Hiring Process

Departments are responsible for recruiting, interviewing and making final decisions on their candidates for roles they have posted. All student positions should be posted within Handshake to be in compliance with EEOC guidelines.

An outline of the hiring process has been provided below with details for accompanying steps in-between:

  1. Advertise your job on Handshake
  2. Interview and choose your finalists
  3. Submit the hiring request
  4. Hold for processing
  5. Student onboarding
  6. Work authorization confirmed

Requests made after the student has begun to work, in the midst of an assignment or outside of the requisite process can result in delays or an inability to provide work authorization for your student. Please ensure the finalists you select pay attention to all communications sent to them regarding their assignment and requisite pre-employment tasks.

All students will be expected to complete federal form I-9 and provide associated documentation of their identity to receive their work authorization.

The Criminal Background check sent to students will come from our vendor HireRight, the same vendor used by the university Human Resources department to provide background checks for full-time positions. Please make them aware it will be coming from a different party, but is branded with the UTD Logo and personalized with their name in the request to complete the CBC.

Hiring Proposals

Hiring Proposal Request E-Forms are required for requesting a hire to your department. This is the primary key for information related to your student’s assignment and the trigger for the Student Employment Office to act upon your request. Failure to submit a hiring proposal e-form may lead to loss of hire or non-granting of work authorization for your intended hire.

The e-form consists of 3 main sections:

  1. Contact Information-identify submitter, student and supervisor
  2. Job Information- identify job type, wage and FTE information
  3. Approver Information- identify designated staff (other than submitter) to provide department level approval

Each form should have all fields properly entered by the department to provide us with approval to proceed with the request. The Student Employment Office does not choose the designated Approver for your department’s hiring requests, but reviews all submissions after receipt of an approved e-form from the department.

For clarity and proper form function, the Student Employment Office recommends listing the Direct Supervisor for the student as the Approver (unless instructed otherwise by the leadership in your respective area). Forms that are rejected by the Approver will return to the Submitter who entered in the information so they may correct items as necessary. The Student Employment Office may also reject the form if information is missing, inaccurate or upon request by the submitter. If so, the form will again return to the Contact for correction.

Submitting ePARs

All students must have an ePAR associated with their assignment to ensure proper assignment tracking and compensation. This information is also critical for periodic audit purposes. It is crucial this information is accurate and provided in a timely manner by departments for their student assistants in the event that the the assignment changes (end of assignment or break in service due to internship, termination upon graduation, etc..) or needs adjusting (end of federal work-study funding reached, change in enrollment status, GPA falls below 2.0).

Our office will assist departments as necessary with identifying what types of ePARs may be appropriate depending on the situation involved, but will not submit ePARs on behalf of departments for student assistants in reference to their funding information or updated “reports to” status. Departments are also responsible for submitting rehire ePARs for students who have previously gained work authorization from the university and do not need to go through rehire processing. The Student Employment Office will send a rehire notice with instructions if the student you are attempting to hire falls under this category.

20 Hour Guidelines

Student assistants at UT Dallas should always be considered students first. We love for our students to be engaged in student employment, but in order to protect their primary goal of obtaining certification or degree from the university, we enforce limits in line with the guidelines set forth by both USCIS and the federal government limiting our students to working no more than 20 hours per week during the regular semesters (fall and spring).

There are opportunities for students to work extended shifts during holiday breaks and the summer (up to 40 hours per week with respect to registered course load and with supervisor approval), however departments should be aware that violations of the regular semester limits during non-authorized break periods may result in termination of assignment and further restrictions on hiring future student assistants.

FallSpringSummer and Holiday Breaks
20 hours per week maximum20 hours per week maximumUp to 40 hours per week with respect to credit course load