By Jenna Fiaretti, Staff Writer and Zorian Edwards, Editor-In-Chief
Starting a job on campus can be overwhelming; there’s paperwork to fill out, interviews to schedule and an overwhelming impulse to get started right away. In the midst of all these complicated procedures is one question: where should student hires start?
After a student worker receives and signs their hire letter, a letter given to their employer, a series of paperwork must be filled out in order for them to officially start their new job.
“Via email, students will be directed to complete new hire paperwork online through our workforce now ADP HR/Payroll system and our secure portal link,” Lisa Terranova, student payroll and employment coordinator, said. “The digital timekeeping training on Blackboard must be completed before being allowed to work.”
Although students are required to complete the student onboarding process before starting their position, this doesn’t always happen.
“There have been instances where students have not completed all required onboarding paperwork before their intended start date,” Lamark Shaw, director of career services, said. “In those situations, we are unable to allow them to begin working until everything is finalized, which can delay their start.”
Supervisors are sometimes confused about their student workers’ onboarding progress. They have no access to the ADP page that indicates how far along their new hires are in the process. This results in miscommunication between the faculty and Employee Engagement, who can access this information.
“Overall, the onboarding process is thorough and ensures compliance with employment regulations, which is important,” Shaw said. “Some students have shared with me that it can sometimes feel a bit complex for students who are navigating it for the first time.”
The faculty’s inability to see the onboarding progress prohibits them from helping students with onboarding paperwork and training. This is the students’ first employee position at Daemen, so they are unaware of how this process is supposed to look. Faculty assistance would be helpful in this scenario.
“Perhaps a department supervisor view so that we can see how far along our new hires are in the process,” Kara McGuire, assistant director of RIC/Library services, said.
Some students feel the current system works, but needs a few alterations.
“It went smoothly. One of my friends helped me with the process. It was fine,” sophomore physical therapy major, Marisa Fioravanti said. “I feel like there was a lot we had to do to work for five hours. It was long. I feel like they should have made it shorter.”
The paperwork: What does it Mean?
These documents ensure that students get paid for the work they do.
A W-4 form is a document that determines how much of a student’s paycheck is taxed by the federal government. The form gets updated every year, so students need to ensure that they are filling out the current one. As of right now, that would be the 2026 form.
While the W-4 is often regarded as a very intimidating, complicated form that requires a lot of effort to complete, this isn’t inherently true. Many steps on the form aren’t actually applicable to most students. Most students will only have to fill out step one, which asks for personal information like name, address and social security number; and step five, which is the signature. There’s a helpful guide to filling out the W-4 linked here.
For the I-9 form, the student is required to provide employee engagement with a copy of documents which establishs both identity and employment authorization, proving the student can work within the state of NY.
These documents include a real ID, which is a driver’s license, a state ID, a U.S. Military card, a military dependent’s ID card, or a Canadian driver’s license. A copy of the student’s Social Security card must also be provided. All documents containing an expiration date must be unexpired.
A W-2 form is one of the most familiar documents to student employees. This is a document completed by Jan. 31 reporting total earnings, taxes withheld, and benefit contributions for the previous year.
The document tells the IRS, Social Security Administration (SSA) and state/local agencies exactly how much income was earned. You can find a step-by-step guide on how to complete a W-2 here.
An NYS IT-2101 form allows the student worker to tell Employee Engagement how much tax to withhold from their paycheck for tax purposes. Current employees are able to adjust this amount through ADP once hired.
How are Hours Logged?
Once hired, student workers can log their work hours through Synerion (online timekeeping system). Training for this system is incorporated into the onboarding process.
“Students will be required to punch in and out in real time,” Terranova said. They will be expected to communicate with their supervisors regarding any discrepancies, such as missing punches or incorrect punches. They will need to verify that all punches have been recorded before being approved by their supervisor and sent to payroll.”
The current information given to students about Synerion includes 45 pages of dense information separated into labeled sections. It also provides one-minute video tutorials on punching in and punching out. The onboarding process is made to provide students with general information about what not to do during office hours, tax paperwork and Synerion, but rarely does it involve job-specific training.
“I think as a student worker, I would recommend helping students understand the ins and outs of the job initially, so there isn’t any added pressure or confusion,” Essence Brown, senior animation major and student affairs assistant, said. “Some concerns I had were how to use Synerion’s punch system, as well as how to transfer a phone call on the office phone.”
If you are a student employee encountering onboarding issues or have questions about the process, please talk to your supervisor, Patty Puglia (ppuglia@daemen.edu) or Lisa Terranova (hr@daemen.edu).