Hiring - Graduate Assistant - Start Here

If you need to hire a graduate assistant (Graduate Student or Program Assistant) follow these instructions. They provide step-by-step guidance for hiring through the Student Jobs Platform. All Extension graduate assistants must be hired using this platform. The hiring platform itself is robust in its functionality, but not all of it needs to be utilized for every hire. These articles call out pieces that Extension will use as well as Extension-specific requirements.

Background

All graduate assistant positions must be hired through the Student Jobs Portal.
The Student Jobs Portal is a hiring workflow that is managed and maintained by the Student Employment Office at UW-Madison.
Graduate assistant jobs are managed by Extension's Divisional Human Resources at the Office of Human Resources (OHR) in the Administrative Services Unit (ASU).
ASU OHR will only accept requests to hire students that are submitted through the Student Jobs Portal.

Determine Funding Before you Begin

Complete these instructions BEFORE you begin.

Contact your supervisor. This will likely be an Institute Director, Assistant Dean, Area Extension Director, or Operations Director. Make sure to work with them to verify which funding will be used to pay for the graduate assistant.
Contact your financial manager for the correct funding string(s). Send a short justification, including who is paying for the position(s) and where the funding will come from (from step #1). You will insert the funding codes provided by the Office of Financial Services (OFS) into the position details section of the offer card.
Review updates to the student hiring process due to COVID-19 including requirements for working on site and the COVID-19 Workplace Safety Policy. Be sure to review the Student Jobs website for the most up-to-date information.

Review Titling Considerations

Review Hiring - Graduate Assistant - Considerations to verify that you should not be hiring a Student Hourly (SH).

Review Graduate Assistant Policies

If you are thinking about hiring a Graduate Assistant (Student Assistant),make sure to review and familiarize yourself with UW-Madison policy requirements.

Instructions to Hire a Graduate Assistant

Follow steps 1-4 in order.
The steps in this process are Extension-specific and supplement the materials owned and maintained by the Student Employment Office. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the overall process using the Student Jobs Platform Tutorials.
Hiring Managers can also review Designing a Student Hiring Process - this is a toolkit that is intended to assist hiring managers and supervisors in facilitating an equitable student hiring process in their departments. They offer a step-wise approach to hiring, including best practices in key areas of student review and interview processes.