2026-27 Undergraduate Student Payroll Processing

Outstanding Summer Appointments (5/17/26 - 9/5/26)

Rapid Student Hire (RSH) templates for summer appointments will no longer be available after Monday, August 24, 2026. 8/24/26 is your last day to data enter these appointments.

After 8/24/26, if you still have to appoint a student for work performed from during the summer, you must complete a Student Personnel Action Form (SPAF) and upload it to Human Resources or deliver it to Tami O’Malley at the Human Resources Employee Service Center in room 168 Whitmore Administration Building. (If student never worked on campus before see Hiring a Brand-New Undergraduate Student Employee.

All current student appointments will end on Saturday, September 5, 2026.

2026-27 Academic Year Student Employment Information (9/6/26-5/22/27)

The Rapid Student Hire (RSH) templates for summer will be available for data entry on Wednesday, August 26, 2026.

Selecting a template (ANWS/SNWS or AWS3/SWS3) will bring in the default dates for the hiring period we are in.  When inserting a new row please change the begin date and/or end date of the appointment to reflect the start and end date.

Students who are not taking classes over the summer will be required to contribute to the Massachusetts OBRA Smart Plan.  Information about this plan can be found at the Massachusetts Deferred Compensation OBRA Plan website.  If the student is taking classes, the FICA/OBRA Exemption form can be used to claim exempt from OBRA deductions over the summer for undergraduate students.  Please note that to be eligible for this exemption you must be enrolled in six or more credits in one or both of the summer sessions. 

The minimum hourly wage is currently $15.00.

Pre-processing Requirements

Please remember to include the following information when submitting an SPAF:

  1. Appointment Type (Non-Work Study, Work Study or Student Contract)
  2. HR Direct EmpID: if they have never worked on campus and you are unable to hire via RSH please enter their Spire ID (to make sure we hire the correct student for you)
  3. Rec #: enter this for changes to an existing employee record i.e. change of funding or pay rate change (leave empty for brand new employees, or those new to your department). This is not the same as Seq # from the RSH panel. The Rec # for active student employees can be found on active Timesheets, Job Data or Review FERPA Display panels.
  4. Begin and End Date of appointment *Important, must change default employment start date. Please always use a Sunday date.
  5. Department Information (Dept Name and HR Dept ID) Please note the HR Dept ID format is A####00
  6. HR DeptID may be different from the DeptID connected to the chart string of who is paying the wages. HR DeptID tells us what HR department will be reporting the hours it may not be as the same as who pays the wages.
  7. HR Account Code (aka HR Combo Code, who is paying the wages)
  8. Hourly Rate (or Biweekly rate for contracts only)
  9. Mail Drop ID, 8 characters long (AKA Check Distribution Code, and is still required)
  10. Appropriate Signatures (Dept. Head, Appointing Authority, PI)
  11. Contact Information of person preparing the form (Name, E-mail, Phone)

Processing procedures

Important: Student Personnel Action Forms should be uploaded using this link.

After you have the hire packet in your possession, use Rapid Student Hire (RSH) to create academic year appointments, selecting either ANWS/SNWS (Non-Work Study) or AWS3/SWS3 (Work Study) as the Hire Template.  If you are in need of a refresher on RSH please see Hiring a Student Employee Using Rapid Student Hire (video).

For a new or returning student that has not worked on campus payroll within the last year. (Domestic students only)

  1. Instruct the student to complete the payroll forms using the new UG Docusign Link and to notify you once they have done so.
  2. Next student completes I-9 form - 2026-2027 hard copy with hiring department, providing original, unexpired I-9 supporting documents.
  3. Department completes section 2 of the I-9 form (including date of hire), taking copies of front & back of original supporting documents (if the document is a US passport, make a copy of the picture and barcode page.)
  4. Once the hiring department certifies the I-9 form, they can enter the student into rapid student hire, then write the employee ID number and “UG” on the top right hand corner of the I-9 form. Once entered the hiring department can deliver the completed forms to Tami O’Malley in room 161 Whitmore Administration Building on Tuesdays between 8:00 am -12:00 pm and 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

The RSH process cannot be used to create appointments under any of the following circumstances.

  • If the hourly rate is more than $20.00 per hour. A brief description of the job duties is required on the bottom of the SPAF or attached. All appointments with an hourly rate more than $20.00 should be scanned and emailed directly to: Paula Wetherby (email: wetherby [at] umass [dot] edu (wetherby[at]umass[dot]edu)). The Student Employment Office (SEO) will review the job description and if approved forward the SPAF to HR for processing.
  • If the individual shows on “Review FERPA Display” with an EmpID, but “Employee” is not checked, this means they have never had a job at UMA (they may have a Contingent Worker or Person of Interest record but never hired as an employee).
  • If the individual being hired is a graduate student, please use the following link.  Graduate Student Hourly Form User Guide : Graduate School : UMass Amherst.  If you have questions about the Grad hourly process, please contact the Graduate Assistantship Office.
  • Summer Student Contract (SSC)
  • Student is not a U.S. Citizen: If RSH gives you any type of a VISA error message, this person was not a U.S. citizen when they applied to the University. Please review the International Employee Information also included with this email.

If you are unable to hire your new domestic student employee using RSH; complete a Student PAF and upload it using this link.. REMEMBER you still need to deliver the original I-9 form (section 1 completed by student, section 2 completed by you, and copies of the document(s) used to complete section 2) to Student Payroll, Tami O'Malley, 161 Whitmore Admin. Bldg. on Tuesdays between 8:00am - 12:00noon or 1:00pm - 4:00pm. We are unable to process the hire into HR Direct until we have all necessary documents in our possession including the original I-9 form with copies of supporting documents.

Required Documentation

If an employee is brand new or has had a break in service of a year or more see Hiring a Brand-New Undergraduate Student Employee for more information.

For a new or returning student that has not worked on campus payroll within the last year. (Domestic students only)

  1. Instruct the student to complete the payroll forms using the new UG Docusign Link and to notify you once they have done so.
  2. Next student completes I-9 form - 2026-2027 hard copy with hiring department, providing original, unexpired I-9 supporting documents.
  3. Department completes section 2 of the I-9 form (including date of hire), taking copies of front & back of original supporting documents (if the document is a US passport, make a copy of the picture and barcode page.)
  4. Once the hiring department certifies the I-9 form, they can enter the student into rapid student hire, then write the employee ID number and “UG” on the top right hand corner of the I-9 form. Once entered the hiring department can deliver the completed forms to Tami O’Malley in room 161 Whitmore Administration Building on Tuesdays between 8:00 am -12:00 pm and 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

All paperwork must be in HR by the Pay Friday before an employee’s start date in order to ensure timely payment (sooner is always appreciated).

Previous Employment

  • Students who have been off payroll for more than 17 weeks should complete a new Direct Deposit form. (Note: summer break is 16 weeks so if the student worked through the end of spring, is returning for the first part of fall and has not changed their bank, no new forms will be needed.)
  • Students who are planning on, or have already, changed banks should notify Central HR immediately (before closing their bank account) by updating their direct deposit information online (while active employee) or completing a new Direct Deposit form.
  • Students may choose to adjust their withholding allowances if they claimed Student Exemption from Federal Taxes in the previous year and have not yet re-filed for that exemption in the current calendar year. They may update the information in HR Direct once they are an active employee or submit new tax forms to Central HR.
  • Students need to notify Central HR of any change in address, while active employees they may update the information in HR Direct themselves. Updates made in SPIRE or Sprintax do not update HR Direct.

Work Study Information

Please submit all work study funding changes directly to Paula Wetherby at wetherby [at] umass [dot] edu (wetherby[at]umass[dot]edu). Please note, work study funding changes are prohibited after the 1st pay period in June for the previous academic year. 

If you are submitting a student work-study SPAF, email it directly to Paula Wetherby (email: wetherby [at] umass [dot] edu (wetherby[at]umass[dot]edu) ). Once approved, the Student Employment Office (SEO) will forward it to Human Resources for processing.

Please keep in mind that it is a Federal regulation to maintain accurate weekly timesheets of all hours performed using work-study awards. Weekly timesheets must be signed by both the student employee and supervisor.

Helpful Resources

Frequently Used Acronyms

  • ASC – Academic Student Contract
  • GAO – Graduate Assistantship Office HR – Human Resources
  • RSH – Rapid Student Hire
  • SEO – Student Employment Office
  • SPAF - Student Personnel Action Form (SPAF)

Contacts by Topic:

  • Student payroll processing
    Tami O’Malley Phone: 413-545-6120
    Email: tomalley [at] umass [dot] edu (tomalley[at]umass[dot]edu)
     
  • Student time reporting
    Time and Labor Phone: 413-545-0391
    Email: timeandlabor [at] umass [dot] edu (timeandlabor[at]umass[dot]edu)
     
  • Work-study
    Paula Wetherby 
    Email: wetherby [at] umass [dot] edu ([email protected])
     
  • Sprintax (International Employees)
    Via AskHR
     
  • Graduate Student Hourly forms 
    Graduate Assistantship Office
    517 Goodell Building
    Phone: (413)-545-5287
    Email: gradappt [at] grad [dot] umass [dot] edu (gradappt[at]grad[dot]umass[dot]edu)