAS.

Making position number changes:

Please complete section D-HCM Position Number Change on the original Student Employment Authorization form and submit a copy to the OFAS.

Terminating a student's employment:

Each students' FWS employment terminates automatically at the end of the academic year, and a written notice is not required.  To rehire a student for the next academic year, repeat the hiring process.

If termination is before the end of the academic year—

• complete the Termination section of the Student Employment Authorization Form,
• submit a time sheet for any unpaid hours the student has worked, and
• inform the FWS program coordinator if the open position should be posted.

Reasons for student terminations:

A student must terminate employment—

• when the student's earnings limit is reached,
• when the student withdraws from the university, or
• when the department/division FWS allocation is spent.*

* If the student is eligible to earn more, the department may transfer the employee to the student assistant payroll and/or the student could change to a different FWS position.