Setting up a Research Assistant Appointment

Frequency : once a semester and summer, two months prior to the beginning of a new term

Data needed:

• NEED TO RENAME THIS “Appt Form to PIs” layout in Graduate Student Database (RA informational form in house)
• “Appointment Form” layout in Graduate Student Database (RA form sent to academic dept)
• RA (PhD? and MEng/Master’s) rates sheet, updated each term, semester or summer. Template Word document on AFS HQ/Personnel/Graduatestudent/RandomfolderofHRchoice.
• “New Student Information sheet” layout in Graduate student database, collected during fall orientation
• Fiscal projection for each PI

Process:

To set up a research assistant appointment for graduate students, MEng, Masters, PhDs? :

1. HR creates “Appt Form to PIs” to send to all PIs with graduate students. Semester sheets are a summary sheet of what graduate students each PI currently supervises regardless of funding, with room to add new students at the bottom of the page. Note: these sheets do not include CSAIL card access only students.
   • Semester sheets can be found under the “Appt Form to PIs” template in the Graduate Student database. Before updating the sheet, HR adds fields in database for new semester and shifts current semester data to the Grad History layout in three databases: CSAIL Main, Grad Student, and the Inactive database.
   • Each PI’s sheet is updated with the following information:
     • Name
     • Degree Level
     • Academic Department
     • Office
     • Phone
     • Prior two semester's RA, TA or Fellowship information
     • Last semester account number (if applicable: RAs or Fellowships with supplement
     • Blank space for RA, TA or fellowship information for the upcoming semester
     • Blank space for the next semester account number
     • Comments
     • Due date for sheet return to HQ (bolded in RED)
2. After the semester sheets have been created, they are distributed to each PI, along with a copy of the current RA rates sheet. If a PI has a support staff person, the form goes to the support staff as well as the PI. If the PI does not have support staff, or prefers email, a PDF of the appointment form is created and emailed to the PI. The RA rates sheet is placed in the body of the email. HR also generates a PDF copy of the semester sheet and saves it to the Personnel file on AFS for our records.
   • For summer 2009 we are attempting an email version of this process.
3. The PI (with the aid of support staff if he/she wishes) completes the semester sheet, providing HR with the student status for next semester (whether the student will be an RA, TA, Fellowship, Fellowship with supplement, or receiving No Support), and the account numbers or account name / nickname associated with each student.
   • Important additional information the PI places on the sheet:
     • Students that have graduated or are planning to graduate at the end of the next semester.
     • Students who have left without graduating, or are on-leave intending to return.
     • Any new students he/she may be funding. Note: This is the only way we find out about MEng students.
       1. There is an additional process each fall for new PhD? /Master’s students (not MEng)
          • Cross check with Area II New Admit Coordinators to make sure that each new admit has a PI assignment and faculty advisor
          • Send this information to fiscal to check the account numbers under which each student will be paid
          • Add the student to the database, listed as pending
     • Graduate students that have “no support”
       1. This requires a manual follow up by HR to the PI to determine why the student isn’t receiving support.
4. Once HR receives the form from the PI, they scan and save it on AFS. It is then given to the appropriate fiscal administrator for review and signature. On occasion, the PI goes directly to Fiscal with the form without stopping at HR. This is not a problem as long as both the PI and the Fiscal person sign off on it.
   • Fiscal checks that the account numbers given are correct. If the PI has put down an account name or nickname in lieu of the number, Fiscal provides the corresponding number.
   • Fiscal updates projections to reflect information on the form, and follows up with the PI if there are any financial concerns regarding the available funding. The PI and Fiscal work together to develop solutions for any problems.
5. When HR receives the signed and approved PI form from Fiscal, they enter the information into the Graduate Student database—this automatically updates the CSAIL database. HR then prints this information out as the “appointment form” that goes to the academic department. The form is located in the Graduate Student database under the “Appointment Form” layout. EECS asks for a hard copy version, but several other departments get emails in lieu of a hard copy.
   • Information to complete on form:
     • Name
     • ID #
     • Appointment type (full or partial RA)
     • Account number
     • Start and end date of appointment
     • Supervisor
6. Once the appointment forms are received by the academic department, their administrative staff obtains departmental approval(s) and records them into their local system, which precipitates a data feed into MITSIS (Webgradaid).
   • CSAIL HR receives a confirmation email saying that the RA appointment has been set up. They enter the date the confirmation is received and change the student status from “pending” to “approved” in the graduate student database. They then save a copy of the email as a PDF in the student’s file on AFS.
     • A confirmation email is also received if a current RA’s appointment is changed or terminated throughout the semester. An RA must be already appointed to be changed or terminated.
   • Approximately two weeks prior to the payroll cutoff of the new term, a database report is run to cross reference RA appointments that have been submitted to the academic departments but still have pending status in the CSAIL Grad student database. This information is shared with the academic department to find out why.
     • The two most common reasons an appointment may not go through:
       1. The student did not get the expected TA/Fellowship.
       2. Academic issues
          • Academic hold
          • Incomplete paperwork (I-9, etc)

Other types of appointments:

1. TAs and Fellowships are set up through academic departments. CSAIL HR is alerted to their existence by the PI unknown name form.
   • HR checks MITSIS (Webgradaid) once a week to ensure that the students expected to be on TA/fellowship are set up in the system. If the payroll cutoff is approaching and the appointment has not shown up, HR contacts the department to find out why the appointment has not gone through.
     • The two most common reasons an appointment may not go through:
       1. The student did not get the expected TA/Fellowship
          • We find out when the student doesn’t get paid, CSAIL HR looks into it
       2. Academic issues
          • Academic hold
          • Incomplete paperwork (I-9, etc)
2. HR does periodic check-ups through the semester for those on academic hold, TAs who have not been set up, and any pending students in the CSAIL database. The entire process is then repeated the following semester or term.

Important notes:

• PhD? /Masters admitted into Area II EECS must be funded
• MEng Students can work with a PI and not get funded, but must still be tracked
• Graduate Students working with a PI, but funded from money outside of CSAIL are recorded, but not tracked as closely as students paid by CSAIL funds.

-- Main.rptraughber - 24 Jul 2009

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