Hiring Research Assistants

If you are looking for a part-time research assistant and plan to hire someone from the Columbia student community, you will likely be making a casual student hire.

• A typical casual-student hire works between 10-20 hours per week.
• Casual-student hires can work no more than 20 hours a week across all positions they hold at the University.
• Keep in mind that many students are here on a visa; some visas restrict whether or how much a student can work and be compensated for their work.  
• Please encourage students to submit their paperwork as soon as possible, so that HR can confirm that you can hire them.

If you have already identified the student whom you wish to hire, please have your department coordinator use the web form at the following link to initiate the hiring process with HR Qualtrics form. Alternatively, you or your department coordinator can email [email protected] to initiate the process.

• HR will need the student’s name and their uni, as well as the chart sting they should be charging. 
• Once HR receives the request, they will reach out directly to the student with the necessary employment and tax forms.
• If you need help finding suitable candidates for the position, please send a job description (including job duties, expected number of hours per week, skills required, and compensation amount) to Leanne Crowder ([email protected]). She can help you post the advertisement to the Columbia Student Employment website (i.e., Handshake) and/or disseminate it through departmental list-serves (Economics, Mathematics, Computer Science, etc.). 

• The new minimum rate for hourly student employees who perform instructional and/or research work will be $21 per hour (an increase from the current $15 minimum hourly rate), starting January 17, 2022.  That will rise to $21.50 per hour on August 1, 2022; to $22 per hour on August 1, 2023; and to $22.50 on August 1, 2024.and reaching $23 per hour in August 2025.
• For 2021-2022 the following guidelines are suggested:
  • Basic tasks, including data gathering and data entry: $21-25 per hour.
  • Basic economics / statistical analysis: $21 - 30 per hour.
  • Tasks requiring specialized skills such as web programming, etc.: $30 - 40 per hour.

Regarding the time it takes to process a hiring request, if the student hire is already on payroll and HR as all the necessary paperwork, it should take approximately two weeks to process the hiring request. If the student is not already on payroll, it should take approximately three weeks for HR to process the submitted paperwork. Note that if the student does not have a social security card, they will need to officially apply for and be approved for one, which takes about 3 weeks from the time they submit their application. To avoid delays and setbacks in the hiring process, please encourage student hires to complete and submit the necessary paperwork as soon as they receive it from HR. For updates on the status of a student’s appointment please contact the Human Resources office.

Note that the student cannot begin working until he or she is on payroll. Students will not be paid for any work they do prior to being hired.  If you have questions, please contact Student Hire, to make sure that all administrative matters are resolved before student begins working on the project.

Full-time, non-student research assistants are typically hired into one of two roles depending on the strength of their technical skills and their level of research experience: a Research Staff Assistant or a Staff Associate (Officer of Research).  Permission from the Office of the Dean, as well as funding to cover the salary and fringe of the employee, is required before a full-time job can be posted or an offer can be made.

The responsibilities of a typical Research Staff Assistant (Grade R5) include tasks like: designing web-based surveys for online studies; collecting, cleaning, coding, and analyzing data; performing literature reviews; training and coordinating research assistants; paying participants and submitting requests for reimbursements.

• To initiate the process, please work with your divisional associate director to send a job advertisement that includes a description of the job duties, expected number of hours per week, skills required, and compensation amount. Your divisional associate director should send the posting to Melissa Brown in Human Resources.
• Prior to posting, please make sure you have sufficient funds in your COSTAR account.
• Once confirmed, HR will post the job advertisement to Careers at Columbia; you are welcome to send it to relevant list-serves or distribute it to members of your professional network.
• The Divisional Associate Director will work with you to screen the resumes and identify an appropriate candidate.
• The University minimum salary for a Research Staff Assistant (Grade R5) is $41,400 plus fringe rate of 33% for 2022 - 2023. 
• The fringe rate for government contracts is 28.2%

• Developing models and implementing program code (C, C++, Python, SQLite, MySQL etc.).
• Performing statistical analysis, including regression analysis.
• Assisting with data analysis and dissemination of findings through the preparation of reports, journal articles, presentations, web sites, and other research outlets.