Staff & Student Workers
Staff
Program Assistants
The Program Assistant works with the Chair or Program Manager/Director to assist the faculty and students in their departments. Program assistants belong to the OPE union and they have set work schedules, typically from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. They often collaborate with Program Assistants in other departments, but are not obligated to assist any faculty that are not currently teaching in their department or any students that are not Majors, Minors, or students not enrolled in any of their department’s courses. For a list of what PAs can and cannot help you with, please see below. If you do not know the name or contact information of a department PA, please see the contact list below.
| Topic | Can | Cannot |
|---|---|---|
| Copy Requests | Assist with copy requests and copy machine issues | Copy exams and quizzes without more than 24 hours notice. This is to ensure exams/quizzes are ready in time for distribution in class |
| Academics |
Assist with editing PDFs; quickly proof-read documents Reserve a conference room for a student to make up a quiz/test Leave a change of grade form in a faculty member's box or send one via email (If it is the fastest option, the PA can turn in the filled out form to CASA.) Assign students to faculty advisors and answer general questions about courses/program requirements Assist all faculty teaching in the department |
Mix up exam/quiz questions for the purposes of preventing students from cheating Administer an exam/quiz in a classroom or conference room Assist with grading Fill out a change of grade form for a faculty member Be the only source of advising for students Assist faculty teaching a course for another department or program. If a department faculty member is teaching a course for another department, they should work with that department's PA on any matters regarding that course. |
| Concur Expense Reports | Answer any questions about Concur and walk a faculty through the process of filling out an expense report |
Work on or turn in a faculty member's expense report, including a faculty member’s FDF expenses Run budget queries on FDF awards |
| Faculty Absences |
Inform the dean's office of last minute absence Inform students of a faculty member's absence |
Set up a video in a class or substitute in a class due to a faculty member's absence |
| Meetings & Organizations |
Take meeting minutes at department meetings/retreats Reserve conference rooms for faculty meetings, staff meetings, or student organization meetings |
Be in charge of any honor society, club, or student organization that requires a faculty advisor. This includes running any meetings related to the above groups. |
| Course Scheduling |
Create intake form for schedule preferences (Google Doc Form) Assist with communication in regards to the scheduling of classes Ask faculty for schedule preferences Assist with proof-reading/editing the schedule |
Create semester/winter/summer schedules Turn in the schedule for the Chair/Director or turn in schedule changes on behalf of the chair/faculty member requesting changes |
| Budget & Expenses |
Can view and update the department budget Use department funds to purchase office supplies Use department funds to pay for food at faculty and student gatherings/events |
Oversee the entire department budget without the chair. The chair must have access and knowledge of budget Charge the department for food for faculty only gatherings/meetings |
| Events & Honorarium |
Reserve space for a meeting or an event Order catering at least 5 days before an event Put in parking permit requests for guest speakers Process honorarium checks for guest speakers |
Reserve rooms for events without knowing a proposed date, time, and estimated number of attendees Request parking permits without at least 3 days notice. Any last minute requests will cost the department $20 per permit. Process honorarium checks without a speaker's tax form (W9 for U.S. citizens/permanent residents; W8BEN for international guests) Process honorarium without 2 weeks notice if faculty want to hand deliver the check to the speaker at the time of the event. Ask the Dean and Vice Provost permission for high check amounts; Faculty members requesting the high amount must write to them directly for permission and send the PA the approvals once received. |
| Work Schedule |
Be reached 8:30am-5:00pm with the exception of a 1 hour lunch break (taken midday) and two 15 minute breaks, except when an alternate schedule is approved by supervisor Check email and take phone calls during the work day |
Skip the lunch hour; stay late/leave early without prior discussed arrangements Check email after hours or on weekend |
Download the Program Assistant Contact List
Dean's Office Staff
Dean's Office Staff Contact List
Students Workers, TA's and RA's
Depending on the needs of the department and the budget given for student salaries, your department may hire student assistants. It has been customary to advertise to majors and minors in your department to give them the opportunity for work experience, but students outside of the department should be considered as well. In order to hire student workers, you must first complete the USFWorks: Required Supervisory Review training. Contact stuemp@usfca.edu if you do not have access to the Canvas course. Review the Supervisors page from Student Employment for more info.
Student Assistant Hiring and Time Management is all done by the Program Assistant in USFWorks.
Tasks to give Student Assistants:
- Scanning books requested by professors
- Answering the phone
- Greeting visitors
- Creating and maintaining spreadsheets
- Proof-reading documents
- Creating/designing event flyers
The Chair/Director is entitled to make decisions regarding TA's for department or program faculty. Funding for TA's comes from the department or program's student budget, so decisions about how TA's are allocated should include a discussion with the faculty. Domestic TA's may work up to twenty-five (25) hours per week while classes are in session and thirty-five (35) hours per week during academic breaks, summer session, and winter intersession. International students (F-1 or J-1 visa) may work up to twenty (20) hours per week while classes are in session and thirty-five (35) hours per week during academic breaks, summer session, and winter intersession. All student employees (TA's) are limited to 7.5 hours per day.
A faculty member must evaluate the skills of the TAs. Based on this evaluation, TA's can assist with in-class exercises and discussions. If appropriate, TA's can grade exams questions that do not require subjective evaluation, such as multiple choice, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank. TA's should not grade essay questions, or any other work that requires subjective interpretation.
TA's may provide feedback to students during tutoring sessions. For instance, it is helpful to have the TA's go over the tests with the students, so students can better understand and improve their performance.
TA's may also schedule office hours and review sessions for exams.
Research Assistants are typically funded through Faculty Development Fund awards.
RA job and hiring plan description: Applications should include a brief description of the research assistant’s specific duties and the time frame for their completion; a list of and explanation of RA duties and qualifications; and explanation of plans for posting and advertising the job; a sample job posting including the required Equal Opportunity Statement. See the Student Employment Supervisors page for information on advertising student jobs. Although you can encourage particular students to apply, jobs must be publicly posted.
Graduate research assistants: If you are specifically requesting a graduate student assistant, you must include a rationale as to why undergraduates would not be suitable.
The limit on the number of hours funded is 300 per faculty member per academic year. Any request for an exception must include a clear justification.
The pay rate is $16.99 per hour for undergraduates and $17.99 per hour for graduate students. Please use these amounts in your budget. The FDF gnosis form will automatically add 12% to this amount to account for benefits. Faculty are encouraged to consider work-study students.
Students cannot work more than 7.5 hours per day and cannot work 7 consecutive days. Domestic students are limited to 25 hours per week during the Fall and Spring semesters, and 35 hours per week during Intersession and Summer terms. International students are limited to 20 hours per week during the Fall and Spring semesters, and 35 hours per week during Intersession and Summer terms. Overtime pay is not allowed for any student in any position.
Faculty supervisors are expected to closely monitor student hours and task completion to assure that research funds are being well used to complete the work for which they were awarded, and to sign off on time sheets. Program Assistants should not be doing these tasks in place of faculty members.
USF Payroll is no longer auto-approving timesheets. This means that hourly employees and students will not be paid if their managers do not approve their hours at the end of each pay period. If you have hired a Research Assistant, you are their manager and are responsible for approving timesheets. Payroll recommends that all managers set a calendar reminder to run the USFWorks "team time review" on the 15th and last day of the month to ensure that their direct reports have submitted their time, and again run the report on the 16th and 1st of each month to approve time entered. To do this: On your USFWorks home page, click the "Team Time" app, "Actions", "Review Time." If a delay in payment to the next pay period causes hardship to the employee, a special check request should be submitted to Gale Bettencourt (gbettencourt@usfca.edu), Director of Payroll Services, for approval by Dom Daher.
Applicants must check and report the amount of funding in their FDF accounts at the time of the application.
The mission of the University of San Francisco Care Referral Program is to support cura personalis, care for the whole person. As a staff or faculty member, you may encounter students who need your assistance for academic reasons; physical and mental health reasons; and/or other personal reasons. You may be the first contact and play an important role at USF in providing resources to support our students.
Care Referrals allow staff and faculty to inform the Office of the Dean of Students about students in need of support or assistance. These referrals are used to initiate collaborative action plans to assist the referred student.