Career and Student Employment Services

University Guidelines for Student Pay

Guidelines for determining position level

Note: position level does not necessarily determine pay rate; see overlapping recommended pay rate bands below instructions for determining pay rates. View examples of how to use the rubric to determine position level below this chart.

Attribute	Entry-level (SE1)	Mid-level (SE2)	Senior-level (SEQ)
Previous relevant experience required to learn the job	None	Some	A lot
Training provided to the student employee	Complete - how to complete all job related tasks/requirements	Some - how to complete tasks needing to be done in a specific way	Little - relying on previous experience or will be developing work processes themselves
Professional supervisor providing supervision to student employee	Direct	Mix of direct and indirect	Indirect
Student employee directing the work of other student employees	None	Simple direction (ex - confirm pens went into the storage room)	Developmental direction (ex - may review performance of other student employees)
Student employee performs work independently	Seldomly	Sometimes	Often
Student employee is trained and supported to make independent judgement calls within job description	No	Sometimes	Yes

SE1 rubric example

Level SE1 example

Job description

Act as initial contact for visitors to our office.
Responsible as part of Welcome Desk team for answering general customer service emails or phone calls or making referrals to full-time staff; maintaining office equipment and materials; and assisting with department related events and projects.
Training will be provided by supervisor and will frequently work alongside supervisor to encourage questions.
Applicants must be positive, resourceful, dependable, enjoy problem solving in a fast-paced environment, and be able to work as part of a team coordinating coverage of the Welcome Desk functions.
Thorough knowledge of the university and the resources related to our functions are preferred, but not a requirement.

Rubric with position level ratings selected

Attribute	Entry-level (SE1)	Mid-level (SE2)	Senior-level (SEQ)
Previous relevant experience required to learn the job	None Selected SE1 attribute level	Some	A lot
Training provided to the student employee	Complete - how to complete all job-related tasks and requirements Selected SE1 attribute level	Some - how to complete tasks needing to be done in a specific way	Little - relying on previous experience or will be developing work processes themselves
Professional supervisor providing supervision to student employee	Direct Selected SE1 attribute level	Mix of direct and indirect	Indirect
Student employee directing the work of other student employees	None Selected SE1 attribute level	Simple direction (ex - confirm pens went into the storage room)	Developmental direction (ex - may review performance of other student employees)
Student employee performs work independently	Seldomly	Sometimes Selected SE2 attribute level	Often
Student employee is trained and supported to make independent judgement calls within job description	No	Sometimes Selected SE2 attribute level	Yes

SE2 rubric example

Level SE2 example

Job description

Tutors most possess proficient oral and written communication skills to effectively communicate with populations.
Each tutor will be assigned a school and teacher within Kalamazoo Public Schools to report to and coordinate hours with.
Tutors receive monthly training opportunities from WMU Career and Student Employment Services supervisor.
Tutors will often work independently with students.
Previous experience tutoring and/or teaching material to K-12 students is required for this position.
Tutors are expected to have the ability to make quick judgement calls and remain professional in one-on-one conversations with students.
Duties include:
- Tutoring children in reading or mathematics.
- Recording and documenting project activities and accomplishments in prescribed manner by site.
- Supporting the efforts of teachers and students involved with the tutoring initiative.
- Exhibiting professional behavior at all times, including appearance.
- Arriving on time and prepared to tutor

Rubric with position level ratings selected

Attribute	Entry-level (SE1)	Mid-level (SE2)	Senior-level (SEQ)
Previous relevant experience required to learn the job	None	Some Selected SE2 attribute level	A lot
Training provided to the student employee	Complete - how to complete all job-related tasks and requirements	Some - how to complete tasks needing to be done in a specific way Selected SE2 attribute level	Little - relying on previous experience or will be developing work processes themselves
Professional supervisor providing supervision to student employee	Direct	Mix of direct and indirect Selected SE2 attribute level	Indirect
Student employee directing the work of other student employees	None Selected SE1 attribute level	Simple direction (ex - confirm pens went into the storage room)	Developmental direction (ex - may review performance of other student employees)
Student employee performs work independently	Seldomly	Sometimes	Often Selected SEQ attribute level
Student employee is trained and supported to make independent judgement calls within job description	No	Sometimes Selected SE2 attribute level	Yes

SEQ rubric example

Level SEQ example

Job description

Support on-campus student employee supervisors to post open on-campus student employment positions through one-on-one meetings or videocalls, and monitoring and extracting student employment data.
Assist on-campus supervisors, students, and off-campus employers participating in the community service federal work study program with navigating student employment after being trained on general information and guidelines about student employment and federal work study.
Provie information anddata proactively or in response to a request from the Student Employment Specialist, or other designated campus partners.
Complete employment verifications for current or former student and temporary employees as necessary.
General qualifications:
- Candidates should be studying Human Resources or have the career goal to work in the Human Resources field.
- Previous experience required communicating via email, phone, videocall, and in-person.

Rubric with position level ratings selected

Attribute	Entry-level (SE1)	Mid-level (SE2)	Senior-level (SEQ)
Previous relevant experience required to learn the job	None	Some	A lot Selected SEQ attribute level
Training provided to the student employee	Complete - how to complete all job-related tasks and requirements	Some - how to complete tasks needing to be done in a specific way	Little - relying on previous experience or will be developing work processes themselves Selected SEQ attribute level
Professional supervisor providing supervision to student employee	Direct	Mix of direct and indirect Selected SE2 attribute level	Indirect
Student employee directing the work of other student employees	None Selected SE1 attribute level	Simple direction (ex - confirm pens went into the storage room)	Developmental direction (ex - may review performance of other student employees)
Student employee performs work independently	Seldomly	Sometimes	Often Selected SEQ attribute level
Student employee is trained and supported to make independent judgement calls within job description	No	Sometimes	Yes Selected SEQ attribute level

Instructions for determining pay rate

Review the job description, identify the minimum required skills, select the appropriate position level from the table above.
Select the appropriate job title from this list.
Determine an appropriate pay rate based on the recommended pay ranges, other pay rates in your office or department, and your budget.

Recommended student employee pay rate ranges

Departments are encouraged to pay within the recommended ray rates, but have discretion to pay different rates as needed and budget allows. Preference is to ensure position level is accurate vs using a higher position level to match the recommended pay range.

Position Level	Recommended Minimum	Recommended Maximum
SE1	$12.48*	$14.50
SE2	$13.25	$18.50
SEQ	$15.00	Rates above $50.00 per hour require prior approval from Career and Student Employment Services in order to be processed.

*Please be aware that Michigan's minimum wage will be adjusted from $10.56 per hour to $12.48 per hour February 21, 2025. Recommended range rates will stay the same throughout the minimum wage adjustments, with the exception of the recommended minimum for SE1 increasing to match the state of Michigan minimum wage rate. Departments may adjust their rates and ranges as they are able, as long as they are paying at least the state of Michigan minimum wage.

Rate changes

Change in rate requires submitting a new transaction via PSHR Manager Self Service. Please contact WMU Human Resources for assistance accessing the system.

In the rare instance when a pay rate above $50 per hour is justified, documentation must be provided by the hiring agent. These exceptions are reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis.