Student Employment, housed within Human Resources, is responsible for most elements of students' on-campus employment during both the academic year and summer.
If your aid award contains a work-study job, in late August you will be given access to a listing of available job openings on campus (see "Applying for Jobs" below). Earning the award amount cannot be guaranteed, however, as it is dependent on such variables as job availability, applicants' skills/experience, and students' academic schedules over which ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø has no control.
To maximize the chances of securing the number of work hours needed to earn the amount listed in an aid award, work-study students should apply for jobs before the third week of classes, as they have first preference for jobs primarily during that time. Beginning approximately the third week of classes, jobs that have been advertised but remain open may potentially be made available to all students on campus. (Most jobs that open later in the semester will, similarly, be advertised first to work-study students and then to all students.) Although we cannot guarantee employment, interested students are almost always able to find job opportunities on campus during their time at ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø, assuming they apply early and are flexible about where and when they're willing to work.
Because remuneration for jobs is usually paid directly to students on a bi-weekly basis, the work-study figure indicated in an award letter cannot be deducted from a student's university term bill when calculating the family's payment at the beginning of a semester. However, students who have a work-study award greater than the amount of their allowance for books, travel, and personal expenses may need to contribute the difference toward their billed expenses. In such cases a payroll deduction may be arranged with the Office of Student Accounts so that payments can be made automatically toward the amount owed. Our Student Employment Calculator can be helpful in determining not only how much of a student's earnings may need to be directed toward the bill, but also how many hours a week a student should work in order to earn his/her work-study award.
Generally 10-12 hours of work per week will be sufficient to meet a student's job award or basic personal expenses. (Students with lower earnings targets and/or higher hourly wages may be able to work fewer than 10 hours a week.) If desired, a student may choose to work more than 12 hours a week; however, in order to ensure that there are enough hours available for all who want and need to work, students should schedule themselves for no more than 15 hours of work per week for all jobs combined. And under no circumstances -- even to meet a deadline or finish an important project -- should a student exceed 20 hours a week while school is in session. This rule is especially important for international students, who potentially risk their visa status by working more than 20 hours per week during the academic year.
Work-study awards will generally increase modestly each year, to reflect the fact that students' wage rates increase the longer they've held their jobs on campus.
Most campus offices, departments, programs, and libraries employ students. Although students with work-study awards will receive priority in hiring for most on-campus jobs, students who do not have work-study awards may still find positions available.
Enrolled students interested in obtaining a job should log on to the . Jobs can be found there, under the "Student Employment" tab. Use the "Find a Job" link to search through available openings -- more complete job descriptions can be found by clicking on the individual job names. The "Apply for this job" link at the bottom of the description allows you to generate an online application, which can be emailed directly to the supervisor using the "Apply" button toward the bottom of the screen. Supervisors will contact you if they wish to interview or hire you.
If you have heard nothing about your application status within a week of applying, feel free to contact the supervisor via email to re-express interest in the position and to inquire when a hiring decision will be made. To facilitate such contact, we suggest that students develop a method for keeping track of all the positions for which they've applied. Positions can appear on, or disappear from, the available-jobs list almost daily; but by making a list of the relevant job titles and supervisor names, students will be ready for subsequent follow-up, if needed.
Students with questions about how to apply for a job should contact Student Employment at studentemployment@colgate.edu. Those with questions or concerns about meeting their earnings targets should contact the Office of Financial Aid at finaid@colgate.edu, supplying their name, ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø ID#, and the nature of their question/concern.
An form (used to determine work eligibility) must be on file with Student Employment before a student may begin working. If not already on file, upon acceptance of a job offer the form must be completed in person, and specific forms of identification must be presented. Acceptable forms of identification include, but are not limited to, a passport OR a combination of a ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø ID or driver's license AND Social Security card or birth certificate. (Students are free to submit any acceptable document, a complete list of which can be found on the final page of the I-9 form.) All documents must be originals and unexpired.
A form (used to determine withholding allowances for tax purposes) should also be submitted, because all wages -- including Federal Work-Study -- are taxable earnings.
Student wage rates are set according to the particular requirements of the position, as well as the number of years the student has held that position at ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø. No merit pay can be offered, but students remaining in their positions will receive a modest pay increase in each successive year.
Students who are paid an hourly wage will use the Web Time Entry (WTE) system to report their hours of work electronically, through the . Students record their work hours daily and submit their hours to their supervisors for approval according to pre-established student payroll deadlines. Failure to do so will result in wages unpaid. Students with questions about how to enter and submit hours electronically may view a training video especially for ; a separate video is available for . For further details regarding time entry, please see the student-employment-related information within the Web Time Entry section of the Office of Accounting and Control web page.
In most cases students are paid bi-weekly, either by check sent to a student's on-campus mailbox or by direct deposit to a student's bank account. Direct deposit allows a student to receive his or her pay most quickly and may be set up by completing and submitting to the Office of Accounting and Control a Direct Deposit Authorization Form. For further information about direct deposit, please contact the Office of Accounting and Control.
During the summer as well as the academic year Student Employment processes hiring requests for continuing ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø students filling ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø-sponsored jobs, except when students are receiving university support for independent research or external internships. (Grants for independent work are requested through the Office of Accounting and Control, by the department or division sponsoring the work.) ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø students interested in summer employment with the university may learn about work, internship, and research opportunities by consulting 1) the academic departments or programs in which they have interest; 2) the Student Employment section of the (positions will be indicated as being available for "Summer"); 3) the summer research program, coordinated through the Center for Learning, Teaching, and Research; 4) the site maintained by Human Resources (positions will have the word "summer" in their titles); and 5) the Center for Career Services, which can provide information about finding -- and funding! -- summer opportunities.
Students are limited to no more than 40 hours of work per week during the summer, as well as during official university breaks.
For those ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø students who will be working on campus during the summer, limited on-campus housing may also be available. For more information, please consult the Summer Housing section of the Office of Residential Life web page, which is updated each spring to provide accurate information for the coming summer.
Supervisors wishing to hire continuing ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø students for the summer will need to submit their hiring requests on the . As soon as possible after a student has agreed to work -- and at least a week before the start date -- the supervisor should submit the request to avoid delays in a student's ability to begin working.