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Off-Campus Employment Under Federal Work-Study
See also:
A student may be employed off campus under the Federal
Work-Study Program by a federal, state, or local public agency, or by
a private nonprofit organization. Work is not permitted for the U.S. Department
of Education, the Congress and its committees, or for individual elected
officials at any level of government. The work must be performed "in
the public interest" - that is, for the national or community welfare,
rather than for a particular interest or group.
Local public agencies include city or county governmental offices,
public schools, community-owned hospitals, public libraries, and community
centers. A private
nonprofit organization is one in which no part of the net earnings of the
agency may benefit any private shareholder or individual. Organizations recognized
as nonprofit under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code qualify
for
Work-Study eligibility. Examples of private nonprofit organizations include
colleges and universities, hospitals, day care centers, halfway houses, crisis
centers, and summer camps. Work for sectarian organizations is permitted,
but the work must be in the public interest and cannot in any way support sectarian
ends.
Work is not "in the public interest" if:
- it primarily benefits the
members of an organization that has membership limits, such as a credit union,
a fraternal or religious order, or a cooperative;
- it involves any partisan or nonpartisan political activity or is associated
with a faction in an election for public or party office;
- it is work for an elected official, unless the official is responsible for
the regular administration of federal, state, or local government;
- it is work as a political aide for any elected official;
- a student's political support or party affiliation is taken into
account in hiring him or her; or
- it involves lobbying on the federal, state, or local level.
In
deciding whether work is in the public interest, the College must consider
the nature of the work as well as the organization. For example, a student
may be employed by a private nonprofit civic club if the student's work is
for the club's community drive to aid disabled children. If the student's work
is confined to the internal interests of the club, such as a campaign for membership,
the work would benefit a particular group and would not be in the public interest.
As another example, a student may work for a private nonprofit membership organization,
such as a golf club or swimming pool, if the general public may use the organization's
facilities on the same basis as its members. If only members may use the facilities,
such employment is not in the public interest.
Political activity, whether partisan or nonpartisan, does not qualify as work
in the public interest. For example, students could not work at voting polls
-- even if they only checked off the names of those who came to vote and did
not pass out flyers supporting a particular candidate. Also, students could
not work to support an independent candidate. Another example of nonpartisan
political activity would be work for a city department that might be sponsoring
political debates.
Working for an elected official as a political aide also does not qualify as
work in the public interest. For example, a student could not represent a member
of Congress on a committee. However, a student could be assigned to the staff
of a standing committee of a legislative body or could work on a special committee,
as long as the student would be selected on a nonpartisan basis and the work
performed would be nonpartisan.
Under certain circumstances work for an elected official responsible for the
regular administration of federal, state, or local government may be considered
to be in the public interest. "Regular administration" means that
the official is directly responsible for administering a particular function.
Such a person would not create, abolish, or fund any programs, but would run
them. Working for a sheriff would be acceptable, as would working for an elected
judge (because he or she has direct responsibility for the judicial system).
As stated above, any political activity would not be acceptable — raising
funds for the official's re-election, for example. A Work-Study position that
involves lobbying at the federal, state, or local level is not work in the
public interest.
Work-Study students are prohibited from working for the U.S. Department of
Education because of the potential appearance of conflict of interest.
When
the College enters into a written agreement, or contract, with any off-campus
agency that employs Work-Study students, it must make sure the organization
is a reliable agency with professional direction and staff, and that the
work to be performed is adequately supervised and consistent with the purpose
of
the Federal Work-Study Program. The off-campus agency must be able to provide
required matching funds (10 percent of the student's salary plus the employer's
portion of social security taxes and worker's compensation insurance). The
total matching amount is equal to 19.65 percent of the student's earnings.
To
be employed in an off-campus Work-Study position, a student must:
- Fulfill
the payroll responsibilities, as outlined in the Student Employment section
of this Web site.
- Meet the employer's expectations, as outlined in the Student
Employment section
of this Web site.
- Complete a Federal
Work-Study Program Off-Campus Application
(click to download a PDF of the form, or pick up a form in the Office
of Financial Aid). After this form has been submitted, the Office
of Financial Aid must confirm that the agency is eligible under Federal
Work-Study rules.
Once this has been done, the student may begin work but cannot be paid
until all the paperwork has been completed, including execution of a contract
signed
by the responsible staff member of the agency and returned to the College.
When
all paperwork has been completed, the student will be sent a notice with
a supply of timesheets. The timesheets must be completed by the student and
signed by the supervisor, attesting to the hours worked and the satisfactory
performance of that work. Timesheets must be submitted to the Comptroller's
Office in accordance with the schedule printed on the back of the forms.
Sometimes funds may be available from College sources to pay the matching
requirement for an eligible agency. For example, money from a Johnson Fellowship
or the
Class of '54 Commitment to Teaching Fellowship may be used for these purposes.
By using fellowhip money to match Federal Work-Study funds, students may
earn as much as about five times the amount of their fellowships. Matching
funds
may also be available through the College's Community Outreach Program.
Eligible students who have been awarded a fellowship or who are designated
by the Community Outreach Office should follow the same application procedures
as outlined above. The contract executed in such instances will not require
the agency to provide matching funds. Instead, these will be be drawn from
the appropriate Collge resources.
To inquire about these possibilities, students should contact the Office
of Financial Aid.
A student may be employed under Work-Study during a period of non-enrollment,
such as summer vacation. To be eligible for employment the student must be
planning to enroll (or re-enroll) for the next regular semester. The student's
earnings during this period of non-enrollment (earnings minus taxes and job-related
expenses) must be used to help pay his or her cost of attendance for the
next period of enrollment.
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Off-Campus Employment