Rules for Law Student Employment

  1. Washburn University School of Law does not allow a student to be employed more than 20 hours a week while taking more than 12 hours of law courses.
  2. The school strongly discourages students from taking outside employment during their first year of courses.
    • The school will not employ:
      • Fall-Start 1Ls to work during their first fall and spring semesters
      • Spring-Start 1Ls to work during their first spring semester
      • Spring-Start 1Ls to work during any session of their first summer semester in which they are taking over 3 hours
      • Spring-Start 1Ls to work during their first fall semester unless they have completed 9 or more hours during their first summer semester.
    • Notwithstanding the above section, the school may employ 1Ls to serve as:
      • Callers to visit with alumni during WashCall;
      • Note-takers for accommodated classmates in the same course;
      • Social Media Ambassadors for Marketing, attending events they planned on attending anyway;
      • In special capacities authorized by the Dean.
    • School rules against employment of 1Ls do not apply to university employment of students. For example, the school allows incoming 1Ls to be hired by the university's Residential Living Office as Graduate Community Coordinators.
  3. Professors hiring students must send an e-mail to Cory Payne at cory.payne@washburn.edu stating: 1) that the student will be working with the professor, and 2) the capacity in which the student will be working (R.A., T.A., other).
  4. Students must undergo a background check by completing an online form. The sooner the background check is initiated the sooner the student can sign a contract and begin working. Results are returned in 3-7 days. The link for the online background check form will be sent to the student's Washburn email address.
  5. The following positions require a completed background check before a contract can be signed:
    1. Professionalism Group Mentors
    2. LL.M. Ambassadors
    3. Teaching Assistants
    4. Clinic Student Coordinators
    5. Clinic Office Assistants
  6. Students must sign an employment contract before they begin working. They must complete all documents in front of the Student Employment Coordinator, who will notarize the documents. The school must comply with Federal Guidelines for Student Employment. The university reserves the right to terminate student employment contracts at any time.
  7. Students must present original, unexpired documents necessary to complete the I-9 employment eligibility verification process. A list of acceptable documents can be found on the current I-9 form: https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-9-paper-version.pdf (73 KB PDF)
  8. Students must enter hours worked through the online MyWashburn system after a contract is signed. Students must also email their professor the hours they have worked, cc'ing cory.payne@washburn.edu.
  9. The school will notify students of the deadline for web entry through their Washburn e-mail address.
  10. If for some reason students are unable to enter their hours online, the school will process a paper timesheet for payment. This will cause a delay in payment because the time will need to be entered manually by the Payroll Office.
  11. Students cannot wait until the end of the semester and submit all of their hours worked at once.
  12. Students may work for more than one professor and hold more than one position.
    1. Example A: A student is hired as a Structured Study Group Leader and as a Teaching Assistant.
      1. Both positions will require a background check.
      2. The student will sign two different contracts.
      3. The total hours the student may work is 20 hours per week. Allocation of time should be discussed by the student and faculty member(s).
      4. The student will enter the hours for each position separately online.
    2. Example B: A student is hired as a Research Assistant for two different professors.
      1. A background check is not required before signing a contract.
      2. The total hours a student may work is 20 hours per week. The hours can be split between the professors. Ex: 10 and 10, 6 and 14, 12 and 8, and so forth.
      3. The student may enter the hours under one position number since it is the same type of work.
    3. Example C: A student was hired as a Research Assistant for a professor and has completed the work. He or she is then hired by a different professor to do research.
      1. The second professor must send an email to Cory Payne at cory.payne@washburn.edu indicating that the student has been hired as his or her research assistant.
      2. The student may enter the hours under one position number since it is the same type of work.

Updated May 9, 2023.

Short URL for this page:
http://washburnlaw.edu/studentemployment