Fall 2025 Graduate Worker Hiring Expectations

This memo concerns new requirements for hiring graduate workers, effective for hires beginning in the Fall 2025 semester. Please read it completely and share it widely with colleagues involved in hiring graduate workers.

As we prepare for the Fall 2025 semester, the Office of the Provost and the Student Employment Office are introducing new requirements for hiring graduate workers, including a new job title, automated job assignment letters and teaching notifications, and documentation of job responsibilities that must be sent by the unit. These new requirements, outlined below, will improve coordination of employment activities across schools and colleges and support compliance with the BU Graduate Workers Union (BUGWU) collective bargaining agreement.

(1) New Job Title for Salaried PhD Graduate Workers

Salaried PhD graduate workers (i.e., 20 hours/week work assignment) will now receive the title Graduate Fellow. This title encompasses research, teaching, and instructional responsibilities and will be used in place of the existing titles Graduate Research Fellow and Graduate Teaching Fellow.

• The Graduate Fellow title is required for salaried PhD graduate worker hires with start dates of Monday, August 25 or later.
• Salaried PhD graduate workers will remain hired continuously in the Graduate Fellow position for the duration of their expected employment. For example, a PhD student with three consecutive 12-month periods of anticipated salaried employment, beginning in Fall 2025 and ending in Summer 2028, will become a Graduate Fellow on August 25, 2025 and remain a Graduate Fellow until the end of Summer 2028.

Hiring actions for Graduate Fellows must be completed by their primary academic unit regardless of the unit appointing the worker. Units appointing a Graduate Fellow must obtain prior approval from the worker’s primary academic unit before finalizing an appointment.

(2) Job Assignment Letters (Automated)

Effective Friday, August 1, when you complete a hire in JobX for a BUGWU-represented graduate worker, SAP will automatically send a Job Assignment Letter to the graduate worker. This email will include:

• Job title
• Job title description, as indicated in SAP
• Salary or hourly rate
• Start and end dates
• Expected number of hours of work per week
• Employment unit
• Supervisor’s name and contact information as indicated in SAP
• If the position is represented by BUGWU, a statement on union representation. This statement is required by the collective bargaining agreement.

SAP will send a Job Assignment Letter for all BUGWU-represented salaried and hourly positions, not exclusively for Graduate Fellows, and for BUGWU-represented graduate workers in all academic programs, including doctoral and master’s students.

(3) Teaching Notifications (Automated)

Effective Monday, August 11, when you assign a graduate worker to a course in MyBU Student as an instructor, MyBU Student will automatically send an email to the graduate worker.

This emailed Teaching Notification will include:

• Course title
• Course department/program
• Course number
• Section type
• Section number
• Course meeting time and location
• Course description as stored in MyBU Student
• Enrollment limit

(4) Job Responsibilities Documentation (Responsibility of Unit)

Appointing units are required to provide BUGWU-represented graduate workers with applicable documentation of their job responsibilities as soon as practicable after hire. While most employment details are communicated through automated Job Assignment Letters and Teaching Notifications—helping reduce administrative work and support compliance—some required information cannot be automated.

Units must therefore ensure graduate workers receive the additional details outlined below (and may use existing templates and communication streams as long as they are ultimately comprehensive of the items on this list):

• The duties that the graduate worker will be required to perform, including a general description of the work assignment. General descriptions for teaching and research responsibilities are forthcoming from the Office of the Provost
• Supervisor’s name and contact information if different than that provided in the Job Assignment Letter
• Any mandatory employment meetings
• Any unique obligations, such as those required of mandatory reporters
• Instructions on how to record and submit hours worked, if applicable
• Information regarding any mandatory orientation and/or training required to complete the assignment, including safety training
• The location(s) of assigned work area(s)
• Any days or times when the graduate worker’s presence will be required in the assigned work area
• Information related to any known health or safety hazards related to the work assignment, such as potential exposure to harmful chemicals or dangerous machinery
• Graduate workers with teaching assignments: If known, any specific requirements for the course, including but not limited to any required or standard syllabus, textbook, or other instructional materials.

Key Deadlines

First-year students and hourly-paid graduate workers are not bound to the above timelines. However, we strongly encourage units to complete all expected Fall 2025 hires by Monday, August 18.

Upcoming Q&A Sessions and Ongoing Support

Kelly Nguyen-Williams (Director of Finance and Administration, ENSA) and Arthur Peterson (Director of Academic Labor Administration, Office of the Provost) will hold two Q&A sessions in July 2025 and two in August 2025. August dates are forthcoming.

• Fall 2025 Graduate Hiring Q&A: Session 1
  Wednesday, July 16 | 10-11 am
  Microsoft Teams 
• Fall 2025 Graduate Hiring Q&A: Session 2
  Monday, July 21 | 1-2 pm
  Microsoft Teams

Please share any questions with Kelly (knguyen2@bu.edu) and Arthur (apeter@bu.edu) in advance so they may assist you beforehand and/or prepare to answer your questions for the wider group, if appropriate.

Thank you in advance for your attention to these updates and for your partnership in ensuring compliance with these requirements for hiring graduate workers. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.

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