We have important appointment reminders to share with you. 

Hiring

• Express pools are available for OPS, GA, and OPS Faculty appointments. Training guides are available for step-by-step instructions.
• Before offering a prospective employee Recruiting Incentives (sign-on bonus or direct payment of moving expenses), pre-approvals must be received from the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), the appropriate Vice-President, and (where applicable) Sponsored Research Administration (Contract and Grants). The incentive must be documented in the offer letter, and applicable forms are to be included with the offer letter.
• I-9 Deadlines: Section 1 of the I-9 form must be completed on or before the employee’s first day of work. Section 2 of the form must be completed by the third business day. If you hire an employee who will be working remotely and cannot complete an in-person I-9 on campus, initiate the remote I-9 process through Guardian. 
• International Hires without Social Security Numbers will only be funded for 60 days. The I-9 must be updated with the Social Security Number once the employee receives their Social Security Card and brings it to the department for verification. A copy of the signed card should be submitted to hr-edmdocs@fsu.edu via FSU NiFTy.

Graduate Assistant Appointments

• The minimum hourly rate for all GA appointments is $23.08 per hour. Please ensure that appointments meet the minimum stipend.
• All appointments must have a minimum appointment period of at least five (5) business days before the first day of classes through the last day of finals as outlined in the academic calendar. 
• Appointments for teaching assignments that require grading duties must continue through the grade submission deadline. 
• Where practicable, graduate assistants appointed in both the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters should have a continuous appointment between semesters without a break in funding. 

How can you ensure your employees are paid on time? 

• Job Offers and Start Dates: 
  • Job Offers must be submitted two weeks in advance of the anticipated start date for all appointments to allow enough time to work through the process of job offer, background check, and onboarding approvals.
  • If Job Offers are not received two weeks in advance, Human Resources will work with the department to determine an appropriate start date.  
  • To comply with University Policies and Procedures, work should not begin until onboarding and all required approvals are complete.
• RAMP Export Control:
  • All departments hiring research or research-related support job codes will require RAMP Export Control approval. The RAMP process should be initiated as early as possible to avoid delays. This requirement applies to all international graduate assistantship offers if there is a research assignment or responsibility. A screenshot of the approval must be uploaded to onboarding.      
• Foreign Influence Laws Requirement:
  • For candidates who are domiciled in, or have other specified connections with, foreign countries of concern (China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Russia, Venezuela), additional review and approval may be required. More information is available at the Office of Compliance and Ethics website.
• Payroll Deadlines:
  • Complete Onboarding appointments are due according to the Onboarding Deadlines Calendar. Invitations are considered complete when all required documents and approvals are submitted to HR for final processing. 
  • Other Personnel Actions (pPAF, ePAF, Additional/One Time Payment Requests) must be received by the deadline for personnel actions. 
• Meeting Payroll Deadlines helps to ensure that: 
  • New employees can obtain appropriate system, building, and email access on their first day of work.
  • Employees receive timely and accurate paychecks. 
  • New employees can make timely benefit selections (if applicable). 

Background Checks

• Approval from the Office of Human Resources must be received for all appointments before work begins per University Policy 4-OP-C-7-B11. Previous or current appointments do not negate the requirement for approval by HR before work begins.
• Working with Regulated Materials? For easy lookup and to ensure compliance, refer to our new comprehensive List of Materials covered under the various federal regulations that require Level 2 Background Checks.
• FSU enrolled students are typically exempted from university-required background checks; however, the university background check policy may apply if students volunteer outside their courses. Please partner with HR on events, internships, or volunteer programs to determine if any background check is required.

myFSU BI Reports for Appointment Verification

• The Active Employees Report should be run on Wednesdays before the time entry deadline each pay period during a normal pay cycle. 
  • All appointments that made the deadline should appear on the report for verification. 
  • Verify appointment details and report any discrepancies via an FSU Service Center case.
• Cost Center Report: Cost Center reports are available during payroll processing and provide an opportunity to review payroll data before final payroll processing to ensure the accuracy of employee paychecks. During normal pay cycles, two preliminary reports are released before the final report, one on Friday afternoon and one on Monday morning. 
  • Discrepancies on the Cost Center Report should be addressed through an FSU Service Center case as soon as possible. The deadline for cases during a normal payroll cycle to ensure corrections prior to the final processing of payroll is 10:30 a.m. on Monday. 

Employee Eligibility for Insurance

• New appointments and reappointments in different positions can have varying impacts on an employee’s eligibility for insurance, retirement, enrollment deadlines, and other University benefits. Please refer any employee inquiries to the following resources:
  • HR Benefits website.
  • HR Benefits Staff at (850) 644-4015, insurance@fsu.edu, or retirement@fsu.edu.

Questions?  
•    For questions regarding the Background Check process, please contact Andrew Kapec at akapec@fsu.edu or (850) 644-7938.
•    For questions regarding the appointment or onboarding process, please contact Ashlee Shafer at ashafer@fsu.edu or (850) 645-0370, or Anna Capenos at acapenos@fsu.edu or (850) 644-1449. 
•    For questions regarding benefits and eligibility, please contact Joel Huffman at jrhuffman@fsu.edu or (850) 644-7932.