One way CU System contributes to the university’s goal of shaping the future workforce is by hiring students, providing real world experience.

CU System HR is an off-campus employer that follows CU Denver's Student Employment Policies and Handbook when hiring students.

Students must meet the following requirements upon hire:

  • Be enrolled in at least six credit hours during the fall and spring semesters.
  • While students do not have to take summer semester courses to be eligible for work during summer, they must still meet the above spring and fall enrollment requirements to maintain summer student employment.
  • Students may work a maximum of 25 hours a week, or 50 hours per pay period during the fall and spring semester.
  • Students may work up to 40 hours a week, or 80 hours per pay period during the summer semester.
  • Students on an F-1 or J-1 Visa must work with their CU Campus ISSS office to determine if they are eligible to apply for positions at the CU System Office. Typically, we cannot hire students on J-1 visas. Students on F-1 visas must work with their ISSS Advisor to get an updated I-20 to apply for CPT.

Start the recruitment process

Creating or Updating a Position

This section outlines the process and who is responsible for key steps.

  1. The hiring authority discusses the proposed position update or vacancy with the appropriate officer and the Office of Budget and Finance to ensure sufficient funding is available within department. This step must occur before any forms are submitted to Human Resources.
  2. Department has preliminary discussions with HR regarding the duties of the position, position type, potential job title and appropriate pay range.
  3. The department begins the student recruitment process by attaching a job description (PDF) to the Student Recruitment Process Form upon submission.
  4. HR reviews the position description and advises the department of any edits, the approved statutory exemption criteria, position title, approved pay range, background check requirements and overtime eligibility status.
  5. HR approves the position and sends the posting information to Handshake for recruitment. Handshake posts to CU Denver, CU Anschutz and CU Boulder. HR also posts the position to SEAN, UCCS' student employer website.

Ready to Hire

Once you've identified the student you are interested in hiring:

  1. Hiring Department notifies HR about which candidate will complete a reference check either by Crosschq or phone. HR starts Crosschq, if applicable, and provides results to hiring manager.
  2. Hiring manager or HR makes verbal offer to candidate and notifies HR of verbal acceptance, if applicable. HR performs background checks and reports the results to the hiring department. All student employees must have passed a crominal background check to work at the CU System office.
  3. HR will prepare and extend an eOffer after the details are finalized (i.e. start date, agreed-upon pay, additional compensation).
  4. After the offer letter is signed and the background check is complete, the student recruitment process is complete. The hiring manager will receive an email from HR that contains a copy of the signed offer letter, as well as additional hiring information & instructions they must complete to prepare for the student employee to start in the role.

Start Recruiting

Complete this form to start the process for a student recruitment. After the System HR recruiting team has received the completed form and a copy of the student job description, a member of our recruiting team will reach out for the next steps in the process.

A job description is required to do a student recruitment. Please see the CU Student Employee Job Description template and the example student assistant job description to help formulate your position's description.

All searches must be conducted in a timely and professional manner that respects the rights of candidates’ confidentiality. To attract a highly-qualified and diverse candidate pool for system positions, outreach and recruitment must follow Regent law, Article 10, which states: 

"The University of Colorado does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, political affiliation, or political philosophy in admission and access to, and treatment and employment in, its educational programs and activities. The university takes action to increase ethnic, cultural, and gender diversity, to employ qualified disabled individuals, and to provide equal opportunity to all students and employees."