Financial Aid and Scholarships
Source: https://financialaid.ucdavis.edu/work-study/employers/on-campus/gsr Parent: https://financialaid.ucdavis.edu/work-study/employers/on-campus
Hiring a graduate student researcher
Graduate student eligibility
Eligible students must:
- Complete Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, annually
- Be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident.
- Be identified as eligible for graduate work-study by your academic department.
- Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress, or SAP.
- Work with academic program coordinator to inquire about being hired and awarded a graduate student researcher (GSR) work-study position. Academic program staff, in conjunction with faculty, hire the GSRs and notify students when work-study awards are posted online.
For graduate students, the work-study award period is October 1 through June 30. Students awarded work-study will not be paid retroactively. Their begin date must not precede the student's Work-Study Service Channel Form effective date (which will be entered when the form is requested). Departments are responsible for ensuring the Position Pool IDs have been entered into UC Path prior to any of your employees beginning their work-study employment.
- Submit a Work-Study Employment Request Form (see details below)
- The work-study manager will confirm that the student is eligible for work-study and that all requirements have been met.
- Once the request has been approved, the requester will need to acknowledge rights and responsibilities in order to complete the Job Hire in the UCPath section and then download the Work-Study Service Channel Form.
- Once the Work-Study Service Channel Form has been downloaded:
- Send the form to the Service Channel and ensure the Service Channel enters the Work-Study Position Pool ID on the student's position in UCPath.
- Ensure the student and supervisor read and understand their rights and responsibilities.
- Department is responsible for ensuring the student and supervisor sign the mandatory Work-Study GSR Monthly Time Record, and the supervisor sends it to workstudy@ucdavis.edu on a monthly basis to comply with federal regulations by the 15th of the following month.
- For guidance as to how to calculate the GSR appointment percentages, contact Graduate Studies.
Additional information
- Work-study earnings are taxable.
- Work-study payments are not to precede the effective date on the Work-Study Service Channel Form.
- Graduate (GSR) work-study positions are to conduct research that the University would fund regardless of the availability of Federal Work-Study monies.
- Work-study monies cannot be used to pay students for writing a thesis/dissertation or for doing research that is only for the purpose of completing a graduate degree.
- Graduate work-study is awarded to the department at $5,016 per unit.
- It is University Policy to balance ledgers on a monthly basis.
- The total amount paid to the student is deducted from the work-study award (not just the 75% paid by work-study).
- Work-study pays for 75% of “actual” earnings, limited by award amount.
GSR work-study request instructions
The Work-Study Employment Request Form is used by UC Davis Employers to request the Work-Study Eligibility Form for graduate student researchers. You will receive an email confirmation after a request has been submitted to our office. On the form, you will provide:
- Student's name
- Student ID (not the Social Security number)
- Student's email
- Title code
- Quarter/unit information
- Other awards (including award amounts).
Process workflow
- The Department will submit a request for work-study for one or more students, including how many "work-study units" the student will be requesting each term (fall, winter, and spring), and any other awards, including Block Grant, TA, etc.
- The submission will create a work-study request form for each student, which will be routed to the work-study manager for review. If the student is eligible, the work-study award will be added to the student’s financial aid record. The form will then be routed back to the original submitter.
- The Department will need to send the Work-Study Employment Request Form (PDF), available to download from the work-study form, to their service channel for updating the student's UCPath record. The service channel staff will need to add the Position Pool ID (provided on the Form) to the student’s Position in UCPath.
- Once the form has been completed, an email will be sent to the student employee and the supervisor/employer letting them know of their work-study rights and responsibilities.
Additional Resources
GSR work-study process flow\ GSR FAQs for employers
GSR work-study workshop presentation
[### Mandatory GSR Time Record
Graduate student researchers are required to complete TWO time records: one for University payroll and one for work-study compliance.](https://financialaid.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk2561/files/media/documents/GSR%20Monthly%20Timesheet%20v3.pdf)