Federal Work Study Program
Purpose
The purpose of the Federal Work Study Program (FWSP) is to provide undergraduate students part-time employment to meet their financial needs and give them work experience while attending college. Employment under the FWSP must be reasonably available to all eligible students; however, funds are limited. FWSP employment must, to the extent practicable, complement and reinforce the educational program of each student receiving assistance under the program.
Eligibility
Student eligibility is determined from data provided by the FAFSA completed by the student. Normally, eligible students who have indicated interest in receiving work study funds may be awarded when their financial aid is posted. CCSU tries to makes FWSP funding reasonably avaialble to a wide range of students, in some instances priority may be given to continuing students who are eligible and received FWSP funds the prior academic year.
The student must meet the following requirements for eligibility:
1. Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.
2. Have financial need as determined by the FAFSA.
3. Be matriculated at CCSU which means being admitted and enrolled in a degree program.
4. Enrolled at least 6 credit hours each semester.
5. Be in good academic standing with the University and with the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy.
Award Notification The FA work-study coordinator oversees the awarding of FWSP funds to eligible students. Generally, the funds are listed along with other financial aid awarded the student and may be accepted and signed in the student's Pipeline account at www.ccsu.edu. The student may also be notified by email and or letter.
Finding a Job
It is the student's responsibility to find an on-campus job in order to utilize their work study award. Most CCSU departments seeking student employees with work study eligibility post jobs available with the Center for Advising & Career Exploration located in Willard 100. The job listings are posted on their website, and updated weekly.
Because all departments do not post the positions available, students contact the various departments on campus and speak with the department's FWSP supervisor for an interview
Completing Employment Process
Once the student has been interviewed and offered an employment position by a department's student employment/ FWSP supervisor, the following steps must be taken:
1. Obtain a signed FWSP Award Certification form from the FA Office at Memorial Hall 103 and return it to the employer.
2. Complete any paperwork required by the department FWSP supervisor.
3. Complete and sign all forms and documents required by the Payroll Office located in Marcus White Annex 006.
Until all steps have been fulfilled, the student's employment is not completed.
A student may not work for more than one department at a time
Payroll & Hourly Wage FWSP students are paid according to the university's by-weekly payroll schedule. Checks are picked up by department personnel and distributed to students in the department. Students may also utilize direct deposit by applying at Payroll Services at Marcus White Annex 006. The student's hourly wage is determined by the departmental supervisor utilizing the Student Worker Pay Rate & Job Classification form. Every work-study job falls into a particular pay level depending upon the required skills and experience. The pay rate form also allows a department to reward and increase a student's salary each year the student returns to work for the same department. The State of Connecticut's minimum hourly wage is generally used as the base criteria for starting and subsequent hourly pay rates.
Monitoring Hours Worked & Earnings A student may not work more than 40 hours during a bi-weekly payroll period when classes are in session nor during the student's scheduled class periods. It is the student's responsibility to provide the employer with a copy of his or her official class schedule so that the department and student may determine a schedule. Once the student's awarded FWSP funds have been utilized, the student must be terminated. If the department chooses to rehire the student utilizing 100 percent of departmental funds, that may be initiated through Payroll Services.
