Faculty Aide Program

Please note: Only faculty members may apply for the Faculty Aide Program.

What is the Faculty Aide Program?

The Faculty Aide Program (FAP) is a valuable program for students in the initial stages of their research careers and for faculty looking to take advantage of the program's wage -sharing benefit.  The program has provided thousands of opportunities for undergraduates from all concentrations to become closely involved in the ongoing research of a Harvard faculty member. 

How does the Faculty Aide Program work?

Payment to students in the Faculty Aide Program is split between the SEO and the faculty member. The SEO is able to fund the faculty member up to $3000 towards student wages (to be used for one student's wages or split among many) over the course of the fiscal year. The faculty member must match the wages earned with their own separate funding.  The maximum a faculty member can request from the SEO is $3000 (to be matched by the faculty member's departmental funding). This can be used for one project or split amongst multiple projects. Any charges in excess will be charged back to the faculty member's departmental budget through a journal entry in the University accounting system or billed to Harvard affiliates off-campus. 

How do I find a student?

Students often become Faculty Aides by contacting professors or responding to research assistant job listings in the Student Employment Office (SEO) Jobs Database. Faculty members must list students they would like to hire on their application before it will be approved. Faculty Aide applications are accepted throughout the year, but posting your Research Assistant position early in the semester increases your chances of finding the right student.

Determining a Pay Rate

There is no set pay rate for the Faculty Aide Program so the faculty and student are able to negotiate an appropriate hourly wage. Students have to be paid no less than Massachusetts minimum wage $15/hr.

• You may refer to the student employee wage ranges page to help determine the pay rate for your student aide.
• The estimated number of hours worked should be considered when determining the pay rate to ensure that payments in excess of the Faculty Aide award are not charged to the allowable restricted funds.
• Any charges in excess will be charged back to the faculty member/department through a journal entry in the University accounting system or billed to Harvard affiliates off-campus.

Hiring Students Through PeopleSoft

The SEO will hire all students through PeopleSoft. All students are required to complete onboarding documents including tax forms and the I-9 Form before they can begin work. Students cannot begin working until they are notified by the SEO. Faculty members and students will receive email notification both when the student has been hired in PeopleSoft and when they are ready to begin work. 

How do I apply for funding?

• Faculty members submit an online application and will receive an e-mail confirmation upon review of their application.
• Approved applicants can be awarded awarded up to one $3000 grant to be used by one student/project or divided among several. Faculty may not receive more than one Faculty Aide award of $3000 each fiscal year. Each dollar earned by the Faculty Aide(s) must be matched by the faculty member.
• FAP cannot be used to pay the wages of a student who has also received a grant from the Harvard College Research Program (HCRP) or any other Harvard supported research award.

Apply:  

• Instructions on how to complete a Faculty Aide Program application
• Apply now to the Faculty Aide Program

Please note only Faculty members can access the system with their HarvardKey. If you are an Administrator trying to apply on behalf of a Faculty member, please email [email protected] with the Faculty member HUID. This will allow us to add you as their proxy.

How are students paid?

Time Entry 

Students will be required to enter time each week through PeopleSoft. Timecards will then automatically be sent to the faculty member and/or supervisor listed in the SEOS system. 

Harvard Faculty Members 
Students on the Faculty Aide Program are hired and paid with the SEO’s billing code and the faculty member’s department billing code on Harvard’s payroll system. Once an application has been reviewed and a confirmation email is sent, the SEO will hire the Faculty Aide(s) using the following costing data split:

• 50% on the SEO coding.
• 50% on your department coding.  

Faculty at Harvard Affiliated hospitals 
This section is for faculty who do not have access to Harvard payroll.

If your department does not have access to the Harvard payroll system or you are using personal funds, please complete the additional billing information on the FAP application form. The Student Employment Office will process 100% of students' payroll and bill you at the end of the period of employment.

Onboarding 

• Students must complete all onboarding tasks including submission of the I-9 Form Sections 1 and 2 and tax forms so they can be hired properly in the Harvard Payroll system.
• Once a student is hired the faculty member and the student will receive an email with an electronic time card.
• The student will have to report time every week to the SEO in order to get paid for their time spent doing research.