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Office of the Vice Provost for Research

 

Hiring Federal Work Study Students

Did you know you can hire students approved for Federal Work Study (FWS) as part of their financial aid award as research assistants?

The Federal Work Study (FWS) program is a great way to provide students with an opportunity to work with you, grow professionally, and earn funds that will help them support themselves. In the FWS program, campus employers, “including projects and research specific to faculty members, are responsible for contributing only a portion of the wage for FWS-eligible students, currently only 25%, while funds allotted to GW via the Department of Education will cover the rest.

 

 

  • Interested in developing impactful videos, websites, and written communications to convey the impact of your work? 
  • Have background literature searchers a student may be able to help with while learning to conduct impactful searches? 
 

 

  • Have loads of data you need curated? 
  • Have data you need mined and presented? 
  • Have basic lab work you could use additional help with, while offering valuable training? 
  • Have data analytics work? 

All these tasks, and more, would offer impactful work-study opportunities for our students while introducing this population to our scholarly enterprise. Again, the employer for students with FWS awards is only responsible for covering 25% of the hourly wage for those students, up to the limit of their FWS award! The student gains valuable research experience while earning needed financial support and you get the labor at a fraction of the cost!

A Win-Win!!

 

So how do you get started?

If you are new to hiring student employees, you will need to get set up with the required systems to access the Student Employment Talent Management System and the Payroll Time Reporting System, UKG/Kronos, or speak to your department administrator. Learn more about getting started.

All positions must be submitted with a position summary that briefly details the functions the student will perform for your department/lab/project, must conform to the titling and pay structure as defined in the Student Position Standards document, and must include a funding source (banner number) of where to charge the 25% of the student’s earnings.

It is important to note that it is the responsibility of the department and student to track the student’s total earnings to not exceed the maximum allowed on their FWS offer. Any overages will be charge to the department at 100%. Please review the FWS Program Requirements for GW Departments.

If this position title includes the label On-Campus FWS or Off-Campus FWS, it is for students with a Federal Work Study (FWS) award for the current school year ONLY. Applicants to these positions will be required to verify this by attaching their FWS Program Student Statement as a required document.

What are the different positions you could consider?

You can find ideas for positions that will help progress your research efforts, like the following:

  • Research Assistants and Specialists
  • Events and Operations Assistants
  • Digital Communications and Social Media Assistants
  • Assistant Web Developers

Learn more about the Federal Work Study Program at GW. If you have questions, reach out to Bridget Schwartz in Career Services ([email protected]).