Academic employment is an excellent way for predoctoral students to earn funding while advancing their own research. The Graduate Division's policies regarding academic employment apply to all UCSF graduate academic students appointed to student academic title codes (all UCSF student academic titles are non-represented):

Percent of Effort

Students may be appointed at no more than 50% effort while school is in session (September-November and January-May) and no more than 100% during intercession (December and June-August).

Salary

Graduate Student salaries are subject to the Terms and Conditions for Graduate Division Award Recipients. Accordingly, program representatives hiring graduate students should contact the Graduate Division (graduate.support@ucsf.edu) to confirm the amount and source of the student's non-payroll stipend.

Fee Remission

Departments that hire graduate students in student academic titles at 25% effort or more for an entire quarter are required to pay their fees from the funding source that pays the student's salary. To do so, submit a separate Fee Remission form for each quarter that the student will be employed (you may list multiple students on one form). Because the form includes personal data (social security numbers), it should be sent via intercampus mail (not email) to Student Accounts (Box 0812) and the Graduate Division (Box 0244) at the BEGINNING of the quarter for which fee remission is being requested. Students working less than 25% are not eligible for fee remission and the appropriate student academic title codes should be used (see above).

Non-Taxability of Fee Remission

Fee remission is non-taxable. Therefore, fee remission benefits are not included in gross earnings reported to the IRS. However, fee remission benefits are listed on the 1098-T form, and may be treated as tax-exempt income, per IRS Publication 970. Please see the Tax Information section of this Web site for further details.

Helpful Links

• UCOP salary scales for Student Academic Title Codes: http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/acadpers/
  You may hire at any step, provided your appointment complies with the above policies. Typically, departments hire in the highest step in order to pay the maximum allowed without exceeding the 50% effort rule.
   
• UCSF Academic Personnel: http://acpers.ucsf.edu/acapers/
   
• Contracts and Grants Budget Guidelines Regarding Fringe Benefits on Student Academic Titles: http://or.ucsf.edu/cg/g1/6118-DSY.html (see Graduate Students-Academic Year and Graduate Students-Summer)

When budgeting student academic salaries on grant proposals, please note that fee remission is charged in addition to fringe benefits. Please contact the Graduate Division (graduate.support@ucsf.edu) for estimates of graduate academic fees in future years.