Student employment categories and eligibility for student employment are fully defined in the Student Employment Handbook (a summary is listed below).

• Student employees must be half-time, degree-seeking students in good standing.
• Students who graduate are no longer eligible and should be terminated.
• Involuntary terminations should be processed in consultation with Employee and Labor Relations.
• All student employment categories are restricted to 20 hours average per week during the academic year and 40 hours per week during the summer and academic break periods
  Note: Work-study students are only allowed to work 20 hours per week in any given semester, including summer.

Download: Sample Letter of Offer for Student Employee (.docx)

Student Employment Categories

Student Employment

University employment for all eligible students paid entirely through departmental funds on a part-time (academic year or summers, school vacations) basis.

Cooperative Education & Internship Program

NMSU enjoys a national reputation for its Cooperative Education and Internship Program. The co-op/internship program is the premier experiential education program at NMSU. This educational program, administered by the NMSU Office of Experiential Learning (OEL), allows students to complete a co-op/internship experience during the fall, spring, or summer semesters and earn an official and permanent notation on their academic transcript.

Our goal is to provide NMSU students with experience-based learning through paid employment experiences. These practical, curriculum-related experiences must be structured to meet student’s interests, abilities, and career goals while meeting employers’ needs.

The Cooperative Education and Internship program strives for partnerships where the student, the employer, and NMSU all participate on an equal basis to produce a meaningful educational experience.

Work Study

The funding for Work-study positions is strictly based on the type of financial aid awarded.  The cost to hire a work study position is currently based on a 30/70 split (subject to change) with the financial aid award paid out at 70% of the cost of employment and the department responsible for 30% of the cost of employment (50%-50% for Crimson Scholar work-study).  NOTE: if the financial aid award is exhausted prior to the end of the employment period, the total cost (100%) will revert to the department index and the Office of Financial Aid will switch the student from work-study (SW) to regular student employment (SR).

A copy of the financial aid award letter, for the semester hired, must be maintained in the department file. It is important for departments to monitor the expenditure of the financial aid award, a Cognos report is available for time sheet approvers to monitor student’s earnings (FA-SS-R4123-WS-AWD-LIMIT), and access to this report can be requested at sim@nmsu.edu. In addition, an earnings calculator can be found at http://fa.nmsu.edu/work-study/employers/. The student’s work-study award amount includes both the work-study funds and the match from the employer. Please remember to verify the Work-study ‘Detail Description’ provided in the student’s award letter to identify the correct index and account for the EPAF.

Work-study students must be hired under the correct index/account combination, otherwise any charges paid under an incorrect index will be charged at 100% to the hiring department. The following table displays the Work-study Indices.

Colleges/Departments are responsible for maintaining accurate accounting of student employee’s hours, work-study awards and their remaining balances available to earn for each semester. If the student has depleted the work-study award and continued employment is needed they will need to be hired as a Student Regular employee.  NOTE: if the financial aid award is exhausted prior to the end of the employment period, the total cost (100%) will revert to the department index. For additional information please review the Federal, State and Crimson Scholar Work-study Programs Handbook.

Approved Titles & Pay Rates

Student employment titles are restricted to those listed below. The salary rates correspond to the title. For rates please go to the Non-Exempt Student Employment salary table.

1. Student Aide - student employees whose duties are primarily clerical, labor, or service–worker functions.
2. Student Assistant - student employees, whose duties are of a technical nature and are generally at the junior or senior level in their academic degree program.
3. Student Co-Op - student employees whose duties meet the standards for cooperative education as prescribed by the NMSU Cooperative Education and Internship Program and the Cooperative Education and Internship Association (CEIA) “Cooperative Education (Co-op) is a formalized program, under the direction of a post-secondary institution, to optimize learning in an alternate setting. Cooperative Education provides experience-based learning for college students through paid employment in practical, curriculum-related work assignments structured to meet students’ interests, abilities, and aptitudes while meeting employers’ needs.” Each term, co-op assignments must be approved by, and students enrolled with, the appropriate Cooperative Education Program office (i.e., the Co-op Office on the main or branch campus that offers the student’s major).
4. Student Grad Spec - graduate student employees whose duties are of a technical and/or professional nature similar to those performed by Graduate Assistants (e.g., Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants, etc.). Graduate Specialists generally will be paid hourly at rates of pay equivalent to those of Graduate Assistants, as determined by the Graduate School Dean.
5. Student Server Tipped – restaurant (Fulton Center/Golf Course) server/beverage cart. Compensation includes earning tips.

Exceptions to the above guidelines may be necessary from time to time. Approval must be obtained in advance from the Employment Services, HRS.

Advertising

Advertising is optional for student employment. If you are not rehiring a student employee, we encourage you to advertise through the Career Services Handshake system. For more information please visit Career Services.

Student Job Termination

This section describes the process of completing a Student – Job Termination/TSTRM approval category to terminate a Regular and Work-study students.

The Student – Job Termination/TSTRM EPAF has a single purpose, it is used to terminate student jobs in the Banner system. As such, there is only one form and section to complete, the NBAJOBS form job termination information.

Before you begin, please note that any future dated job record or pending action (such as termination actions, changes to pay, title, or other job changes that have already been submitted) cannot be overridden by this process. If a future dated job action exists you will receive an error when attempting to submit the action and you will be prompted to contact Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS). In consultation with HRIS you should request to remove the future dated job actions. Once the future dated job actions are removed you may continue the Student – Job Termination/TSTRM EPAF process.

Student Job Change

This section describes the process of completing a Student – Job Change/JSCHG approval category EPAF to change Regular and Work-study students jobs.

The Student Job Change/JSCHG EPAF has a single purpose; it is used to change student jobs in the Banner system. As such, there is only one form and section to complete, the NBAJOBS form job transactional information.

This EPAF will be submitted to make changes to student job title, base, FTE and department.

Eligibility Waiver

A student who fails to meet eligibility requirements, with unique or extenuating circumstances, and who wishes to work for the University may request an exception to policy and approval to pursue/continue university student employment. Waiver request must be routed through and signed by the Sr. Administrator/Dean for approval prior to submitting to HR-Employment Services and include the following: Student Name; Aggie ID; Contact Information; Unique or extenuating circumstance; The steps that will be taken to assist the student in meeting the eligibility requirements and the time period anticipated to meet eligibility requirements. Once the waiver has been approved by the Sr. Administrator/Dean it may be scanned and submitted via email to teamhrs@nmsu.edu.