Information for Supervisors
Prioritizing Students with Work Awards
The College expects supervisors to prioritize hiring students with work awards. Students with a work award have a specified financial contribution they must meet, ideally by working on campus. When you hire students with a work award, you help them meet their commitments. Additionally, when you hire a student with a federal and/or state work study, you will typically receive partial wage reimbursements of 20%. This means you can get work done at a lower cost to your budget.
Additionally, it is important to note that all students can work up to 15 hours/week during the academic year. Students are allowed to work up to 40 hours/week when classes are not in session for a full week, such as spring, summer, and winter breaks; we highly discourage working overtime.
Recruiting Student Employees
Supervisors are expected to follow the below steps to recruiting and hiring student employees.
Create a well-constructed position description using this required template.
Create a job posting in Handshake, an online job search platform for students. The purpose of Handshake is to centralize all job postings so that students with work awards can equitably apply for positions.
To activate your Handshake account, do so using your Whitman SSO. If you need assistance in doing so, contact the Career and Community Engagement Center (CCEC) at ccec_info@whitman.edu. Instructions on posting a position in Handshake can be found in this employer guide.
First, determine which students are eligible for work study at my.whitman.edu, and prioritize work study students. If you checked the “work study” box in Handshake, this will already have screened this for you as only students with work awards will view your position. Next to the student’s name in myWhitman.edu, you should look for a green checkmark next to “Work Study Eligible Terms” with the corresponding year.
Do an initial screening of applications using the qualifications and required knowledge, skills, and abilities you stated in the job posting, and determine which students you want to advance to interviews.
You must ask all candidates the same questions during the interview process and provide a consistent interview experience. All questions should be directly related to the degree to which a student possesses the skills, abilities, knowledge and qualifications that will enable them to perform the principal accountabilities of the job successfully. Involve at least one other staff/faculty member in the interviews, and use a rubric to evaluate candidates. You can find more details in our presentation, Best Practices for Recruiting and Hiring Student Employees.
After you have solicited feedback from anyone who helped you with interviews, make an offer to your top candidate and include the hourly wage, which will typically be minimum wage. Please contact the Office of Human Resources for guidance if you want to deviate outside of minimum wage.
Once a student has accepted your offer, it is crucial that you notify all students who applied for the position and share that you appreciate their interest and time in applying for the position. Close the position in Handshake.
Hiring a Student
Step 1: Submit the Student Employment Hiring Form
Complete the Student Employment Hiring Form to indicate that you wish to hire the student. Note that you will be asked for a "requested start date." If the student does not get authorized to work by this date, the Office of Human Resources will reassign their start date to the day that they are authorized to work. Please make sure to use the correct form year - if the student is to begin working in 2026, please use that form.
If this position is newly created, please first complete the Student Position Change/Creation Form. Both forms can be found on the Student Payroll page.
Step 2: Confirm the Student Has Completed All HR Compliance Requirements Before Starting Work
All student employees MUST have a completed Federal Employment Eligibility Form (Form I-9) on or prior to their first day of employment. The Offices of Human Resources will email you once the student has been authorized to work and hired. Under no circumstances can you allow a student to begin working until you receive this email.
If the student is working with minors, developmentally disabled persons, or vulnerable adults, you must reach out to the Office of Human Resources to facilitate a background check and have Human Resources assign special compliance training. If the student will be driving, they will need a background check and a motor vehicle report.
Please contact the Office of Human Resources at hr@whitman.edu with any questions.
Step 3: Complete a Successful Onboarding for the Student Employee
Consider how you can create a positive onboarding experience that sets your student employees up for success. You can find more details in our presentation, Onboarding Student Employees with Intentionality.
Step 4: How to Guide the Student in Entering Time on Their Timesheet
If this is the first time a student has worked, make sure to show your student how to enter time on their timesheet. Instructions can be found on the Student Payroll website. Please remember that students should report all time worked, and all approved travel time related to work is compensable for nonexempt employees, which includes student employees. Please continue to remind students that they cannot exceed 15 hours per week across all of their positions.
Step 5: Wrap Up Employment at the End of the Semester or Academic Year
If the student won't be returning to their position at the end of a term, complete the Student Employment End-Date Form.
It is critical to note that a student holds student employment status and can only be paid through student payroll through the end of the current pay period during which they are an active student. Upon graduating, withdrawing from school, or entering leave of absence status, a student is no longer considered active and is not eligible to work under student employment status. For example, students graduating in May can work as a student through the end of the May pay period, which ends on June 8.
If you need to continue their employment with Whitman College, you will need to work with Human Resources in advance of the end date to transition the former student to a temporary staff position. Please continue to remind students that they cannot exceed 15 hours per week across all of their positions.
Resources
The following supervisor guides are intended to help walk you through the recruiting and hiring processes, including posting positions in Handshake.
- Open Enrollment
- Employment Opportunities
-
Benefits
- Additional Benefits
- Core Benefits
- General Information
- Mental Health Resources
- Summary & Notices
- Cost of Coverage
- Aflac
- Flexible Spending
- Vision
- Medical and Dental
- Life Insurance
- Retirement
- Tuition Remission
- Paid Time Off
- Employee Assistance Program - EAP
- IRS Guidance for the 1095 Tax Form
- Movement That Matters
- Employee Resources
- Policies
- Open Enrollment
- Employment Opportunities
-
Benefits
- Additional Benefits
- Core Benefits
- General Information
- Mental Health Resources
- Summary & Notices
- Cost of Coverage
- Aflac
- Flexible Spending
- Vision
- Medical and Dental
- Life Insurance
- Retirement
- Tuition Remission
- Paid Time Off
- Employee Assistance Program - EAP
- IRS Guidance for the 1095 Tax Form
- Movement That Matters
- Employee Resources
- Policies