PROCESSING JOBS FOR GRADUATE APPOINTMENTS AY 2019-2020

Posted on August 16, 2019

Please find the pdf for this news item here: pdf

The following guidelines have been established for processing graduate appointments:

  • The September HRFE deadline for MN9 to submit a transaction to the UIC HR Service Center is 08/14/2019.
    • Reappointments direct applied by the college must be applied by 09/08/2019.
  • Financial Aid disbursement:
    • The Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA) begins disbursing aid no earlier than 10 days before the start of each semester. In general, current term aid is disbursed on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. GA appointments must be applied by this date in order for the student to avoid receiving a
      • First disbursement for Fall 2019 will be 08/16/2019.
      • First disbursement for Spring 2020 will be 01/03/2020.


General Position and Job Information

 

Position Number
Use existing pooled positions first. If a p-class does not exist, then please create based on the p-class structure found in the table located in the TITLE are below.

Suffix
00

Effective Date
Fall 2019: Effective date for service cannot be prior to 08/16/2019. Spring 2020: Effective date for service cannot be prior to 01/01/2020.

*Except for instruction, the effective date should be the date that actual service is being provided.

End Date
Fall 2019: End date for service cannot exceed 12/31/2019. Spring 2020: End date for service cannot exceed 05/15/2020.

*Except for instruction, the end date should be the date that actual service is being provided.

Job Type
Primary / Secondary (dependent on number of appointments)

Title
Listed below are the acceptable job titles and the abbreviations:

Type of Service
P-Class
Abbreviated Job Title

Graduate Assistant
CASAA
GRAD ASST

Graduate Teaching Assistant
CASHA
GRAD TCH ASST

Graduate Research Assistant
CASGA
GRAD RES ASST

 

FTE
The Full-Time-Equivalency (FTE) is the percentage that represents service provided by the graduate student.

Job Change Reason Code
HR001 – New Hire

JB001 – Add Job

Monthly Salary
The salary must maintain at least the minima for graduate appointments. There is a New campus minima for AY19-20. Continuing Graduate Assistants (Graduate Administrative Assistant, Graduate Teaching Assistant, Graduate Research Assistant) are to receive a 2% increase.

Please ensure all reappointment transactions are direct applied by 8/16/19 using the rates reflected on the original offer letter. UIC HR will be reviewing salaries to ensure eligible graduate assistants receive the continuing 2% increase as per the GEO contract.

https://hr.uic.edu/hr-staff-managers/compensation/minima-for-graduate-appointments/

Factor
9 – No other value is acceptable.

FOAPAL
Labor distribution information. It is not necessary to use multiple suffixes to reflect different FTE changes or labor distributions. Units have the ability to add future dated changes on reappointments as well as new jobs being added.

 

HR Front End (HRFE) Routing

  • HR Front End (HRFE) transactions for Graduate reappointments only are direct applied by the College level. Step-by-step HRFE instructions can be found in the HR Front End Transaction – Graduate Reappointment located online: (https://uofi.app.box.com/s/95gkbp7lf3m1abmr925m6h2duiidcdak)
  • If the current employee class (e-class) is not GA and a graduate assistant appointment is being added, please include the

Employee Group Change (EGC) component in the HR Front End transaction.

  • All other HR Front End transaction types such as New Hire, Add Job, etc. will be applied by the UIC HR Service

Graduate Hourly Appointments

  • For graduate hourly jobs, UIC HR will update appointments that are active on 08/25/2019 to reflect the new minimum.

Graduate Employee’s Organization (GEO)

 

Required Attachments

  • Letter of Offer is required for all new hire, additional job, and Use the template available on the UIC HR website under Resources: https://hr.uic.edu/hr-staff-managers/resources/template-letters/
  • The Assistantship Waiver Acceptance form is not required as an attachment to HRFE. Forms must be retained at the unit/college level.
  • The Position Authorization form is NOT required by the campus for graduate Units should continue to follow the standard practice established by their college for position approvals.
  • Criminal Background and/or Sanction Review Check results (if applicable) https://hr.uic.edu/hr-staff-managers/background- check-compliance/
  • Nepotism form (if applicable)

Work Authorization and I9 form

  • All graduate assistant and hourly employees must have a valid I9 form on record. Section 1 of the I9 must be signed by the employee on or prior to the first date of employment. Section 2 must be signed by the unit representative within 3 days of hire date.
  • International Employees: Units must verify that the graduate assistant’s work authorization (visa) is current for the appointment period before initiating the HR Front End transaction. It is the college’s responsibility to ensure the accuracy of the data before direct applying any reappointments

Education/Degree information

  • All graduate assistant and hourly employees must list at least a bachelor degree with degree date in the education section of the New Hire Form and/or MY UI Info portal. Units must confirm the data before routing the HRFE transaction under the Bio/Demo tab in the HRFE

Adding Graduate Hourly jobs

  • Attach offer letter if available, otherwise add job comment in HRFE transaction stating the period of the graduate hourly job and estimated work hours per week. This is required to monitor the total hours a Graduate Assistant is eligible to work without affecting the tuition waiver. A template letter has been developed and is available on UIC HR’s
  • All hourly appointments require an end date.

Inactive Graduate Students Appointments

  • Please review your active list of graduate students that are under your home org. Submit HR Front End separation transactions for those graduate assistants or grad hourly appointments who have graduated Spring 2018 or who have not been employed in your unit for over one (1)

Enrollment

The registration requirement for a student to hold a graduate assistantship (GA, TA, or RA) is at least eight (8) hours each

semester. The student must maintain the minimum registration through the end of the term. In order to be hired as a graduate hourly (HG) employee, a student must be enrolled in a graduate level course for each semester and maintain the registration through the end of the term.

 

Students receiving an assistantship must maintain a minimum registration through the end of the term in order to retain the waiver. If necessary, verification of student enrollment can be confirmed through the Office of Registration and Records.

 

Students who are appointed with a graduate assistantship must meet the graduate assistant tuition waiver guidelines to receive a waiver which requires a student to hold the 1) appropriate FTE and 2) be appointed for a minimum of 91 continuous calendar days during the period beginning a week before instruction and the last day of finals during Fall or Spring semester.

Taxation of Tuition Waivers

All Graduate tuition and fee waivers are taxable unless exempt under the Internal Revenue Code. Code IRC §117 allows exemption from taxation of tuition and fees for waivers above $5,250 for individuals conducting teaching or research activities.

Additional information on Taxation of Graduate Assistant & Pre-Professional Graduate Assistant Tuition waivers can be found at: https://grad.uic.edu/waiver-taxation-faqs/

Additional Graduate Assistant Processing Resources

Please refer to the documents below for additional information

  • HR Front End Transaction – Graduate Reappointment

(https://uofi.app.box.com/s/95gkbp7lf3m1abmr925m6h2duiidcdak)

  • Minima for Graduate Appointments

https://hr.uic.edu/hr-staff-managers/compensation/minima-for-graduate-appointments/

Contacts

Modified on April 20, 2020