Student Employment Q&A

Please note that this FAQ is subject to ongoing updates. Questions and responses may be added or revised as new information regarding student employment becomes available.

Hiring and supporting student employees comes with its own set of question, especially when it comes to navigating Workday. From creating job requisitions and managing candidate pools to onboarding, time tracking, and payroll, Workday is central to the student employment lifecycle.

To help streamline your hiring process and reduce confusion, we’ve compiled answers to the most frequently asked questions so you can confidently manage student employees and focus on building a strong, successful team.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I view a student’s citizenship status in Workday? Student citizenship status can be found in FinOps and selecting “Student Search (Residence, SSN, Enrollment).

Are we still able to see if a student has an I-9 on file in FinOps?  Historical data is available in FinOps. Current data is available in Workday.

When completing the I-9 process for a student, do I still need upload a copy of their passport like I did in E-Verify?  Yes. There is no prompt from Workday to do this task, but at the bottom of your screen you will see an Attach Document option, and that is where you upload the front picture and back barcode of the passport.

Do students need to put in their SSN as part of the I-9 process that they complete? Yes.

How does a student get rehired? Would a new I-9 be needed if there is a break between positions?  To rehire a student in the same position, they would need to be given new compensation dates. If it is a new position, you need to use the Add Job task and a new I-9 would not be needed.

How can I check the status of the costing allocation task when hiring a student?  Once logged into Workday, go to My Tasks (drawer icon in the top right corner of your screen). Under the Archive tab, in the Process section, you see where the task is in the costing allocation assignment process. You can also search under Archive for the student’s name.

Will there be any automation to the costing allocation task following the creation of a student hourly position so I don’t have to add the costing allocation for each individual position?  At this time, there is not a mass submit bulk option.

What is the best way to manage a student hourly employee who will be working in both the fall and spring semesters under the same position (same compensation and costing allocation), without the risk of a timesheet being submitted when the student is not working or having to create new positions for the new semester?  Since there are no end dates currently in Workday, the student will remain active until they have ended or terminated.

How do I add a spring student employee to a position that a fall student employee currently holds without having to create all new positions?  The process is dependent on the scenario. If the student will not hold another job at W&M (example: graduated), they can and should be terminated from Workday. If a student has only one job, they can be terminated. If the student has multiple positions, the job can be ended. Please ensure that their other job is their primary position. If it is not, you have the ability to make their other job their primary job.

Is there an opportunity for someone else in the organization to hire or make compensation changes for employees that fall under someone else’s supervisory organization?  Yes. Determine who should have the Department Admin role for those specific supervisory organizations and then submit a Workday ticket with your request. Please note that the employee with the Department Admin role will be able to see all of the compensation details for the employees under that supervisory organization.

Can I edit the number of positions I have? I need to add student employees but can’t remove any of the current student employees.   Cloning positions isn’t an available option in Workday, so the best option is to make more of a single position at the beginning of the process. You may have extra positions, but they can be closed.

What job profile should be used for a student employee who is being provided with a stipend through a one-time pay that doesn’t give them a timesheet to fill out each pay period?  It is recommended to use the “Undergraduate Student – Exempt – Salary” or “Graduate Student – Exempt – Salary” job profile. Visit UHR for more information on the types of student jobs and how to pay them.

What happens if a student employee submits a timesheet but no longer holds that job?  There may be issues during the payroll processing period. To help prevent overpayments and other payroll issues, students should be submitting hours in a timely manner and the manager should review all time that is recorded.

Can a student have a semi-monthly stipend so that there’s no timesheet for them to fill out? Some students have multiple jobs and use the wrong timesheet code so our department gets hours for another department leading to overpayments.  If a student has a stipend position, period activity pay be used, but if they are doing hourly work, they must submit a timesheet. To help prevent the submission of hours for the wrong position, the job title can be changed so the student can easily identify which position they are submitting hours for. To make this change, submit a Workday ticket with the name of the student as well as their position number.

How do I do a one-time payment for a student that needs to be split between two worktags?  Within the Request One-Time Payment task, use the add button at the bottom of your screen to add multiple one-time payments to the same task. For each one-time payment, please use dollar amounts rather than percentages.

Can a student position be changed from hourly to stipend, or would a new position number need to be created?  A new position must be created because the position determines how the student is paid. Hourly jobs are set as hourly, stipends are salaried.

If you end the compensation for a student (not terminate), can you hire a different student in that position or do you need to create a new position?  No. If a position has a student in it, another can’t be added. A new position would need to be created with more seats.

What is the difference between End Employment Date and Actual Compensation End Date?  End Employment Date is used for reporting only and does not actually end the job. Actual Compensation End Date is the end date for paying the employee.

Are we allowed to terminate a student that has fully graduated, or just end their compensation?  Yes, termination is allowed.

What is the difference between ending compensation and termination?  Ending compensation stops compensation, and termination terminates the employee completely from Workday.