Through various research, teaching and assistant roles, both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible for employment in the department.

ASE positions non-ASE positions hiring process quarterly payroll dates time reporting in Workday sick leave

Academic Student Employee (ASE) positions

These positions are governed by the UAW/UW Academic Student Employee union contract, which governs policies and procedures for appointments, salary, job definitions and leave time.

Graduate

At the University of Washington, there are three types of graduate student assistantships and one graduate hourly position for registered students:

• Teaching Assistant (salaried): work with students in a classroom, lab, or quiz section setting
• Research Assistant (salaried): work on research projects; does not involve teaching
• Predoctoral Instructor (salaried): independent instructor for class
• Staff Assistant (salaried): other types of duties such as advising or administration
• Reader/Grader (hourly): grading for a course, no involvement with teaching or leading sections

Appointments can be made for any FTE up to 100% and for any length of time (depending on work authorization), but a typical appointment is 50% FTE for the entire quarter.

Hiring of Teaching Assistants will follow the department's TA appointment process.

Eligibility requirements

Students must meet the following requirements to qualify for salaried graduate assistantships:

• Must be matriculated in a graduate degree program
• Registered full-time (10 credits academic year, 2 during summer) unless Petition for Reduced Enrollment in submitted to the Graduate School
• Able to provide documentation verifying authorization to work in the U.S.

Summer quarter employment

Unregistered graduate students may work as hourly graduate research student assistants during summer quarter only (must still be matriculated in a graduate degree program).

• Rates are set by the Graduate School and are in accordance to their position
• Not enrolled in any classes
• This hourly research position is for summer quarter only. If you want to hire a grad student to do research during the academic year, you must employ them as a salaried RA with the appointment terms above.

Undergraduate

Undergraduate Academic Student Employee (ASE) positions include Undergraduate Research Assistant, Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, and Reader/Grader. These are hourly positions with no health benefits or tuition coverage provided.

Graduate ASE compensation & benefits

Hourly position receive only pay, no benefits or tuition.

ASEs with a quarterly 50% Schedule 1 appointment receive the following:

• Salary in accordance to their “step” and position FTE
• Tuition Waiver
• Graduate Appointee Insurance Program (GAIP) Health Insurance
• U-PASS Waiver

If ASE appointments are less than 50% or less than 5 out of 6 pay periods in a quarter (10 weeks in duration), the appointment is classified as Schedule 2. These appointments are paid at a higher salary rate as the student is not eligible for tuition coverage or GAIP benefits.

Pay rates

Pay rates are determined by the student’s academic program, current progress within the program and position.

View ASE pay rates for hourly positions.

ASE salary rates for CEE graduate students are as follows (effective July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024):

Non-academic student positions

Hourly student positions (both undergraduate and graduate) that do not fall into any of the ASE positions above typically fall into a Student Assistant position. These positions are non-academic in nature, do not involve conducting research or teaching. Typical duties include administrative support and simple data collection (without analysis).

Please send job descriptions to ceepayme@uw.edu to confirm a student assistant position is appropriate.

Hiring process

Per Washington state law and UW policy, all graduate student employees and undergraduate employees covered under the UAW union, are required to complete a Sexual Misconduct Declaration and be cleared by UW HR before the department may extend an offer of employment. Please consider this policy when suggesting a start date.

Notify CEE payroll (ceepayme@uw.edu) at least 5 weeks before a new employee’s start date. Per the UAW bargaining agreement, Graduate RAs and TAs should receive their offer letters at least 4 weeks prior to their start date, so the minimum 5 week lead time is needed to complete pre-employment processes before we are able to send the offer letter.

Late notifications will result in processing delays, which may result in delayed pay for the employee, risk of non-compliant completion of paperwork, and delayed tuition and health benefits (if applicable).

The following information is required—staff will not process appointments until all of the information is provided:

• Legal first and last name
• Preferred name (if different than legal name)
• UW NetID
• Graduate or undergraduate
• Start & end date
• Position
• Pay rate (if hourly)
• Budget number
• Job description

View job description templates.

Quarterly payroll dates

• Autumn: September 16–December 15
• Winter: December 16–March 15
• Spring: March 16–June 15
• Summer: June 16–September 15

Though class schedules do not align with the payroll quarter dates, ASE RA and TA appointments follow these appointment dates. Therefore, when considering hiring an Academic Student Employee, please refer to the payroll quarter dates to help guide start and end dates.

Time reporting in Workday

• All hourly students must submit timesheets. Failure to submit and receive approval of timesheets will result in delayed or no pay.
• Payroll cutoffs

Sick leave

Hourly employees accrue 1 hour of paid sick time off for every 40 hours worked.