Mays Center for Experiential Learning and Community Engagement

Student Employment

Hiring Student Workers

Want to search for and hire a student worker for your department or division? Start by creating an employer account on Handshake and posting your position. To get started, click here. Read the information carefully and then visit https://tamusa.joinhandshake.com/login to begin. The Mays Center must approve the job postings before they appear to students. The approval generally occurs once, late each business day.

Keep the following provisions of Texas A&M University-San Antonio Rule 33.99.08.01 Student Employment and Texas A&M University-San Antonio Procedure 33.99.08.01.01 Student Employment in mind when hiring students:

Student employees may not work hours during which their scheduled classes are being conducted.
Generally, to be eligible for student employment, a student must be enrolled in a minimum of six credit hours during the current semester; however, student employees need not be enrolled during the summer to maintain student employee status as long as they intend to enroll in the following fall term and enrolled in the previous spring term.
Please verify with Financial Aid that your office was awarded funds for the academic year for federal work-study.
Student employees must be in good academic standing and maintain an academic record acceptable to the department head for the employing department, including a cumulative grade point average of no less than 2.0. Tutors and Graduate Assistants require a cumulative grade point average of no less than 3.0. To verify academic standing, please complete the internal request form here.
Student employees normally work no more than 19 hours per week. Hours worked more than 19 hours per week must have prior approval from the appropriate division head for a maximum of four months after consulting with Payroll and Human Resources to ensure they are not put into a benefits-eligible status due to their additional work hours.
Graduate assistants are required to work 20 hours per week.
International students will be offered employment per System Regulation 33.99.00. To avoid problems, consult with the Office of International Affairs [(210) 784-1308] BEFORE making an offer to an international student.
Student employment is contingent upon a satisfactory criminal background investigation conducted according to University rules and procedures.
Any student, who graduates or completes their course of study mid-month, may continue to work as a student worker until the end of that month.

Please view the new STUDENT EMPLOYMENT PACKET for a complete run-through of the student-employee hiring process.

Training and Development

HIRED! Student Professional Development - The HIRED! Professional Development Certificate is a way for you as a student to engage in professional development! We recognize that many students already have a lot of experience in the workforce while others have very little. These sessions are created based on what employers say they look for when hiring and retaining talented new individuals, which was researched and collected by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). This program can now be completed virtually.

Remote Student Employee Best Practices

How do you effectively manage a student employee remotely?

Remote Work works best when student employees and supervisors communicate clearly about expectations. The following checklist will help establish a foundation for effective remote working, continued productivity, and service to the University community. Your employees are looking to you as a model for navigating the changes and succeeding in an uncertain environment. Setting a tone with positivity, active communication, and an openness to discussing questions and concerns will help your team better prepare for success in a remote workplace.

**Remote Student Employee Best Practices**
Review technology needs and resources. Identify technology tools student employees use in their daily Work and determine whether the resources will be accessible when working from home. Also, ensure student employees know how to access the appropriate technical support should they need assistance. There will be a list of sample training tools in this document. Determine which platform(s) you will use to communicate as a team, clarify expectations for online availability and confirm everyone has access to the technology tool(s). A&M-SA employees have free access to Skype for Business, Webex, and Microsoft Teams, and your department may have additional tools or resources.
Review work schedules. Be clear about your expectations with employees for maintaining their current work schedule or if you are open to flexible scheduling based on employee needs. Have an open discussion on when the student employee will be "on-call" and present at their remote workstation.
Determine remote work duties. Frequently employees experience fewer interruptions while working remotely. Are there any special projects, tasks, or online training that your student employee can advance on while working remotely? If you need help identifying potential job functions, please review the list of sample functions created by multiple A&M-SA departments at bit.ly/sampleremotework. To add to this list, please email the Mays Center at mays@tamusa.edu.
Make a communication and accountability plan. Supervisors should tell student employees how often they should send updates on work plan progress and what those updates should include. Supervisors should also communicate how quickly they expect the employee to respond and the best ways for the employee to contact the supervisor while working remotely. Current performance standards are expected to be maintained by employees. If you usually make daily rounds to visit employees at their desks, you can give them a call during this period. Maintain team meetings and one-to-one check-ins, altering the schedule if needed to accommodate any alternative schedules that have been approved. Conduct regular check-ins. Consider starting each workday with a phone, video, or instant message chat. Your student employees will be eager for connection and information during the disruption, and the structure will help everyone create a positive routine. Every other day or weekly check-ins may be fine, so long as you are in contact frequently enough that your employees are in sync with you and/or with one another.
Be positive. A positive attitude and a willingness to trust employees to work remotely effectively are crucial to successful and productive such arrangements. Working remotely presents an opportunity for supervisors to become better managers. Instead of focusing on how many hours your employees are working, re-emphasize a focus on measuring results and reaching objectives—regardless of work arrangement. The employee's completed work product is the indicator of success rather than direct observation. By focusing on the employee's work product, supervisors will improve their organizational abilities and skills in managing objectives.