Unit 11 Hiring Process

Steps for Hiring

• Step 1: Determine if position meets background check criteria

  A background check is required if any of the following conditions* exist:

  • The student is a TA who is also an instructor of record for a course.
  • The student is working with Level 1 data(opens in new window). Examples of Level 1 Confidential information include, but are not limited to:
    • Passwords or credentials
    • PINs (Personal Identification Numbers)
    • Name with birth date combined with last four of SSN
    • Name with credit card number
    • Name with Tax ID
    • Name with driver’s license number, state identification card, and other forms of national or international identification
    • Name with Social Security number
    • Medical records related to an individual
    • Psychological Counseling records related to an individual
    • Name with bank account or debit card information
  • Direct contact with minor children. (This may require Live Scan). If required see link below for further instructions.

  *The list of tasks is illustrative and is not exhaustive.

  If the position meets the above criteria, the job announcement shall include a statement indicating that candidates are subject to a background check. (See next step for detailed information.)
  

  A background check may also be required of current student employees, not just new. Current student positions must be evaluated by the department to determine if background check criteria are met by the position. If so, the student employee should be submitted into background.

  These practices comply with CSU’s ICSUAM 8065.S02 Information Security Data Classification Standard (PDF) page 64, Chico State’s Information Security Policies and Standards(opens in new window), Chico State's background check procedures, and HR 2017-17(opens in new window) (for the comprehensive CSU systemwide Background Check policy).

• Step 2: Post student position in Handshake

  Using Handshake(opens in new window) to advertise for all state-funded and work study Unit 11 position openings on campus:

  • Allows all eligible students the opportunity to apply for campus positions.
  • Allows the departments to reach a more diverse audience and advertise more widely and consistently.
  • Helps to ensure that the student is enrolled.
  • Provides for a consistent location for the student employee position description, a document that needs to be available for CSU Chancellor’s Office reports.
  • Supports the campus’ ongoing initiative to foster institutional change by cultivating a culturally inclusive environment where diversity of thought and expression are valued.

  How to post:

  • Refer to the Academic Student Employee Handshake Template and Samples(opens in new window) for best practices on creating a Handshake posting. 
  • View the Academic Student Employees - Unit 11(opens in new window) page for more information. At the bottom of this page is a table of salary ranges for Unit 11 positions.
    
    • Be sure to include a range ($x - $xx) to best meet SB1162(opens in new window), the California pay transparency law.
  • Keep in mind the Academic Appointment form will request the Handshake number and will require a Unit 11 Description of Duties (PDF).
  • Be sure to note in the posting if Accurate Background or Live Scan are required for the position.

  Each position also has a specific job application to fill out before they are hired

  • ISA Application for Employment (PDF)
  • GA Application for Employment (PDF)
  • TA Application for Employment (PDF)
• Step 3: Screen applicants, conduct interviews, and check references

  Contact the Chico State Career Center & Student Employment (opens in new window) or Employment Services(opens in new window) for guidance and templates about screening applicants and conducting interviews and reference checks.

  • Screen applicants based on your job application requirements.
  • Verify that the student is enrolled at least part-time. If using Work Study funds, check for Work Study award and unmet need.
  • Interview candidates. Student Employment can assist with reviewing interview questions, samples, what are legal and illegal interview questions, and provide advice on conducting the interview.
  • Choose the best applicant(s)—and one backup should the top candidate not get employed by your department. If the student is being hired as an ISA, ensure the student meets the ISA classification and qualification standards (PDF). If the student is being hired as a TA or GA, ensure the student meets GA & TA eligibility(opens in new window) as well as the classification and qualification standards for both TAs (PDF) and GAs (PDF).

  It is strongly recommended students not selected for interview or hire are notified of the position closing/being filled. You can choose to send emails to the students not hired, such as:

  • Thank you for your application. After careful consideration we are moving forward with other candidates whose qualifications more closely align with the role.
  • After careful consideration we regret to inform you that we will not be moving you forward in this interview process. We’d like to thank you for talking with our team and giving us the opportunity to learn about your skills and accomplishments.

  Records Retention Information

  • Recruitment documents are to be kept for a minimum of 4 years after the records are created/received, or 4 years from the date of the hiring decision.
  • Records/Information Retention and Disposition Schedule(opens in new window)
    • Subject Matter 1.0 Personnel/Payroll (PDF), refer to Records Identifier sections 1.2 and 1.3 (Personnel Files for Separated Employees

  Note: If a background check is not required for the position, skip Steps 4 and 5 and continue with Step 6.
• Step 4: Extend contingent job offer:

  Note: If a background check is not required for the position, skip Steps 4 and 5 and continue with Step 6.

  If the position requires a background check, extend a job offer contingent on successfully clearing a background check. The student should accept this offer before moving forward in the hiring process. 

• Step 5: Submit the candidate for a background check
  How to submit a candidate for a background check via Accurate Background:

  1. Submit an email request to lmwerth@csuchico.edu to request a background check.
     • Be sure to include
       • the full name of the student
       • their emplID number (same as their student ID number)
       • their email
       • their role
       • the department
       • the start date
  2. Faculty Affairs and Success processes the request and submits the candidate to Accurate Background.
  3. Notify the student to look for an email from Accurate Background requesting information that they will need to submit to the program (or Live Scan if required by law).
  4. When results are received, Faculty Affairs and Success clears the candidate, and notifies the department via email.

  Fingerprinting is required for Chico State counselors, and all individuals (new hires, current employees, volunteers, consultants, employees of auxiliaries, outside entities and independent contractors) who perform work involving regular or direct contact with minor children, including at CSU-hosted recreational programs (e.g. youth activities). Fingerprinting is also required for positions in which background checks are required by law.) If you believe your new hire requires LiveScan fingerprinting please contact lmwerth@csuchico.edu.
  
• Step 6: Offer the position

  Note: If a background check was necessary, ensure the candidate cleared the background before officially offering the position to them.

  Notify the student through your preferred method of communication that they are the successful candidate.

• Step 7: Update closed Handshake # with incumbent name

  Login to Handshake and enter the name(s) of the student(s) hired into the position.

  Applicant names and position open and close dates are necessary for Student Employment reports provided to the CSU Chancellor’s office.

  • When logged into Handshake, at the top right corner of the screen, click on "Applicants."
  • Find the name of the applicant whom you would like to hire. From the "Status" drop-down menu to the right of the applicant name, choose "Hired."
    • IMPORTANT: Students marked Hired will receive a notification that they were selected for the job. Students marked Declined will not receive a notification, but will be able to check their status on their Handshake account and see that they were declined. We always recommend emailing declined applicants (after the Hired student has accepted the role!) to thank them for their interest and participation.

  If the position is not already closed, enter the appropriate “Expiration Date” and “Employment Start Date” for the posting.

• Step 8: Candidate completes Employment paperwork

  Send an email to HumanResources@csuchico.edu with the student’s Chico State ID, first and last name, and their contact email address. Employment Services will check the student’s status in PeopleSoft and contact them directly if employment paperwork, such as the EAR packet, is required. If no employment paperwork is required, an Employment Services representative will inform you the student is authorized to work and to submit an AAF.

  This works to ensure compliance with legal mandates, including I-9 requirements (federal). This must be completed prior to the student starting work.

  • The I-9 documents are required for hire. Without the I-9, the AAF will not be processed and the student employee is not authorized to work.
  • Completion of Employment Paperwork will allow the AAF to be processed when submitted.
  • HRSC will ensure on your behalf that the student meets legal mandates for employment.

  Typically, a new employee needs to bring I-9 required documents. The most common are a passport or photo ID and social security card. A complete list of acceptable documents to verify an I-9 can be found here.(opens in new window)

• Step 9: Prepare the Academic Appointment form

  Prepare the position appropriate Academic Appointment Form (routed through Adobe Sign(opens in new window)) and Description of Duties (PDF) to communicate appointment and pay information about the academic student employee. Follow the ISA Appointment Documentation(opens in new window) (available to ISA preparers) or TA and GA Appointments Documentation(opens in new window) (available to TA and GA Contract Preparers) as well as guides and videos for uploading appointment forms in Adobe Sign(opens in new window).  The Academic Appointment Form (AAF) will also ask you to include your Handshake #.

  • As a Student Time and Labor Approver, you can update the student employee "Reports To" field. A Student Employee Reports To Maintainer Guide(opens in new window) provides directions for updating this information. Please contact Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) by email or phone, 530-898-4947, with questions.
  • Departments appoint into positions as they are needed, rather than into multiple positions that may be needed in the future.
  • Payroll will run reports that monitor student records which have not received pay within the last 3 months. Payroll is defining this process and will be working with departments to clean up records that are not being used.

  If using Work Study funding...

  It is advised to check a student's work study award monthly, because it can change. For more information about this process, or access to work study funding screens and guidance contact the Financial Aid & Scholarship Office(opens in new window).

• Step 10: Online Training
  Compliance Training

  All CSU, Chico employees—including student employees—are required to complete training as required by law, CSU, or campus policies. Most of these trainings are web-based and can be completed at an employee’s workstation through CSU Learn. Employees will be automatically enrolled in on-line trainings during their first month of employment. Go to the Compliance Training(opens in new window) web site to see a list of compliance trainings. Employees should be given work time to complete compliance training and assigned professional development. The employee is responsible for completing the training as long they are an active employee in PeopleSoft.

  Lead/Manager Responsibility

  Supervisors must ensure that their employees, including ALL students employed through the university, complete compliance training(opens in new window) within the first 30 days of employment. It is your responsibility to schedule paid work time—approximately 4+ hours—for the student employee to complete online compliance training.

  Online Professional Development Courses

  Student employees have access to online professional development courses through CSU Learn.

  • All state employees, student or not, have access to online professional development.

  Note: The Reports To position (in PeopleSoft-HR) will receive notices if the employee doesn't complete required training. If a change in the Reports To field is desired, please review the Student Employee Reports To Maintainer Guide(opens in new window). Contact Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) by email or phone, 530-898-4947, with questions.
  
• Separation

  Student employees are to be inactivated when they are no longer working for a department.

  This is important to maintain for the following reasons:

  • Keeps data in PeopleSoft “clean” and accurate
  • PeopleSoft employee status is being used by third party systems and notifications
  • Reduces the risk to campus and departments from unauthorized data access and potential security breaches and data misuse
  • Automatically inactivates in the campus training system so the student will stop receiving employee training notices
  • Avoids unnecessary employment history in the system that departments must wade through when looking for accurate information
  • Hiring department uses the Separation Procedures for Unit 3 and Unit 11 Employees(opens in new window) to notify Payroll that the student’s employment has ended
  • Payroll monitors student records for lack of pay
• Who completes which steps?

  Area, department, and college processes can vary and typically depend on whether the areas have decentralized or centralized functions related to the student employee hiring process. Below are examples of who completes each step.

  De-Centralized

  For areas that are highly decentralized, one or two people may complete all the steps.

  Centralized

  For larger areas that have centralized certain functions, such as budgeting, or student payroll, the steps may be completed by the following:

  • A lead/manager writes the initial job posting and decides if the position meets any of the background check criteria in step 1.
  • Administrative support completes steps 2-3 [Handshake Posting and application receipts] to ensure consistency in, and tracking of, Handshake postings.
    • This person also passes on (or prints) the applicant information for screening to the lead/manager.
  • The lead/manager completes step 3 [screening, interviewing, and selecting candidates].
  • Administrative support facilitates steps 4-10, guiding the student through employment and payroll processes. (Except for step 6 when the lead/manager communicates the job offer to the student, after the background check has been cleared, if applicable).
    
    • Administrative support:
      
      • Ensures the student meets enrollment criteria and work study potential.
      • Ensures the student walks over to HR with completed EAR and to complete appropriate I-9 documents.
      • Receives confirmation from HR that the student can work.
      • Emails the lead/manager to confirm student can start work
      • Prepares student timesheet template and provides to student when hiring an ISA.
  • The lead/manager communicates the first day of work and the work schedule.
  • The lead/manager ensures the student employee completes training [step 10].
  • The lead/manager communicates when the student's employment ends to the administrative staff.
  • The administrative staff follows the Separation Procedures for Unit 3 and Unit 11 Employees(opens in new window) to separate the employee.