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The Student Employment Program is an Education City-wide program developed and administered primarily by Qatar Foundation. Four of the six branch campuses participate in the SEP and work with Qatar Foundation to provide meaningful educational experiences to students through campus employment positions .
Supervisors and Students : This manual is part “how-to guide” and part policies and procedures. Please read it in its entirety as it contains important information specifically related to student employment on the Carnegie
Mellon Qatar campus. Qatar Foundation has its own student employment manual, which must be read in addition to this one. Please note that students and supervisors will be responsible for reading and abiding by the policies and procedures contained in both manuals.
The first part of this manual details the student employment policies and procedures as a whole. The second part details the specific Academic Resource Center policies and procedures for faculty serving as current or future supervisors of Teaching Assistants, and for students who are or will be working as Teaching Assistants.
CMUQ student employees fall into two categories: those who work through the Academic Resource Center as
Teaching Assistants (TAs) and Peer Tutors (PTs), and those who work in non-TA, non-PT staff positions, such as Library Assistants, Web Developers, and IT Assistants.
The ARC coordinates with all faculty and students regarding TAs and PTs, and manages all TA and PT positions by obtaining course lists for each semester, determining student eligibility, distributing and collecting
TA & PT job descriptions, communicating updates to faculty and students, and fielding questions and concerns from faculty and students regarding TA and PT positions. The ARC then communicates to the Office of
Professional Development all of the information and materials pertaining to TA and PT student employment.
The Office of Professional Development serves as the official CMUQ coordinating office for the Qatar
Foundation Student Employment Program by directly administering all of the non-TA, non-PT staff positions, and by facilitating the TA and PT employment process between the ARC and Qatar Foundation.
There are four CMUQ staff members who assist with student employment on the CMUQ campus:
Jeff Davis , Student Development Coordinator for Professional Development
JeffD@qatar.cmu.edu
, 4454-8529, Office 1099
Khadra Dualeh , Director of Professional Development
Kdualeh@qatar.cmu.edu
, 4454-8523, Office 1100
Dale Winter , Director of the Academic Resource Center
Amanita@andrew.cmu.edu
, 4454-8676, Office 2188
Hope Rodefer , ESL Specialist
Rodefer@qatar.cmu.edu
, 4454-8542, Office 1049-C
There are two Qatar Foundation staff members who administer, regulate, and oversee the student employment program for all of Education City, from managing the online Tech4Work system and granting access to timesheets; approving jobs, hours, and pay rates; to distributing student payments and resolving payment issues.
CMUQ staff work closely with the Qatar Foundation staff:
Abdulla Al Binali , Career Services & Student Employment Coordinator, Qatar Foundation:
Aalbinali@qf.org.qa
, +974 454 0399
Reem Al Abduljabbar , Business Operations Coordinator, Qatar Foundation:
Ralabduljabbar@qf.org.qa
, +974 4454038
*This manual will indicate which office and/or person(s) supervisors and students should contact in order to
request information or address any issues or concerns that may arise.
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ET T IN G ST ART E D
…
www.Tech4Work.com
.
1.
All students and supervisors who intend to participate in the Student Employment Program must create an account in QF’s online system, Tech4Work. a.
Often a student (also known as “Employee” and “Candidate” in Tech4Work) will accidentally try to register as a supervisor (also know as “Employer” and “Client” in Tech4Work), and supervisors will accidentally register as students. It is easy to make this mistake because the signin/registration page online can be confusing; however, it is important to ensure the page you are looking at indicates you are signing in or registering as an “Employee” or “Candidate,” if you are a student, or as “Employer” or “Client” if you are a supervisor. b.
Whether you are a student or a supervisor, you will know that you have successfully created an account in Tech4Work when (1) you receive a confirmation email from Tech4Work instructing you to follow the web link provided in that email, and (2) when you follow that provided link. i.
If you do not receive a confirmation email, this means that the system did not successfully register you. ii.
Unfortunately, Tech4Work is not a perfectly operating software system. If you do not receive a confirmation email, QF advises that you try using another email address, and/or another username, and/or another password until you receive the confirmation email. iii.
If you continue to have technical problems trying to create an account in Tech4Work, please contact Abdulla Al Binali, Career Services & Student Employment
Coordinator, Qatar Foundation: Aalbinali@qf.org.qa
, +974 454 0399.
c.
Students must have a bank account in order to work as a student employee. They must set up their bank accounts on their own and in their own name. All payments are made through direct deposit: students will not be paid if they do not have a bank account. Students must make absolutely certain that the bank account information they enter in Tech4Work is complete and accurate. The bank information students enter into Tech4Work must match the same information contained in their bank documents, and must match the information that QF has on file for the student. Details to keep in mind when entering bank account information in Tech4Work: i.
Enter full, correctly spelled name. Are there any variations in your first, middle, and last names? Did you enter your name in Tech4Work exactly how it is written on documents from your bank? ii.
Enter your complete and correct bank account number. Your bank account number is not the same number that is on the debit or credit cards you receive from your bank. iii.
If the bank account information you enter in Tech4Work does not match the information that your bank has on file for you, you will not receive your student employment payment. iv.
If you have any questions or doubts about your bank account information, please communicate directly with your bank and with:
Reem Al Abduljabbar, Business Operations Coordinator Qatar Foundation:
Ralabduljabbar@qf.org.qa
, +974 4454038
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( For Teaching Assistant and Peer Tutor positions, please also refer to the ARC’s specific policy and procedures in the second part of this manual )
1.
The Office of Professional Development will email job description forms, formatted in Microsoft Word, to supervisors on the 15 th of the month prior to the last month of the semester. For fall positions, these forms will be emailed to supervisors by July 15 th
; for spring, by November 15 th
; for summer, by April
15 th
.
2.
Supervisors must complete the job description form in its entirety and email it back to
JeffD@qatar.cmu.edu
no later than the 1 st
of the month following the month the forms were sent out.
For fall, the forms will be due by August 1st; for spring, December 1 st
; for summer, May 1 st
. All TA supervisors must refer the ARC policies in the second half of this manual.
3.
These job descriptions will then be inputted by the Office of Professional Development into
Tech4Work. Before the job is posted, before it can be advertised, and before a student can begin working in the position, QF must approve the job: it will not be available for students to apply until it has been approved by QF. Once approved, the Office of Professional Development will notify the supervisor of the approval.

Some supervisors decide well in advance who they want as their student employee(s) for the next semester; they inform the student(s) and the student(s) agree(s). This is common and perfectly fine. However:

The supervisor must notify JeffD@qatar.cmu.edu
of the student selected to fill a future position. If it is later determined that the selected student is unable to fill the position, or if the supervisor decides to select another student instead, the supervisor must also inform the Office of Professional Development at JeffD@qatar.cmu.edu
.

The pre-hired student is not allowed to begin working until the supervisor has been notified by the Office of Professional Development that QF has approved the position.

The student must still create an account in Tech4Work and apply online, even if it has been pre-determined by the supervisor that a particular student has been hired for a position.

Please bear in mind that QF determines the number of positions per job, the number of hours the student(s) can work, and the pay rate for each job. The amount of student support QF grants to a position is greatly influenced by the nature of the duties and responsibilities as explained by supervisors in the job descriptions. QF sees student employment as an educational experience rather than simply as assistance for a supervisor and monetary gain for a student. Thus, the greater the educational experience, the greater the value of the position.

Pay rates generally range from 25-35 QR/hour.
 For all issues concerning the number of positions, number of hours, and the pay rate for a job, please contact Abdulla Al Binali: Aalbinali@qf.org.qa
, +974 454 0399.

According to QF policy, it may take up to 5 days for a job to be approved from the day the job description was submitted online.
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 If the supervisor submits the job description to the Office of Professional Development after the stated deadline (e.g., May 1 st
for a summer position), this means that QF receives it after the deadline and you risk not having your job approved. If it is approved, it may not be until weeks into the semester. Regardless, the student cannot start working until the supervisor has been notified that the position has been approved.
( For Teaching Assistant and Peer Tutor positions, please also refer to the ARC’s specific policy and procedures in the second part of this manual )
1.
Upon QF approval, jobs will be posted on Tech4Work and will be visible to students. Students may begin applying.
2.
At the time of writing this policy guide, all student applications are automatically emailed to the Office of Professional Development immediately after students submit an application in Tech4Work. As of now, the system does not forward the applications to the supervisors/hiring managers of the position(s).
Once I receive the application in email, I forward it on to the appropriate supervisor.
 If a supervisor would like to see a student’s resume, he or she should contact that student directly to request it. The system does not currently upload the resume to the application that I receive through email.

An important reminder: Even if a student has been selected by a supervisor before jobs are approved or applications are posted, and if the student agrees to fill that position, that student must still apply for the position.
3.
Supervisors may contact candidates and set up a day and time to interview the applicant.
4.
Upon selecting a student employee, the supervisor arranges a meeting with the student to discuss: a.
Job Description and Responsibilities b.
Work Schedule and Pay Rate c.
Tech4Work registration d.
Conduct Orientation Checklist
5.
It is the responsibility of the supervisor/interviewer to inform student of the hiring outcome.
6.
Once a supervisor has hired the student(s) for the position, he or she must provide the Office of
Professional Development at JeffD@qatar.cmu.edu
with a.
Position Name and Start Date b.
Student Worker Name
7.
The job posting will then be removed from Tech4Work.
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1.
Once the supervisor informs the Office of Professional Development of the student(s) hired, the office will forward that information on to QF.
2.
It is then up to QF to link the student and the supervisor to the position with which they are associated.
 “Linking” refers to QF’s IT process of matching each student and each supervisor to a student employment position. QF does this through their software system. Only after this linking process has been completed will students and supervisors be able to access students’ timesheets on
Tech4Work. For students, this access will allow them to record their hours so they can get paid; for supervisors, this access will allow them to monitor students’ hours. If it is the case that a student can access his or her timesheet, but the supervisor cannot, this means that QF has linked only the student to the position but not the supervisor. If neither the student nor the supervisor can access the timesheet, this is because (1) QF has not linked either the student or the supervisor to the position, and/or (2) Tech4Work is experiencing IT issues that QF will be trying to solve.

It is the responsibility of the student and the supervisor to ensure that the student does not work over the number of hours for which he or she was approved to work in that particular position. If a student works more than the QF-approved hours, he or she will not only not be paid for the extra hours worked, but may also be terminated by QF and disqualified from future employment.

Students may not cover shifts for fellow students. Students will not be paid for any hours outside of what has been approved by QF for their respective positions.
3.
According to QF, students must enter their hours in quarter-hour increments, rounded to the nearest quarter hour. For example, if you work until 4:07pm, put 4:00pm, and if you work until 4:10pm, put
4:15pm.
4.
Timesheets must be updated and saved by 12:00pm on the last working day of each month. For example, if November 28 th
falls on a Thursday, timesheets should be updated and saved by 12:00pm on that day – not on Saturday, November 30 th
. Students are responsible for entering and saving their hours in Tech4Work on a daily basis.

If you have questions about how to complete your timesheet, please contact JeffD@qatar.cmu.edu
.

If you cannot access your timesheets, view your timesheets, or cannot save your timesheet hours, please first make sure you have successfully and appropriately registered on Tech4Work (“student” if student,
“employer” if supervisor). If you continue to have problems, please direct all questions to
Abdulla Al
Binali: Aalbinali@qf.org.qa
, +974 454 0399 .

For all further questions regarding timesheets, and for all technical issues, please contact Abdulla Al
Binali: Aalbinali@qf.org.qa
, +974 454 0399
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( For Teaching Assistant and Peer Tutor positions, please also refer to the ARC’s specific policy and procedures in the second part of this manual )

QF policy states that students may apply to any EC job posted on Tech4Work and may work for any hiring institutional branch in EC, including CMUQ, VCUQ, TAMUQ ABP, and Qatar Foundation
Residence Life, provided that the student informs the hiring supervisor(s), the Office of Professional
Development, and Hope Rodefer (if working as or if wishing to work as a TA or PT), if he or she is working or planning to work more than one job campus-wide.

Per QF policy, a student cannot work more than ONE position within EC without express permission from QF.

Example: A student has been hired as a Library Assistant but would also like to be a TA. The student must disclose to both hiring supervisors that he or she is planning to work two positions.
Then the student must inform the Office of Professional Development ( JeffD@qatar.cmu.edu
), who will request permission from QF for the student to work more than one position. The student may not begin working a second position until permission has been granted by QF.

Under no circumstances will a student be allowed to work more than TWO positions total within
Education City.

According to QF policy, Teaching Assistant assignments are considered one job regardless of the number of courses students support as long they do not work more than 20 hours total.
 Per QF Policy, a student cannot work more than 8 hours per day total, regardless if a student has one job or two.

Per QF policy, the student cannot work more than a total of 20 hours per week, regardless if the student is working one position or two.

Per QF policy, the student cannot work more than the QF-approved number of hours per position per week.

Example: QF has granted permission for the student to work as a library assistant and as aTA. The library assistant position was approved for 7 hours per week and the TA position for 10 hours per week. The student can work a maximum of 17 hours total for any given week, but can work no more than 7 hours per week as a library assistant, nor more than 10 hours per week as a TA.

Regardless of the number of weekly hours for which a position has been approved, the student and supervisor can determine together the student’s work schedule and how many hours the student will work per week – as long as the hours do not exceed the number of hours that QF approved.

Students should act with a sense of professionalism. You must be dressed appropriately, be on time, work the hours you have agreed to work, work 60 minutes out of each hour, give your supervisor advance notice if you must miss your hours ( at least 24 hours notice), and treat your supervisor and colleagues with respect.

The academic year session of student employment runs from the first day of fall semester through to the week before the last day of spring.
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
Payments are made through direct deposit. It is therefore mandatory that students have a current, functioning bank account. It is the student’s responsibility to set this account up and to ensure the bank account details he or she enters in Tech4Work are accurate and complete when creating the Tech4Work online account.

VERY IMPORTANT : students will not be paid if the bank account information entered in Tech4Work by the student is not complete and/or accurate.

Students must ensure that the bank account information they enter in Tech4Work, when they create their online account, matches the bank account information contained in the students’ bank account documents.

Some details to keep in mind when entering bank account information in Tech4Work:

Make sure you enter your full name completely and correctly.

Are there any variations in your first/middle/last/family name? Does the name you entered in Tech4Work match the name exactly as it appears on your bank documents?

Have you entered your bank account number correctly? Your bank account number is not the same number as that is on your credit card or debit card. Your account number will be in your bank documents. If you are unsure what your account number is, contact your bank.

Qatar Foundation will not issue checks for payments if your bank account information is incomplete or inaccurate in Tech4Work.

According to QF policy, it takes 15 business days from the day timesheets are submitted (last working day of each month) until payments are fully processed and disbursed to students’ bank accounts.

Payments tend to be processed more quickly for those with QNB bank accounts.
 A schedule of payments and timesheet due-dates should be posted on the SEP website.
For any questions regarding student payments, please contact
Reem Al Abduljabbar, Ralabduljabbar@qf.org.qa
, +974 4454038
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Please read carefully as the following ARC guidelines refer specifically to the hiring and supervising of
Teaching Assistants and Peer Tutors. The information below is current as of the fall 2010-spring 2011 transition, but is subject to change.
All questions regarding requests for, changes to, or questions about Teaching Assistant positions should be submitted to Dale Winter or Hope Rodefer of the Academic Resource Center:
Dale Winter , Director of the Academic Resource Center
Amanita@andrew.cmu.edu
, 4454-8676, Office 2188
Hope Rodefer , ESL Specialist
Rodefer@qatar.cmu.edu
, 4454-8542, Office 1049-C
Here is what you will find in the following pages:
1. Overview of hiring procedure and your role within it.
2. Approximate timeline.
3. Required information to create a TA position.
4. General TA hiring and usage policies.
If you have questions about the process, how you should participate in it or special circumstances that do not seem to be covered by this process, please contact Dale Winter personally to clarify your situation.
As we move through the TA hiring process this semester, you will be contacted via e-mail or in person when you need to participate. Please keep your eyes open for follow-up e-mails in the last two months of each semester.
As many of you know, CMU-Q does not directly employ many undergraduate students. Instead, Qatar
Foundation employs the students on our behalf, and the Academic Resource Center and the faculty act as the agents (for hiring) and supervisors (once the students are hired) of the undergraduate employees.
The major steps in this process, and the approximate order in which they are carried out, are as follows.
(a) A position for an undergraduate employee is defined.
(b) A student is found who has the qualifications and desire to work in the position.
(c) Approval for the position is sought from Qatar Foundation.
(d) The position is approved by Qatar Foundation (though sometimes only partially approved, in terms of hours, number of positions, and pay rate requested)
(e) The student is linked to the position in the on-line student employment
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system.
(f) Employment commences.
At the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester, Qatar Foundation attempted to introduce a student employment system that involved faculty and staff in all of the steps of this process.
At the approach of the Spring 2011 semester, an internal decision was made to return to a less taxing and confusing role for faculty in this process (which will be similar to that used previous years).
For the Spring 2011 semester, we anticipate that in most cases where faculty wish to hire undergraduate students for teaching assistant (TA) roles within their courses, that their involvement in the process will be with steps (a), (b) and (f) listed above.
Late October/early November : The approved list of courses and instructors
will be released by the Office of Academic Affairs.
Following this release: If you are listed as a faculty member
teaching a course for Spring 2011, you
will receive an e-mail from the ARC. This
e-mail will ask you if you would like to
try to create a TA position for your
course, and provide you with the form(s)
for defining and requesting a position.
Second week of November : At the end of this week we will advertise
requested positions to students. If a request
has not been made for a TA position by the end
of this week, we will assume that no position
is desired. If a course will be offered in
Spring 2011 and it does not have an instructor
assigned at this point, we will put in a request
for a TA position that is the same as the
position requested the last time the course was
taught.
Middle of November : Recruitment of students begins, and continues until
all positions are filled. As students apply for
positions, their eligibility for employment will be
verified by ARC staff. Note that in order to be
eligible for employment, a student must have:
- At least a 3.0 QPA (for TAs) or 3.25 QPA (for peer
tutors)
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- Passed the class (for TAs) with a final grade of A
- Have a record of academic integrity in the
university.
Early December : Qualified student applicants for TA positions will be
communicated to instructors, and input on which student to hire for the position sought from faculty.
In the event that there are fewer qualified students than
TA positions (as commonly happens for upper division courses, for example), meetings will take place between
ARC staff and area coordinators to prioritize courses and assign the available, qualified students to the courses with the greatest need for support.
Middle of December : Documents defining TA and peer tutor positions will
be sent to Qatar Foundation for approval of positions.
Students selected for TA/peer tutor positions will
be asked to establish or update their profiles within
Qatar Foundation's on-line student employment system.
Names of students who have been selected to fill TA
and peer tutor positions will be sent to Qatar
Foundation to be linked to the TA/peer tutor positions
in the on-line student employment system.
We will work with Qatar Foundation to help them
understand the requests for TA and peer tutor positions
to make the approval process as easy as possible for
them.
Calendar year 2011 : We will continue to work with Qatar foundation to help
them understand the requests for TA and peer tutor
positions to make the approval process as easy as
possible for them.
.
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If you wish to request undergraduate TA or peer tutor support for a course that you will offer, we will need you to complete each of the following documents.
A form that will help us to define the position.
This form will be sent to you at the start of the TA hiring process.
It will ask you to supply information such as the work that the TA will do, the number of hours that the TA will be eligible to work each week, and any special qualifications that the TA will need for the position over and above the typical qualifications of:
- A QPA of at least 3.0 (for TAs) or 3.25 (for peer tutors)
- Passed the class (for TAs) with a final grade of A
- A record of academic integrity in the university.
A job description/justification for the position.
Much of the technical part of the job description (e.g. specific responsibilities, number of hours worked, etc.) will be covered by the form mentioned in (a), above.
While it might seem to be somewhat at odds with common practice in the United States, Qatar Foundation views the position of "teaching assistant" as a position that provides assistance in the teaching of a course, rather than simply a position responsible for course-related work that the faculty prefer others to do.
In addition, Qatar Foundation views the "teaching assistant" position as primarily an educational opportunity for students to learn such things as professionalism, how to work with a supervisor, how to take and follow instructions, and to learn the material of the course that they are assisting with in a deeper or different way.
With every request for a TA or peer tutor position, we are required to submit a job description/justification for the position and in our experience, Qatar Foundation is much more likely to approve a job description that:
(i) appears to describe a position in which the student will meaningfully assist with the teaching of the course, and,
(ii) appears to describe a position that will provide the TA will
meaningful educational opportunities that go beyond what can be
learned in the classroom setting.
In our experience, the TA position(s) you request will be much more likely to be approved if they are accompanied by a job description that includes some kind of description of the educational opportunity that your requested position offers to the TA.
At the time that you receive the form to complete, we will also provide you with some examples of job descriptions that you can adapt and modify to suit the position that you have in mind, and return to us with the completed form.
A list of any students who you would like to fill the position.
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If you know of students who you believe to be qualified and who you like to have as your TA during Spring
2011, please feel free to speak with the student about the possibility.
In the past, having a faculty member speak directly to a student about the possibility of becoming a TA has been
(by far) the most effective recruiting strategy for undergraduate employees.
If the student is also enthusiastic, we ask that you let us know who the student is so that we can actively solicit a
TA application from them to fill the position that you have requested.
As mentioned above, the minimum qualifications that an undergraduate student needs to meet in order to be employed as a TA include:
- A QPA of at least 3.0 (for TAs) or 3.25 (for peer tutors)
- Passed the class (for TAs) with a final grade of A
- A record of academic integrity in the university.
You may define or identify additional qualifications for a TA position as you see fit.
When hiring undergraduate students as TAs, and particularly when defining their positions, it is important to bear in mind the kinds of responsibilities that may _not_ be assigned to undergraduate TAs.
Examples of duties that Qatar Foundation specifically insists _not_ be assigned to undergraduate TAs include:
- Writing exam questions (or entire exams).
- Grading exams, problem sets, presentations or projects in which there is a degree of subjectivity or expert knowledge (such as that possessed by faculty) is required to see how grading decisions are not subjective.
- Any kind of grading done without a detailed, instructor-generated grading key or rubric.
- Giving or leading lectures (or other major instructional events in the course).
- Counseling students who are experiencing personal difficulties.
- Punish other students for academic integrity or classroom conduct violations.
- Work during final exams week (until their own exams are finished).
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