Hiring Graduate Students 2018-2019

To: School/Division HR Officers and Secondary Contacts, University Business Managers, Student Services Managers
From: Steve Matson, Dean of Graduate School; Beverly Wyrick, Director of Finance/Administration of the Graduate School; ConnectCarolina/HR Payroll

Graduate students may be hired for a semester, academic year, calendar year, or other periods as needed. Each school/division has varying effective dates in order to meet their business need. The stipend calculator tool can assist users in determining what salary to enter on the ePAR form, given the graduate student’s start/expected job end dates, to ensure the intended amount of pay.  The stipend calculator can be found on The Graduate School’s website. The example included in the attachment is for an academic year appointment.

Graduate students who receive tuition awards must meet the minimum stipend requirement for the fall and/or spring term.  Below are common scenarios for students hired with a 9-month appointment, or semester appointment, in academic year 2017-19:

The Start/Pay-Through dates on the stipend calculator are used to determine the salary amount.

Helpful Reminders

• The expected job end date for the Hire or Job Change ePAR should always be one day greater than the Pay-through date on the stipend calculator.
• Be sure to review the instructions on placing and/or returning EHRA students from short work breaks.
• Use the Multiple Jobs Summary or UNC Employee Information page in the HR Work Center to review the student’s employment and job status prior to taking any action. These pages provide the following information:
  • HR and Payroll status, which helps determine if the employee is active or on a work break.
  • Appointments and their expected job end date.
  • Department, job code, and FTE.
• The Multiple Job Summary or UNC Employee Information pages can also help departments avoid hiring a student into the same job twice, as well as avoid term/re-hires or transferring the student out of the wrong appointment.
• Students should be returned from work break if they will be returning to their appointment. Or, if they will not be returning, then they should be terminated.
• When completing the ePAR to return a student from work break, do not check the box to bypass compensation and funding. Instead, be sure to include compensation and funding on the action. This will allow the originator and all approvers to confirm the compensation and funding are accurate.
• Please be advised, if a student is transferring from a job that is on Work Break into a new appointment, they must first be returned from Work Break.
• When submitting hires, returning from work break, and termination, always be mindful of payroll deadlines.
• 2018 HR/Payroll dates and deadlines calendars:
  • HR/Payroll calendars
  • Note: Calendars are subject to change. Please review on a regular basis to ensure you have the most up-to-date information.
• Lump sum payments for graduate students are not allowed.  The decision was made by the Graduate School and OHR Benefits in response to Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements for tracking benefits eligibility and was effective when ConnectCarolina went live in 2014. Lump sums payments also do not allow reporting offices to get a good count of student employees and the hours they work.

For policy questions, contact Beverly Wyrick at 919-962-6318 or bwyrick@email.unc.edu.

For system related questions, submit a help ticket at https://help.unc.edu/.