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5.00.00 Purpose
The Work Study Program is part of the Financial Aid package awarded to students. It is designed to match students who have a demonstrated financial need with part-time jobs on and off the campus. The Office of Financial Aid is responsible for tracking Work Study fund expenditures. The OSE advises the OFA in these situations with information concerning actual Work Study personnel costs, job availability, and other pertinent information, but does not have any awarding authority. Rather, students with questions about increasing their awards or special awards should contact the OFA.

The Office of Student Employment Guarantee

A Work Study Award is not a guarantee that students will earn the full amount. The OSE commits only to continued effort to obtain adequate hours for the students to earn their full award. It is the student’s responsibility to notify the OSE with regards to placement or when needing additional hours.

Students who have many extracurricular activities or have second jobs may not be able to earn their full award. The OSE will make every effort to work with irregular schedules. However, Work Study must be a priority in a student’s scheduling process if he or she hopes to work the full award.


5.05.00  Eligibility
Work Study is awarded by the Office of Financial Aid (OFA) based on financial need as determined by federal and institutional guidelines. To qualify for awarding, students must be enrolled in a bachelor’s program or the Master’s Institute program at the Santa Clarita campus. Professional Studies Program, Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling, or The Master’s Seminary units do not qualify. Students must also maintain a GPA of 2.0 or better.

Students who qualify for Work Study are awarded either an On-Campus or an Off-Campus award. Generally, if a student has transportation, they will be awarded Off-Campus Work Study. Students who are awarded Work Study are eligible to earn up to their Work Study award in a part-time job during the school year. With the few exceptions noted below, all student positions are filled by Work Study students during the school year.


5.10.00 Award Related Issues


5.10.05 Dropping or Reducing Work Study Awards
The OSE and the OFA reserve the right to retract without notice the Work Study Awards of any students who fail to begin work or make arrangements with the OSE before the end of each semester's Add/Drop period.

The OSE and the OFA reserve the right to lower the Work Study awards of any students who do not maintain satisfactory progress in working off their award. If a student does not make sufficient progress in earning their Fall semester's award, the OSE and the OFA reserve the right to either lower or remove that studenst Spring award. Students will be notified in writing prior to any such changes.

If students decide to reduce their work hours, they should also lower their award to match the expected earnings. Students who are unable to fulfill the requirements of their position due to limited work hours may be terminated. Therefore, the supervisor’s permission should be obtained prior to making any adjustments in work schedule. These adjustments should be made during the first three weeks of the semester.


5.10.10 Carryover of Work Study Between Semesters
Work Study Awarding is for the full school year. Award amounts remaining from the fall semester may be earned during the spring semester. However, students are encouraged to work a constant number of hours over the entire school year so that they do not fall behind. With proper planning, students should never have to work more than 20 hours per week to earn their full award.

Work Study awards remaining at the end of the spring semester are automatically forfeited. While positions are available over the summer, a Work Study student is not guaranteed a position during the summer months. Please see the section on Summer Employment for additional information.


5.10.15 Changing Work Study Awards
Switching from On-Campus to Off-Campus

Switching from On-Campus to Off-Campus is generally encouraged given the broader opportunities available. Students should only make the switch if they have reliable transportation and are willing to commit for the entire school year.

Switching from Off-Campus to On-Campus

Due to the limited number of jobs available on-campus, switches from the Off-Campus Program to the On-Campus Program must be kept to a minimum. Switching from Off-Campus to On-Campus will only be approved if a student is without transportation or if the student is required to meet specific departmental needs which cannot be met with current On-Campus Work Study Students. Meeting one of the above criteria does not entitle a student to being able to switch. Switches from Off to On are at the joint discretion of the OSE and OFA and are subject to budgetary considerations.


5.10.20 Concurrent Employment
It is possible that a student have more than one job at the same time. This is not always encouraged because of the added time and complexity of the scheduling, but will be worked through in cases of need. In the case that a student wishes to work in another job, he or she should first notify and get his or her supervisor’s permission. After acquiring permission, the student should notify the OSE and get the proper paperwork for the new job.


5.10.25 Retention of On-Campus Employees
While it is necessary to put those students with transportation in the Off-Campus program, it is not desirable that this hinder the effectiveness of our on-campus departments. Therefore, some exceptions will be made to allow students with cars to be awarded On-Campus Work Study. These exceptions will be limited to students who work in level III or IV jobs and who generally work in positions which require a large amount of training. In these instances, an unnecessary burden would be placed on the department if a student can not return because he has been awarded Off-Campus Work Study instead of On-Campus. Switches of this nature are at the joint discretion of the OSE and the OFA and are subject to budgetary considerations.


5.10.30 Payment for Work Study Employment
At the beginning of each semester, all Work Study employees will have 80% of their Work Study Award credited to their Student Account. During the remainder of the school year, Work Study Employees work to payoff the 80%, which has already been given to them. This 80% is referred to as “Work Study Due.” Once the Work Study Employee has worked 80% of both their fall and spring award, and if their Student Account is paid in full, they may begin receiving checks for the remainder of their award. The full award is often referred to as “Work Study Eligibility.”

If a Work Study Student has a zero or credit balance on their Student Account without 80% of the Work Study Award credited to their account, they may have the 80% credit removed from their Student Account, and be paid with checks.


5.15.00 Placement
The Office of Student Employment sponsors a Job Fair each Fall semester. This is the best opportunity for students to locate the Work Study job that they are looking for. It is also the best opportunity for departments and employers to locate qualified candidates for their positions. Representatives of hiring departments and local businesses interview prospective candidates for their positions and many students are hired right at the Job Fair.

If a student does not attend the Job Fair, is not able to find a position at the Job Fair, or enters the program in the spring semester, he or she will meet with a representative of the OSE and will be referred to departments or companies for interviews.


5.25.00 Exhausting Work Study Award
Students may work until they have earned their Work Study Award. Proper planning is necessary to insure that students will not run out of eligibility prior to the end of the school year. When a student approaches the end of their eligibility, they will be notified by the OSE and advised to contact their supervisor to arrange a final work day. Hopefully, through this notification process, supervisors will have time to transition the student out of their department or company smoothly. Off-Campus employers are encouraged to hire students onto their payroll after the student’s award is depleted.

In some instances, despite efforts by the department to control hours, a student whose services are irreplaceable will run out of eligibility prior to the end of the year. A student is considered irreplaceable if the experience, talent and/or time commitment necessary to perform the tasks required does not exist among available replacements. If the OSE believes that the department would be significantly burdened by losing the student, the OSE may look into the possibility of increasing the student’s Work Study award. Should the student have remaining need and with the approval of the OFA, the student’s Work Study award will be increased.

If the student does not have remaining need and the award can not be increased, the OSE may choose to pursue obtaining approval for a Non-Work Study exception (see 6.00.00 Key Positions Not Filled By WS Students) for that position. In this instance, the student would be moved to the cash payroll after completing his award. This can only take place with available departmental budget.


5.30.00 Transferring Between Jobs
In the case that a student finds that another job may be more suitable for his or her schedule and qualifications, a transfer may take place, although this is not always what is encouraged. The student should contact the Office of Student Employment before attempting to transfer jobs.


5.35.00 Scheduling
Scheduling is an essential step in the student employment process. Students should go to interviews prepared with the specific times they will be able to work. Proper planning is necessary for setting up a schedule that one can keep.

Occasionally the change in class schedule from fall to spring will cause a conflict. Whenever possible, one should schedule classes for the spring semester around the work schedule. However, when this is not possible, the student may be able to transfer to a new position.


5.40.00 Position Fulfillment
Sometimes an employee simply does not fit a position well. This could be due to lack of necessary skills. To force this faulty relationship to continue for the year has no benefit to the student or the department. However, any action taken must be a mutual decision and must have the approval of the OSE. Students who quit their job without the consent of their supervisor may jeopardize their remaining Work Study award. Also, departments who wish to terminate an employee without mutual consent must follow TMC’s disciplinary procedures.


5.45.00 Performance Management - Serving With Direction Forms
Serving with Direction is a formal evaluation tool that has been prepared as a vehicle to bring about the communication necessary for every department to run smoothly. Serving with Direction Forms are to be filled out at the beginning of the student’s term of employment. At that point, the employer establishes the performance objectives that adhere to the “SMART” acrostic. The manager should make sure that the established standards are:
  • S – Specific
  • M – Measurable
  • A – Attainable
  • R – Reasonable
  • T – Time Bound

About midyear, the manager and employee should informally discuss the employee’s progress. At this time, the manager and employee should update the objectives if necessary. At the end of the school year, or the end of the employee’s work study whichever comes first, the manager completes the ratings for each objective and competency. Then the employee and manager meet to discuss the performance review. Serving with Direction evaluations are required once every year for Work Study employees. Formal evaluations are optional for other student employees, but are highly encouraged.