Hiring New Grant Staff
Hiring individuals to grant-funded activity is one of the more complicated procedures a Principal Investigator PI) undertakes. This is because placing a person on a grant requires different processes depending on the status of the individual in question.
Below are the most frequently-encountered situations along with the process a PI should follow in each case:
For new hires, in all cases (Full Time, Part Time, Student) a new position that is associated with the grant account must be created and approved. This is completed through the "Request a New Position" within BlueSky.
The PI contacts Human Resources Staffing and provides provides the HR staff with the following:
- Position Number (if it exists)
- Project chartfields
- Estimated Salary
- Job description
The PI contacts Human Resources Staffing Provide the following:
- Position Number (ORS will assist in identifying this)
- Compensation rate
- Project Chartfields
- Individual's name
HR will contact ORS for approval of the hire.
Whether the students are new hires or reassigned to a grant, Graduate or Undergraduate, the Principal Investigator will need to submit a new hire request through the OSE Hiring Center within Campus Connect. For more information about the hiring process of student employees, please visit this hiring page of OSE’s website.
Once the request is submitted, it will be routed to ORS for approval, OSE to collect paperwork (if applicable) and HR to enter into BlueSky. An effective date should be future dated at least a week in advance when submitting a request. Please do not have the student employee start until you receive a notification from OSE that the student can start working.
If a current student employee needs to be transferred from one position to another and/or if the grant account will now replace the source of funds the student previously received compensation, the PI should work with their College Budget Manager to submit a salary redistribution. The instructions are found here.
In situations where a DePaul employee receives a stipend or honorarium for some limited special function performed for a project, the Principal Investigator compensates him/her through the completion and submission of a Individual Compensation Plan (ICP) request through BlueSky. The PI should work with their College Budget Manager to complete the ICP through BlueSky.
Assigning Existing Staff to a Grant
DePaul staff or faculty, whose salary will completely be covered by a new grant account, must have their current positions associated and paid for with the new grant account. A common procedure is to assign only a percentage of a salary to a grant account to reflect only a partial time commitment to the grant activities. This commonly occurs when a faculty member is given a course release or other salary buyout that is covered by an external source. The “principal” internal account assigned to the position remains unchanged.
The Principal Investigator must work with their College Budget Manager/HCM Manager to complete the necessary steps to assign a faculty or staff to a grant. The College Budget Manager will submit the request through BlueSky and it will proceed through an electronic approval process.
* Note that ALL active personnel assigned to the identified position will see their salary moved to the grant account. Particularly with part time positions that may have multiple staff assigned to it, ensure that you intend all staff assigned to a position to move on to a grant account.
Note on BlueSky Account Codes
For all the forms listed above, the PI is requested to provide an Account. This is the first part of a chartfield and identifies the nature of the expense (other components of the chartfield indicate the source of the funding).
The following are the account numbers most commonly used for remuneration purposes in grant accounts:
Full-Time Salaries
501000: Faculty Full Time
501300: Administration Full Time
501400: Professional Full Time
501500: Clerical Full Time
Part-Time Salaries
511100: Faculty Part Time
531570: Professional Part Time
531510: Clerical Part Time
Student Salaries
531610: Graduate Assistant
521650: Student Service (Undergraduate)
One-Time Payment
511100: Faculty Part Time
531570: Professional Part Time
531050: Honorarium