1. GA PAF Preparer’s Training – November 16, 2016
Welcome
Welcome!
Today we will be discussing the procedures for processing of Spring 2017 Graduate Assistant PAFs.
This Power Point Presentation will be posted to the Graduate College website so you can refer to it whenever you need to.
Feel free to ask questions as we go along and there will be time at the end of the presentation for questions as well.
GA PAF Preparer’s Training – November 16, 2016

2. Enrollment Eligibility Requirements
The student must be enrolled in 9 graduate-level credit hours before PAF is submitted for a Graduate Assistantship and/or the Graduate College releases the Graduate College Tuition Scholarship hold (not required for submission of offer form).
See student’s offer letter(s) for detail on courses that do not count towards the 9 credit minimum load.
PAF Preparer needs to review each Grad Assistant’s Academic Advisement Report BEFORE submitting PAF.
Department needs to contact student immediately if this requirement is not being met.
Student and department need to work together to register for appropriate classes. This is ultimately the student’s responsibility.
DO NOT submit PAF until YOU have reviewed the student’s current Academic Advisement Report and YOU see enrollment of 9 qualifying graduate-level credit hours.
Enrollment of 9 graduate-level credit hours (Dept should be contacting student as soon as possible if this requirement is not being met)
Do not submit PAF until YOU review AAR and see enrollment of 9 graduate-level credit hours.
There are some individuals in non-academic departments with GA’s that don’t have access to the AAR. If that is the case for you then contact the academic department your GA is majoring in and ask that secretary to run a current AAR report for you and send to you so you can review. (or ask student to print for you)

3. Degree Requirements
The following degree requirements must be met before PAF is submitted for Graduate Assistantship and/or the Graduate College releases Graduate College Tuition Scholarship hold (not required for submission of offer form).
Master’s student must possess an official final bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution prior to the start of the semester and it must show in SIS.
Doctoral student must possess an official final bachelor’s degree and official final master’s degree from an accredited institution prior to the start of the semester and they must show in SIS.
Verification of degree(s) can be found in the Student Information System under the Admissions Tab and looking under “External Education”.
Look for Transcript
Type of “Official”
and Transcript Status
of “Final”.
Do NOT submit PAF until YOU verify the degree requirements are showing in SIS.
If you don’t have access to SIS then contact the academic department your GA is majoring in and ask that secretary to provide you a print screen of the student’s External Education.

4. Change in GPA verification process for Spring 2017
GPA Requirement
It is required that a student’s GPA is verified prior to approval of a GA PAF. Since there is a very short time-frame from when fall grades are posted and when the spring semester begins, we are allowing PAF’s to be submitted before fall grades are posted, as long as the student meets all other requirements. GPA’s will be checked by the Graduate College after fall grades are posted and the GA PAF will be approved by the GC once this verification is done. If a student does not meet the GPA requirement the Graduate College will notify the student and department.
GPA Verification
A student’s Plan GPA must be 3.0 or higher in order for a student to qualify for a Graduate Assistantship and/or Graduate College Tuition Scholarship. This verification is done once all prior semester grades have posted.
Verify student’s “Plan GPA, Total” located on Student’s Academic Advisement Report
If 1st semester as graduate student, use final undergrad cumulative GPA (see slide 3 on where to find this under External Education).
If 1st semester as a doctoral student, use Master’s Plan GPA
If student does not have a Plan GPA and is not a 1st semester graduate student, then use the cumulative GPA of at least 8 credit hours of graduate-level courses taken.

5. Timing of Graduate Assistant PAFs
Spring 2017 PAF’s submission timing:
PAF’s can be created at any time but cannot be submitted until all requirements are met, except for verification of GPA. (See slides 2, 3 & 4 for requirements)
PAF has to be approved through the Graduate College by the end of the day January 6, 2017 in order for a student to start their assistantship on time.
New hire paperwork should be completed in HRS prior to January 9, 2017 but if new hire paperwork is not to HRS by January 11, 2017 then the student must stop working and will not be allowed to work until new hire work paperwork is completed. This will most likely change the student’s salary, depending on hours student was not able to work.
If student decides they don’t want assistantship after you process their PAF, or they don’t show up for work, you need to notify me immediately. We do not want a January payroll check to be generated.

6. How to Prepare a Grad Assistant PAF
You can create the student’s Personnel Action Form (PAF) for the spring semester at any time.
Important: Do not submit the PAF until you have verified the student meets the requirements, except for the GPA requirement.
To get into PAF system
Login to My Universe
UNI tab
My Administrative Access box
Personnel Action Form (PAF) (MW04)

7. How to Prepare a Grad Assistant PAF (continued)
Personnel Action Type:
New Appointment (additional information will be requested by PAF system). Select this PAF type if this is student’s first semester as a GA.
Reappointment/Change Appointment. Select this PAF type if student was a GA in prior semester.
Effective Date:
Use first day of semester (unless a late start)
UID
Enter student’s UID
Proceed
Note:
Grad Assistant PAF examples are available through HRS website under PAF Resources.
Samples for Grad Assistants is under “New Appointment” and also “Change/Reappointment”.
GA PAF examples are available at HRS website
Very Helpful website

8. Preparation of GA PAF (continued)
Labor Distribution
Start Date: “New” PAF-Use actual date student
begins work 09-JAN-2017 or
“Reappointment” PAF-Use 1st day of
month student begins work. 01-JAN-2017
End Date: 31-MAY-2017
Effective date: The date student starts their GA position. Typically the 1st day of classes
Appointment Status Date: The date student starts their GA position. Typically the 1st day of classes
09-JAN-2017
DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS FOR EACH TAB
If a reassignment then a screen will come up to select the student’s Assignment.
Effective Date: The date student starts their Graduate Assistantship position (typically the first day of classes 09-JAN-2017)
Org/Title Tab
Organization: Select your Organization that the individual will be working for
Position Title: Six Options (this is due to IPEDS federal report for Graduate Assistants)
Grad Assistant.Teaching (Use this option if departmental funded and primary tasks is teaching)
Grad Assistant.Teaching (Grad College) (Use this option if funded by the Graduate College and primary tasks is teaching)
Grad Assistant.Other (Use this option if departmental funded and primary task is NOT teaching or research)
Grad Assistant.Research (Use this option if departmental funded and primary tasks is research)
Grad Assistant.Research (Grad College) (Use this option if funded by the Graduate College and primary tasks is research)
Grad Assistant.Other (Grad College) (Use this option if funded by the GC and primary task is NOT teaching or research)
Person Tab (automatically fills in)
Service Status: Temporary
Service Status Date: The date student starts their Graduate Assistantship position (typically the first day of classes 09-JAN-2017)
Assignment Information Tab
Supervisor: Provide name of person that will be supervising student
Location: Provide location where student will be working
Appointment Status: Temporary
Appointment Status Date: The date student starts their Graduate Assistantship position (typically the first day of classes 09-JAN-2017)
“New” PAF’s will default from the Effective date entered
“Reappointment/Change Appointment” PAF –use the date their Appointment Status becomes effective Assignment Category: T Spring
Assign Status Tab
Appointment Length: 5.0
Additional Assignment Information: This field is optional but appreciated if preparer provides information about the assignment
Assignment Status: Active Assignment
Specific Tab
Appointment Expiration date: Last day of semester (05-MAY-2017)
Salary Change Reason: If this PAF is a Change/Reappointment you will need to make selection in this field.
Appointment salary: Use full amount of salary (do not reduce this salary if student begins work after the first day of classes).
Hours per Week: 20 for full-time (10 for half-time)
Additional Information: If student starts working after first day of classes use this section to provide start date information and salary amount.
“Reduce salary by $xxx.xx due to late start date of mm/dd/yy”.
Contact Lisa Steimel in Grad College when you have this situation before processing PAF. Lisa will calculate salary reduction amount and provide to you. This amount will be deducted from next pay check and then the remaining pay periods will be at the correct rate.
LD Tab
Grad College Funding
Start Date: “New” PAF Use actual date student begins working. (Typically first day of classes 09-JAN-2017)
Department, Fndn or Grant – use acct number funding Grad Assistantship
“Reappointment/Change Appntmt” PAF-Use the first day of the month the student begins working (01-JAN-17)
End Date: MAY-2017
Education Tab
Not applicable for Grad Assistants-you can skip this tab
Workflow Tab
If you want additional Notifications and/or Approvals you can enter these under this tab
Finish Tab
Review PAF. Make changes if needed
If PAF is correct and student meets eligibility requirements then click on “Submit Personnel Action Form”
Notes
Extra Tab
Attachments
HRS will indicate in this section if paperwork has been received by this individual if a new GA
Attention
Appointment Expiration Date should be
last day of the semester (05-MAY-2017)
Use Additional Information section to provide information if student starts working after first day of classes.
Indicate:
“Reduce Salary by $xx.xx due to late start date of mm/dd/yy”
Appointment Salary should always be full amount (do not reduce if student does not begin work on 1st day of classes)
Based on primary duty select appropriate Position Title (e.g., teaching, research, other)
Attention

9. Common Errors on PAF
These are the most common errors that result in rejected PAF’s. Review your PAF’s for these common errors before submitting.
Dates. There are several dates required on PAF’s so make sure you are providing correct date in correct fields. (use HRS examples for help with this)
“New” Appointment PAF submitted when a “Reappointment/Change Appointment” PAF should have been done. Do not use “New” PAF if student was a GA in prior semester. (doesn’t matter if same department or not)
The GA’s supervisor listed incorrectly. Need to provide name of individual supervising the student, not the department head or program coordinator, unless they truly are the supervisor
Assignment Category. For this next semester select “T-Spring”
Wrong funding account code combination provided
Submitted GA PAF but the student has not been sent an offer
Student is not enrolled in 9 graduate-level credit hours
These are the most common reasons a PAF is rejected. Review your PAF’s for these common errors before submitting. See Slide 10 for helpful tools.

10. Helpful tools to avoid rejected PAF’s
Numerous PAF’s are rejected each semester. Below is helpful information and tools to avoid rejected PAF’s in the future.
Use the HRS website samples to help you prepare your PAF’s.
me if you are not sure, or if you want me to look at a PAF before you submit. Send student’s name, UID and PAF number in the .
Preparer should review PAF in full before submitting. Click on “Print Preview” which will bring up the full PAF.
If PAF is rejected look under “History” tab to find comments on errors that need to be corrected. (Only make corrections that are listed in comments.)
Be aware of where your PAF’s are at in the process. Make sure to check your notifications for any rejected PAF’s.

11. When can a Grad Assistant begin work?
Grad Assistants are eligible to begin work after:
Grad College approval of PAF by Lisa Steimel and Graduate College Dean
All paperwork is turned into HRS for new hires. The PAF system will send s to the preparer, supervisor and Grad Assistant indicating status
Cannot start prior to the first day of classes
To find out if paperwork has been turned into HRS by a new hire you can review the information in the “Extra” tab on the individual’s PAF

12. Graduate Assistant Supervisors
If the student’s supervisor changes send an to with student name, UID and the name of the new supervisor and effective date and effective semester. In the subject field of the provide UID, student name and “change in supervisor”. Note: Make sure PAF is completed with the correct supervisor’s name.
An from Graduate College will be sent to GA supervisors approximately 1 week before the start of the semester providing the name of their Grad Assistant and the number of hours the student will be working for the semester. This will also provide a list of the supervisor’s responsibilities, which include review of job description/duties with student on their first day, tracking/be aware of student’s hours and required performance evaluations.
If you become aware that there is a change in a supervisor please send an ASAP to so we can change our records before sending out the letter to GA supervisors and also verify the GA’s supervisor is correct on their PAF.

13. Miscellaneous
Don’t forget that there is a Graduate Assistantship handbook for student and departmental use. Refer to it often.
Spring 2017 offer forms should be received by the Grad College by December 1st. Any forms received after that date will be set aside and reviewed and processed after the start of the spring semester. The reason for this is because December is a very busy month and priority is given to processing of Spring PAF’s.
Graduate Scholarship Hold is a hold on the student’s scholarship until GPA and enrollment can be verified for the semester. This hold does NOT affect the student in registering for classes.
Students receiving a scholarship, no matter what the funding, should not be working for the University for the scholarship funding. Any work being provided should be processed through payroll, not as a scholarship.
If a student decides against their Grad Assistantship and/or Graduate College Scholarship the Graduate College will need something in writing from student declining their offer(s). Inform the GC immediately when you become aware of this.

14. Questions or Concerns
Questions or concerns