Federal Work-Study Research Assistant

• Students must be enrolled at least half-time (six credit hours per semester) to be eligible for this program. 

• Students can work up to 125 hours per semester as an OSCAR-RA. The total hours available will be dependent on the total FWS Award allocated to the student. The schedule will be worked out between the student and the faculty member. 

• Students will fill out a bi-weekly timesheet on PatriotWeb to get paid.  Timesheets must be submitted on time and accurately reflect the hours and days worked. Students will not be paid for hours they have not worked. 

• It is the responsibility of the students to keep track of their own hours worked to ensure overage does not occur. Students are able to see the hours they have worked on PatriotWeb on their paystubs. 

• The pay rate for OSCAR-RA is $14.00/hour. 

• Students can only have one FWS position at a time.

You must have been awarded FWS as part of your financial aid package to apply for these positions, you need a FWS Award to be hired for these positions. If you have been awarded other federal aid, you may be eligible for work-study. Eligibility is based on the student’s financial aid award package from on their FAFSA. 

If you are unsure if you have an FWS Award please contact the Financial Aid Office.

Students must be enrolled at least half-time (six credit hours per semester) to be eligible for this program. 

OSCAR-RA opportunities are posted to Handshake as they become available, and applications are submitted and processed entirely through Handshake. 

Students can find current positions on Handshake by searching "George Mason University - Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research". 

• Submit a position description to oscarfws@gmu.edu .

  • As requested by Financial Aid, all position descriptions must be submitted on the following form:  On-Campus Job Description Form. Please download and save the form before filling out. All forms must be submitted to oscarfws@gmu.edu.

• Interview students – there are no specific requirements for interview.

• Email oscarfws@gmu.edu with your chosen student to start the hiring process.

• The hiring process usually takes 2 - 3 weeks, please do not allow students to start work before their official start date.

• The pay rate for OSCAR-RA is $14.00/hour. 

• There is no cost to the faculty member or department, as OSCAR and the Office of Financial Aid share the expense. 

• Faculty members can assign graduate students or experienced undergraduate students to serve as mentors for the OSCAR-RA, however Faculty or Staff must be timesheet approvers for the OSCAR-RA. 

• Students are hired for the full academic year, unless otherwise specified.

• Students who develop a new research idea from the assistantship may apply for the Undergraduate Research Student Project in the future.

• Students are also eligible to apply for the Undergraduate Student Travel Fund if they are an author of a project presented at a conference or other appropriate scholarly event.

• All positions must give the students direct experience with research or scholarship, at a level that is consistent with the student's skills and interests. We expect that you will treat the OSCAR-RA as a full member of your research or creative team. 

• A good position description will include:
   
  • 2-5 sentences describing the project/research goals 
  • 2-5 sentences describing the job duties or expectations 
  • 2-5 sentences describing the requirements for the position 
  • A reasonably nontechnical description written in language geared toward undergraduate students 
  • Supervisor contact information in case a student has direct questions about the position