Student Assistant series positions are for undergraduate students only, in most cases. *if the student is undergraduate/work study, please refer to Student Employment website: (Student Employment (ucdenver.edu))
Undergraduate student hourly employees are recommended to work 20 hours a week throughout the Fall, Spring and Summer semesters while classes are in session. The maximum number of hours a student employee may work during the fall and spring semester is 25 hours per week or 50 hours per biweekly payroll period, provided no single week in that period exceeds 40 work hours. However, the maximum number of hours a student employee may work during the summer is 40 hours per week
(Reference student handbook: student-hourly-employment-handbook.pdf (ucdenver.edu)
Student Hourly employees who are graduating may work to the end of the semesters pay period, and do NOT need to end their position after the last day of classes and/or finals week.
Student employees are eligible for jury duty pay and sick leave, but not eligible for, or entitled to; fringe benefits such as retirement, vacation, unemployment and/or paid holidays.
As of January 1, 2021, Student positions will accrue sick leave at a rate of 0.034 hours per hour worked with a maximum accrual of 48 hours per fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). Students can use sick leave to cover time that they would have normally been working, for reasons listed under the Sick leave tab at this policy statement website: https://www.cu.edu/ope/aps/5062. Supervisors will be asked to approve of the sick leave through the MyLeave timesheet process. There is a row in the student MyLeave dashboard showing their accrued sick leave balance. To review their available balance before approving, please navigate to MyLeave. From your UCD Portal, select the MyLeave tile (clock icon), then use the dropdown menu to select their name. Sick leave should display on the top row of the table under their name and their current balance is in the far right column. If you have questions, please contact your SEHD HR team (sehdhr@ucdenver.edu).
Students may be eligible for FAMLI leave as of January 1, 2024, and will work through the application review process with CU's leave team to determine their options.
Searches are required for most University new hires, but student employees are exempt from required searches at this time. SEHD does have student “pool” postings for each student position (Student Assistant, Graduate, & Research Assistants) that supervisors can review prior to submitting for a new search.
However, if no match is found through the pool posting or a specific need for a program is necessary, SEHD HR can certainly run a search.
Denver minimum wage $18.81/hour as of 1/1/2025.
CU Denver Pay Rate:
Student Assistant I, $18.81/hr
Student Assistant II, $18.81 - $19.34/hr
Student Assistant III, $18.81 - $20.28/hr
Student Assistant IV, $18.81 - $21.16/hr
Student Assistant V, $18.81 - $22.00/hr
Student Assistant VI, $18.81 - $26.86/hr
All Student Assistant positions (I-VI) must be paid on an hourly, biweekly basis. This includes submission of timesheets, and the student will receive payment biweekly (according to the pay schedule.)
Here is a link to the student biweekly schedule: 2024-2025-student-employment-bi-weekly-payroll-calendar.pdf (ucdenver.edu). We encourage all students and supervisors to set reoccurring reminders for deadlines.
For students being paid on a biweekly basis, we encourage them to review the MyLeave Guide (How to Use MyLeave - Student Guide.pdf) to set up preferences prior to their first timesheet deadline.
Once you have a student in mind… Please anticipate several weeks for hiring paperwork processing (even if the student is a current employee) – onboarding requirements include completing a background check, employment verification, and other on-boarding steps. Generally, the more advance notice we can have, the smoother the onboarding can be for you and the new colleague.
If the position is grant funded, it is helpful to include a note that the position is contingent upon grant funding. In the past, SEHD HR has used this wording in the letter of offer:
This is a grant-funded position. Continuation of the position and tuition assistance is entirely dependent on the continued availability of the grant funds.
The SEHD approach to the hiring process for SEHD students who may take a position on another CU team is generally that the hiring steps (background check, I-9, payroll, etc.) will be done through the inviting school.
Each semester, SEHD HR will notify supervisors for confirmation of continued hiring of student employees. It is the supervisor’s responsibility to inform HR if there are any changes to their student employment status and details. This includes if the student is active, resigned, or graduated; accurate salary; correct speedtype; and hours per week.
Currently in SEHD, available resources regarding job descriptions are in the student handbook (student-hourly-employment-handbook.pdf (ucdenver.edu)) page 28. This provides an overview of the information that could be included in the job description. Additionally, on the Student Hire Formstack (found on SEHD Wiki page) where the job description upload is needed, an example is provided.
After a student resigns (or is terminated) from their position with SEHD, the best practice is to close out any access they may have been granted. If SEHD IT granted the access (ie: Q/T drives, or other programs), a email must be sent to remove the access (send to: sehdhelp@ucdenver.edu).
Additionally, the supervisor is responsible for submitting a checkout notification form. (*This is to be completed if a student is leaving University employment and does not hold a position with another team.)
For other applications/programs granted by the supervisor, the supervisor is responsible for removing the resigned student.
Supervisors should complete this form once a student resigns and/or is terminated.
Student Assistant series positions are for undergraduate students only, in most cases. *if the student is undergraduate/work study, please refer to Student Employment website: (Student Employment (ucdenver.edu))
Teaching Assistant and Graduate Part Time Instructor positions are coordinated by the program lead for each course area based on enrollment. Please refer to the SEHD Wiki Pattern of Administration: https://wiki.cu.studio/handbooks/pattern_of_administration?s[]=teaching%20assistant#teaching_assistantssecondary_instructors
Graduate Assistants (GA): This position is focused on administrative work for a department and is not directly involved in instruction or research.
Research Assistant (RA): This position is focused on research, analyzing data, and writing technical reports.
The Job title (e.g. Student Assistant vs. Graduate Assistant or Research Assistant) is important to align with undergraduate or graduate status as best we can. The reason is because US News asks us to report our number of graduate students annually, and we track those using their job title in our payroll system.
Graduate student appointments must be enrolled full-time, as a regular degree-seeking graduate student on the CU-Denver campus.
In Sept. 2023 we learned that certificate students may also be eligible for student employee roles: If the certificate program they are enrolled in is graduate level, then we are able to hire them as a graduate assistant.
Refer to the student employment handbook, especially the section on “Work Hour Regulation.” This resource is regularly updated and should be checked first, but as of Nov 2024…
“Undergraduate student employees (Work-Study and Student Hourly) are recommended to work 20 hours a week throughout the Fall, Spring and Summer semesters while classes are in session. The maximum number of hours a student employee may work during the fall and spring semester is 25 hours per week or 50 hours per biweekly payroll period, provided no single week in that period exceeds 40 work hours. However, the maximum number of hours a student employee may work during the summer is 40 hours per week.
Graduate and Professional student employees (Work-Study and Student Hourly) are recommended to work 20 hours a week throughout the Fall, Spring and Summer semesters while classes are in session. The maximum number of hours a student employee may work during the fall and spring semester is 25 hours per week or 50 hours per biweekly payroll period, provided no single week in that period exceeds 40 work hours. However, the maximum number of hours a student employee may work during the summer is 40 hours per week.
International Students: In accordance with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) regulations, international students may not work more than 20 hours per week—in total, regardless of the number of positions—while classes are in session during the Fall and Spring semesters. During the Summer semester, and when the University is on an official break and/or no classes are in session, international students may work on campus in a student hourly position, up to, but not more than, 40 hours a week. Additional employment for international students is prohibited under [8 CFR 214.2 (f)(9)(i) and at 22 CFR 62.23 (g)(2)(iii)].“
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Student Hourly employees who are graduating may work to the end of the semesters pay period, and do NOT need to end their position after the last day of classes and/or finals week.
Graduate student employees are eligible for jury duty pay and sick leave, but not eligible for, or entitled to; fringe benefits such as retirement, vacation, unemployment and/or paid holidays.
As of January 1, 2021, Graduate student positions will accrue sick leave at a rate of 0.034 hours per hour worked with a maximum accrual of 48 hours per fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). Students can use sick leave to cover time that they would have normally been working, for reasons listed under the Sick leave tab at this policy statement website: https://www.cu.edu/ope/aps/5062. Supervisors will be asked to approve of the sick leave through the MyLeave timesheet process. There is a row in the student MyLeave dashboard showing their accrued sick leave balance. To review their available balance before approving, please navigate to MyLeave. From your UCD Portal, select the MyLeave tile (clock icon), then use the dropdown menu to select their name. Sick leave should display on the top row of the table under their name and their current balance is in the far right column. If you have questions, please contact your SEHD HR team (sehdhr@ucdenver.edu).
Graduate students may be eligible for FAMLI leave as of January 1, 2024, and will work through the application review process with CU's leave team to determine their options
Common pay rates for SEHD graduate student positions in 2024 are as follows.
Research Assistant: $20 - $25 per hour
Graduate Assistant: $19 - $23 per hour
Masters level students tend to be more in the $19 + range
Doctoral level students tend to be more in the $20 – 23 range.
For context, minimum wage in Denver increased from
$12.00 –> $12.85 in 2020 –>
$14.77 –> $15.00 in 2021 –>
$15.00 –> $15.87 in 2022 –>
$15.87 –> $17.29 in 2023 –>
$17.29 –> $18.29 in 2024 –>
$18.29 –> $18.81 in 2025
Commonly around SEHD, if tuition reimbursement is included in the Graduate student position, this wording is used on the letter of offer:
The starting wage for this position will be $20 per hour effective on 06/15/2021, with a maximum of 9 hours of in-state tuition credits for the fall semester and a maximum of 9 hours of in-state tuition credits for the spring semester. The wage is based on the responsibilities assigned to you, and in accordance with the student employment job class descriptions.
Tuition remission is provided for the purpose of supporting the scholarly pursuits of graduate students who work at least twelve weeks in an academic year semester and maintain satisfactory academic progress toward their degrees.
Typically, the stipend award letter for students working on a grant references the info below. The student will need to pay the fees in most cases, along with books. Fees can vary widely depending on which courses the student takes, but $600 is a good ballpark.
These amounts change routinely, and should be verified using the Graduate tuition & fees rate chart for School of Education & Human Development - https://www.ucdenver.edu/student-finances/tuition-fees/graduate.
Fall/Spring (9 credits)
Tuition Credits = $3,393.00
Fees = $600.00
Hourly rate = $22.00 for 20 hours per week
Total Salary Amount = $7,040.00
Total Dollar Award = $11,033.00
Most of the time, scholarships are given to RAs, because those positions are research oriented, and funds come from a grant. Some scholarships are paid through SEHD for recruitment, reviewed by a committee, from a PhD tuition speedtype.
Item type information is here: https://olucdenver.sharepoint.com/sites/BursarInterdepartmentalInvoiceandTraineeship/SitePages/Interdepartmental-Invoice-Request-Form.aspx. With questions regarding the item type or the Interdepartmental Invoice process, please email BursarAcct@ucdenver.edu or 303-315-1825.
If the position is grant funded, it is helpful to include a note that the position is contingent upon grant funding. In the past, SEHD HR has used this wording in the letter of offer:
This is a grant-funded position. Continuation of the position and tuition assistance is entirely dependent on the continued availability of the grant funds.
General student positions are posted on Handshake and renewed each semester. We use a job ad template which was created in 2021, in collaboration with Sandy Mondragon.
Applications must be received by the semester deadline (July 31 for fall, December 31 for spring, and April 30 for summer) in order to be considered when a position becomes available. Applications will be cleared each semester.
If there is a specific need (approved student position through department/individual budget), a position search can be posted on Handshake. In order to do this, a Formstack must be completed, found here: HR Search Form - Formstack (Select Student from drop down menu).
Once a student has been identified, a few hiring steps need to be taken. Please anticipate several weeks for hiring paperwork processing (even if the student is a current employee). Onboarding requirements include completing a background check, employment verification, and other on-boarding steps. Generally, the more advance notice we can have, the smoother the onboarding can be for you and the new colleague.
*Important note regarding start dates: students who are paid monthly must have their official hire date on the first calendar day of a month. This timing sometimes limits us, due to I-9 and background checks required to be clear before the start date.
Students paid biweekly can start as soon as the on-boarding steps are completed.
Students paid on contracts generally begin the first day of the semester, or a shorter contract can be worked out in advance with SEHD HR.
The SEHD approach to the hiring process for SEHD students who may take a position on another CU team is generally that the hiring steps (background check, I-9, payroll, etc.) will be done through the inviting school.
Employees of other CU campuses who wish to also work a student position in SEHD
Example: a working SEHD doctoral student who wants to work as a Teaching Assistant or a GA or RA in SEHD during their studies.
Before a student pay increase is approved by SEHD HR, the supervisor should provide justification for the increase. There is no form for this, just a sentence or two in email to SEHD HR will suffice. If there is a change in job duties, an updated job description will also be needed, and will be added to the employee’s file.
Pay increase timing/laddering for student positions is up to the supervisor. In SEHD student positions, it is common to see a $1 increase due to experience/performance/increased responsibilities each year or two.
There are multiple ways to set pay for student employment. SEHD HR reviews with the supervisor the appropriate pay schedule for a new student.
The Academic Year standard of pay is 16 weeks in Fall, 16 weeks in Spring, total of 32 weeks paid each month from August through May.
The semester contract standard of pay is based on 16 weeks. Fall semester (typically) runs mid-August – December; and Spring semester runs mid-January – mid-May. Payment would be on the last business day of the month, as usual; however, both August and December paychecks will be prorated based on the number of days worked. This would be true for the spring semester as well.
If a student starts after the semester, but on the first of a month, SEHD HR will prepare a pay calculation to arrive at the monthly pay amount. HR will communicate the monthly pay with the supervisor to ensure accuracy and available funds.
If a student starts after the semester, but in the middle of a month, SEHD HR will advise biweekly pay. This includes submission of timesheets, and the student will receive a payment biweekly (according to the pay schedule, see below under “Tracking Work Time”).
GA/RA appointments who are paid monthly, on the last business day of each month, and typically do not submit time sheets in the MyLeave system (although you should ask your GA/RA to be accountable for their hours or work a regular schedule). SEHD HR will calculate monthly pay based on the hourly rate and hours per week.
If the supervisor prefers, HR can set up the position as hourly/biweekly. This means the student will need to submit biweekly timesheets, and the supervisor will need to log in to review and approve timesheets. This option is sometimes used if the work is sporadic and hours vary, or if the supervisor has others using timesheets and wants to simplify the routine for all student workers, etc.
Here is a link to the student biweekly schedule: 2022-2023-student-employment-bi-weekly-payroll-calendar.pdf (ucdenver.edu). We encourage all students and supervisors to set reoccurring reminders for deadlines.
For students being paid on a biweekly basis, we encourage them to review the MyLeave Guide (How to Use MyLeave - Student Guide.pdf) to set up preferences prior to their first timesheet deadline.
For new supervisors (and as a refresher for current supervisors), you may reference this guide on how to acces MyLeave, approve timesheets, and general FAQs: https://www.cu.edu/docs/sbs-my-leave-supervisors
Are you going on vacation? Set up a proxy! This feature allows supervisors to “transfer” timesheet approval to another leader on the team. This comes in handy right around payroll deadline time & has less impact on student pay. See more information here: https://www.cu.edu/docs/sbs-my-leave-supervisors
Each semester, SEHD HR will notify supervisors for confirmation of continued hiring of student employees. It is the supervisor’s responsibility to inform HR if there are any changes to their student employment status and details. This includes if the student is active, resigned, or graduated; accurate salary; correct speedtype; and hours per week.
Currently in SEHD, available resources regarding job descriptions are in the student handbook (student-hourly-employment-handbook.pdf (ucdenver.edu)) page 28. This provides an overview of the information that could be included in the job description. Additionally, on the Student Hire Formstack (found on SEHD Wiki page) where the job description upload is needed, an example is provided.
HR can check with the Student Employment team to get the specific dates for each semester.
Although this link provides monthly payroll deadlines (https://www.cu.edu/hcm-community/pay-employees/payroll-production-calendars), the student biweekly calendar can be hard to find. It’s a button at the bottom of this page as of 6/28/21: https://www.ucdenver.edu/lynxconnect/career-center/student-employment
HR can check with the Student Employment team to find out if any policies have changed.
Otherwise, as of April 2021, we were told that:
If you are going to be hiring a new student for the RA position, then they can begin to work in the Summer as long as they have documentation showing they are enrolled in a program for the Fall such as their class schedule or letter of admission. If they are going to be paid by a grant, we recommend that you check the fund agreement or the project officer of the grant for additional details.
After a student resigns (or is terminated) from their position with SEHD, the best practice is to close out any access they may have been granted. If SEHD IT granted the access (ie: Q/T drives, or other programs), a email must be sent to remove the access (send to: sehdhelp@ucdenver.edu).
Additionally, the supervisor is responsible for submitting a checkout notification form. (*This is to be completed if a student is leaving University employment and does not hold a position with another team.)
For other applications/programs granted by the supervisor, the supervisor is responsible for removing the resigned student.
Supervisors should complete this form once a student resigns and/or is terminated.