GApp Fellow/Intern Hiring Process
Hiring Process
When hiring a new cohort of students for the GApp, it’s important to look at the TBP allocation due date. This past year, the soft deadline (for the DoG - it may differ in other departments) was August 1st while the hard deadline was August 16th. The TBP allocation due date is basically when you want to have selected your GApp fellows meaning it is the deadline of the application. This means you want to create and circulate the Fellowship application at least 2 weeks before the TBP allocation due date. Also a side note on waiting until the hard deadline could cause issues with allocating TBP to international students because of all the additional bureaucratic paperwork that they must endure.
By the beginning of July, you should check with whatever department you want to hire students from and see when their TBP allocation date is. Then once you’ve created your application, distributed it and accepted Fellows into the program, you will want to have them immediately fill out THIS (DoG example, each department will have their own which you will need to get) and send it to the department’s accountant.The linked example lists the chartfield and salary we currently have but you’ll want to verify those numbers every time. Once you have done that then you will want to have the students fill out the following New Hire Form and send it to PHS’s accountant, along with the chartfield you’ll be using, their salary and the funding letter which in our case will be the offer letter. If it’s an international student in question, they most likely will not have an SSN so you will have to direct them to this document and have them follow its steps to obtain an SSN while keeping in mind it could take up to 10 days to get before they can actually start work.
Applying for an SSN is a complicated process for international students; be sure to check out the pages from ISSS when applying:
One of the things that the Social Security office will have international students do when applying for an SSN is confirm their status which they can do through SEVIS. They will need to login and confirm their status here: https://egov.ice.gov/sevis/. If they haven’t registered they will need to do so first. They can also contact ISSS to check their SEVIS status; if there is something wrong with a student’s SEVIS, they need to get it fixed ASAP because it could jeopardize their F-1 visa and cause problems. Once their status is confirmed, they will need to have me (you) fill out the the following form for them to submit to ISSS:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RhtY5YSIECj78VlxY8q-5dJG9I-aZl9F/view?usp=drive_link
Employment offers are contingent upon completion of a background check and drug screen. So in addition to everything listed above, students will need to visit: https://www.hr.utah.edu/forms/lib/Certiphi_Background_Check_Info.pdf for more information on this process. They will receive an invitation e-mail from Certiphi Screening, the firm that will perform their background check for the University of Utah. The email will come from applicationstation@certiphi.com. It is important that students read this letter in its entirety. It is also extremely important for them to review the Social Security number they provide. If entered incorrectly, the applicant will need to complete another background check. The additional check may cause a delay of the hire date and will result in additional charges to the department.
FootNote:
We had difficulty obtaining SSN for international students this year; one way to bypass this is to get them a temporary working number from the tax service at the U (https://fbs.admin.utah.edu/tax-services/contact_tax/)
They will require the following in order to issue a TWID:
- A receipt for the individual’s SSN application from the Social Security Administration.
- Copies of the individual’s U.S. visa and International Student & Scholar Services issued work authorization letter.
- A written acknowledgement by the department that a copy of the employee’s social security card will be provided to Payroll Accounting when it becomes available.
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