Graduate Assistant Process for Supervisors

Requesting positions and reviewing applications

The process to hire a graduate assistant begins in mid-march for full year GA positions beginning in the Fall term. Any department or office seeking to hire a graduate assistant should communication with their department chair/director and will need to follow the procedures outlined below.

1. For new positions: submit an Announcement of Vacancy form. (This document will be used to create the job posting)
2. To repost a current position: review your most recent Announcement of Vacancy at the link forwarded by the Graduate Admissions Office. For any desired edits or changes, submit a new Announcement of Vacancy form or email [email protected]
3. Submit a GA Request form – complete with all signatures and account numbers – to Graduate Admissions (106 Miller Building or [email protected]).
4. Once the GA Request form and Announcement of Vacancy have been processed by the Graduate Admissions Office, the position will be posted to https://www2.cortland.edu/admissions/graduate/assistantships.dot and made available on the GA application.
5. Supervisors should review the document titled “Reviewing GA applicants in Slate” for instructions on logging into the application platform – Slate – to review applications and make hiring recommendations. Any individual requiring access to review applications and make hiring recommendations should be indicated as “supervisor/hiring manager” on the GA Request Form.
6. Once application review is complete and the GA review form has been submitted, Graduate Admissions will send an offer letter via email to the recommended student, cc’ing the supervisor/hiring manager. This email will also contain the GA Agreement Form, which needs to be completed by the applicant and department/school before being returned to the Graduate Admissions Office.
7. The GA Agreement form will be forwarded to the Human Resources Office, at which point employee onboarding begins. (The Graduate Assistant will not be moved forward in the hiring process, nor will their tuition waiver be applied until their completed GA Agreement has been received).

Employee Onboarding: Human Resources

When a Graduate Assistant is first hired, several items must be completed. To support this process and provide a smooth onboarding experience, the Human Resources Office uses an automated system called “Employee Records (PowerSchool)” to share required employment policies and important information with new employees. GAs will receive access to this system and will be assigned several onboarding tasks that must be reviewed and completed in a timely manner.

Supervisors are encouraged to remind their GAs to access the system and complete all assigned tasks once they are available. GAs will receive an email with instructions on how to access the system and complete their onboarding tasks. (The email sender is “PowerSchool”)

In addition to the online onboarding requirements, Graduate Assistants must also complete the following in-person steps:

• Graduate Assistants must visit the Human Resources Office to complete Form I-9: Employment Eligibility Verification and the New York State Oath of Office form, if these have not already been completed.

A list of acceptable documents required for the Form I-9 can be found at:
https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents

Employee Onboarding: Payroll Office

• Graduate Assistants must also visit the Payroll Office to set up direct deposit.
• Graduate Assistants are required to complete all trainings mandated for employees. Supervisors should ensure that any assigned trainings are completed in a timely manner.
• If Graduate Assistants are unsure whether any of these steps are still outstanding, they should contact Human Resources at [email protected] for clarification.

If assistance is needed, or there are any issues accessing the Employee Records onboarding system, Human Resources can be reached at 607-753-2302.

Supervisors play an important role in helping ensure that Graduate Assistants complete these onboarding requirements promptly so that their employment and payroll can be processed without delay.

Additional information

• The graduate assistant dates of obligation will align with SUNY Cortland’s Official Term Dates unless otherwise noted on the GA agreement
• Supervisors should familiarize themselves with the Policy for Graduate Assistants and meet with graduate assistants to establish appropriate attendance and performance expectations.
• Any change to the graduate assistant position should be communicated to the Graduate Admissions Office as well as Human Resources (ie: resignation)
• Concerns about graduate assistant performance should be directed to the Human Resources Office.
• Graduate Assistants hired for the full academic year will be required to provide a new GA Agreement form for each semester of employment (Fall GA Agreement and Spring GA Agreement)
• A student may serve as a graduate assistant a maximum of 4 semesters, per SUNY policy.
• Offices/departments interested in rehiring their current graduate assistant must be mindful of the stipulation above, and must submit a new GA Request and post an Announcement of Vacancy each year.

Contact the Graduate Admissions Office with any additional questions at 607-753-4800.