<p>Hi, I have a question concerning the Work Study Orientation. I accepted my work study offer and tried to click on the “Work Study Orientation” on mybama, but it doesn’t lead me to do anything. It brings me to a screen that says “select the process you want,” but nothing is there to select. I’ve tried on different browsers, but it’s the same on them all. Is it still too early to get to the Orientation, or something else? I was wondering if anyone had been able to get into it yet.</p>
<p>Also, could anyone explain what the Work Study Orientation is? Is it an online orientation? Or are we signing up for an in-person orientation? I’m just slightly confused on what it is, as I can’t find too much information about it on the website, and I haven’t received an email yet either (though I’m assuming it is rather early still). </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi classicchip. My son hasn’t accepted his Work Study award yet, so we haven’t run into the “Work Study Orientation” you are mentioning. I actually tried searching for some Work Study job information on the UA site earlier this week and didn’t come up with much (nothing actually, other than being referred to the Financial Aid site to APPLY for work study!). I suppose at this time of the year, no work study jobs are available / no work study jobs are being filled. I plan to try searching around the website again in early June. I will definitely be digging into it when we visit in June for BamaBound!</p>
<p>It’s likely too early to complete Work Study orientation. It will be available later this summer.</p>
<p>A lot of work study positions are found via word of mouth or at the Work Study job fair. IIRC, the list UA has on the website is actually a list of all departments authorized to hire Work Study students.</p>
<p>FWIW, one doesn’t need a cancelled check to get direct deposit of their Work Study check. UA also accepts a letter from your financial institution or a printout of your account numbers. </p>
<p>Note that work study awards typically assume a 17 week semester when Work Study students can only work 16 weeks each semester. It might be beneficial to schedule the maximum of 15 hours a week (20 for non-fist year students) instead of the typical 12 hours per week (15 for non-first year students). </p>
<p>@ amy: Hello! That was all able to find as well. I was able to get a hold of someone just a moment ago (I had called earlier and did not get an answer, hence the post haha), and it is still early for the Orientation–that’s not why it’s up yet! So that issue is now gone–thankfully! I am definitely a worry wart at times. I keep thinking of random things that don’t need to be resolved so soon haha.</p>
<p>@ SEA_tide: Thank you! I will check out that list and see the departments. I’ll definitely try to schedule for the max amount. And thank you for that reminder about the accounts. To get the direct deposit, I guess I will probably need to get an account with a bank in Alabama, right? I currently have an account with a credit union where I live, but I have no idea how to go about transferring it or getting a new one for Alabama. I’ll have to remind my parents of that. Thank you again!!</p>
<p>You can have money deposited into an account at any bank or credit union in the US. Especially with online banking and being able to take a pictures of a check to deposit it, it’s not really that important to have a bank account in Alabama. Your credit union might even have free use of an ATM on or near campus or you can just get cash back with your purchase at Publix, Target, Rite Aid, etc.</p>
<p>We have not yet accepted my daughter’s work study. What happens after that? Is she assigned somewhere or does she have apply where she would like to work?
Maybe this is all in the orientation…</p>
<p>Students with Work Study are not guaranteed jobs and are not assigned to specific positions. Students typically find positions by attending the Work Study job fair or asking various individual departments. UA departments like having Work Study students because Work Study wages aren’t taken out of the departmental budget.</p>
<p>I highly suggest looking at non-academic departments as well as academic departments as students often overlook such positions. It’s also possible to work in an academic department where one is not a student. For example, I was once offered a Work Study position in a microbiology lab.</p>
<p>Thanks! Do you know if there is a list of all the possibilities/participants in the job fair somewhere?</p>
<p>UA had a list online, but it’s not regularly updated. First year Work Study recipients are required to attend the Work Study fair. There is no publicly-available list of the departments attending the Work Study fair as they often decide to attend at the last minute.</p>
<p>To my knowledge, Work Study positions are not available for services which UA contracts with a 3rd party, mainly the dining halls and full size Crimson Ride Buses (348-RIDE vans are now primarily operated by state employees.)</p>
<p>If a student has specific skills, it’s highly recommended that they contact the specific departments directly. For example, some CS majors are employed by the Athletics department to manage their website.</p>
<p>I asked UA Financial Aid about work study… and received this helpful response:</p>
<p>Hello,
The Work Study website is currently down. Your student should receive an email to his CRIMSON account once the website is restored.
Freshman can only work 10 to 12 hours per week. On-campus wage is $7.25 per hour and off-campus is $8.25. Once the student has completed the Work Student Orientation, he will be presented with an online listing of Work Study jobs. The Work Study Orientation should be completed on the Work Study website which is currently unavailable.</p>
<p>Thank you for posting that!! Nice to see the clarification.</p>
<p>The work-study job fair in the beginning of the semester is a great place to see the different job opportunities, plus it is required for first-year students. </p>
<p>The 3rd party vendors do still employ work- study students. Bama Dining, the dining services on campus, hires a large number of work study positions. I started there as a work study student, and now continue as a regular employee since I only received work-study funds my first year. </p>
<p>It is limited to 12 hours for first year students, to protect them from overwhelming themselves. Plus they are not allowed to be scheduled during school breaks or class time. </p>
<p>I encountered the same problem, and it’s nice to see some clarification. :)</p>