Ignite: Employer Information

Ignite is the University of Windsor’s Work Study program that funds part-time jobs on campus for students. Positions offer an opportunity for both financial benefits and skills development.

Objective of the Ignite Program

Ignite focuses on students' career devleopment and skills devleopment. The main objective of the program is for students to:

• Gain career ready skills through experiential learning​
• Find jobs related to their curricular studies
• Explore other interests and career paths​
• Stay involved with on-campus activities​
• Gain exposure to new working environments​
• Practice job search and interview skills​
• Build their resume with a new experience​

What is Career Development?

Career development is the lifelong process of managing learning, work, leisure, and transitions in order to move toward a personally determined and evolving preferred future. There are a number of factors that influence career development, including interests, abilities, values, personality, background, and circumstances​. Career development encompasses the development of the whole person and is more than just deciding on a major or a job; It really is a lifelong process, meaning that throughout life a person changes, situations change, and every individual must continually make career and life decisions

What is Experiential Learning?

Experiential Learning is a methodology in which educators purposefully engage with students in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, and clarify values. Experiential Learning has been around for many years, but is at the forefront as it is proven to help students with their personal development​. To better prepare students for their professional lives, student development in higher education has become an important goal for educational leaders.​

Ignite accepts job propsals twice a year, in March/April for the summer term, and June/July for the academic term (Fall and Winter terms)

Job proposal submitted are evaluated by the Ignite team. Success jobs will be granted $1,000 per term per position on actual expenditures on hourly wage, vacation pay, and other mandatory costs associated with paying the students (EI, CPP, EHT, etc.). Any expenditures over and above the funding allocation from Ignite will be the responsibility of the department.

• It is the responsibility of the supervisor and department to keep track of how many hours the Ignite student(s) worked to ensure that they stay within budget. 
• Ignite students must be paid from the supervisor’s departmental budget or research grant student casual wage account with a WKS classification ending in 81520.
• Supervisors will set rate of pay (must pay at least $16.55/hour minimum wage)
• A student can only hold one Ignite-funded position each year and supervisors will be reimbursed a maximum of $1,000 for each student in a position 
• Ignite-funded positions can be shared across multiple students and/or supervisors can hire a new student into an Ignite position if an earlier hire does not fulfill the role and use up the allocated funding. 
• Leaving a significant portion of allocated funds unused may reduce likelihood of receiving future funding.

Employers can restrict the number of hours that they approve for a student to ensure that all costs are covered. If you wish to contain all costs related to hiring a student within the subsidized amount ($1,000), then the funding will cover 53 hours in each academic term or 106 hours across both terms at minimum wage ($16.55 per hour). Of course, if your budget allows, we encourage you to invite the student to work beyond the subsidized amount.

If you choose to pay your student(s) more than minimum wage and would like to stay within the subsidy, the number of hours per term they work needs to be reduced. For approximate calculations of how many hours per term your student can work, please visit this website. Any student hours worked, or wages paid in excess of the wage subsidy funding will be the responsibility of the department.

Submissions to hire Ignite students are now done through the Authorization for Hire system found in the Administrative Portal of myuwinfo.uwindsor.ca. Those hiring students will be able to select a position from the available positions in your area. If you need a position that is not on the list, please submit a ticket to a create a new position.

Instructions to using the Administrative Portal in myUWinfo can be found here.

If you require further assistance on how to hire a student through this portal, or if you need access to the administrative portal, please contact hrstudent@uwindsor.ca.

If your department has yet to transition to myUWinfo, please fill out the Authorization to Hire an Ignite Student Form and email it to ignite@uwindsor.ca. 

Supervisors can choose to hire a student in 1 of 2 ways:

• Hiring someone they already have in mind
• Hiring someone from a select pool of eligible candidates

I ALREADY KNOW WHO I WANT TO HIRE…WHAT DO I DO?
If you already know what student(s) you would like to hire into your position(s), ensure they meet the eligibility criteria and proceed to hire the student through the Authorization for Hire system in myUWinfo. If you have indicated that all the vacancies for your position have been filled, your job will be expired automatically and won't be visible for students to apply to.

Your student will have to complete a Student Hiring Package (see step 4 below for details). 

I DON'T KNOW WHO I WANT TO HIRE…WHAT DO I DO?
To hire an Ignite student, please do the following:

1) Review Your Applications: Depending on what you selected on your job posting form, students will apply to your job either online via mySuccess, in person, or through email.

2) Interview Eligible Applicants: Once you have decided what student(s) you would like to interview, you can view a pre-recorded interview online through their Interview Stream link (included in their application), or interview them in-person. If you'd like to interview the student in person, contact them directly via their UWindsor email address or the phone number on their resume. Supervisors should review eligibility requirements with candidates prior to hiring decision.

3) Hire a Student through the Authorization for Hire system in myUWinfo (see details above). Students may only work 1 Ignite position.

4) Have Your Student Submit a Hiring Package to Human Resources: Ignite students who have not worked at the University of Windsor before or in the past year need to submit a completed Student Hiring Package to the Department of Human Resources (HR) in order to be issued an employee number. All students will be provided with a copy of the Hiring Package located on Brightspace.

5) Have Your Student Attend a Launch Session: Ignite students who are hired into a position are required to attend a one-hour paid Launch Session within the first two weeks of their start date.

All required documents must be submitted to Human Resources in order for students to be paid. You can refer students to the Employment Services – Student Employees website for details. Once HR processes the Student Hiring Package, the student will receive a copy of the student's UWindsor employee number.

If the student already has a UWindsor employee number and has worked at the University within the past year, they are not required to submit the Hiring Package again. Be sure to include their employee number on the Ignite Student Hiring Authorization Form. If they have forgotten their employee number, they can log on to UWinsite Student and retrieve it.

Student Eligibility 

A student can only hold one Ignite-funded position each year and once hired cannot move to a different Ignite position. The only exception is when a student is hired into a Fall-only position and is then hired into a different Ignite role for Winter. Students must meet the following requirements to be hired into an Ignite-funded position and eligible to work on campus through this program: 

• Good academic standing (cumulative average of 60% or higher and not be on academic probation); 

• Registered in a minimum course load (60% for domestic; 80% for international; 40% for students with a documented permanent disability); 

• Not in a co-op work term in the semester they are employed in an Ignite position; 

• International students must have a fully approved study permit and a valid Social Insurance Number (SIN). 

• Students cannot work more than 24 hours per week on campus (across all roles they may be hired into). Students with a GA role are limited to 100 hours of other work per semester. 
  
  ** International students that have yet to land in Canada or those that have returned home before obtaining a SIN, may not be eligible at this time. For more details about how international students can obtain a SIN, see: https://www.uwindsor.ca/international-student-centre/87/working 

After you have hired your student, ensure they have submitted their hiring package to HR. Once they recieve their emloyee number please do the following:

1. Have your student complete Health & Safety training: All University of Windsor employees must complete mandatory health & safety training within two weeks of being hired. There are 5 modules in total, and students are to be paid for this training. Students can only do this training after they have been issued an employee number. Once they have their employee number, students can login to www.uwindsor.ca/requiredtraining to complete their training. Students who have already completed this training are encouraged to login to the website and ensure their training is up-to-date.
    
2. Meeting with your student and complete the initial check-in form: The initial check-in should be completed within the first 2 weeks of your student's employment. Your student is responsible to submit the signed initial check-in form to ignite@uwindsor.ca with both supervisor and student's signature at the bottom of the document.

Ignite Work Period, Summer 2024

• First day of work for students continuing from the Winter 2024 (who recieved funding and are eligible for work) — May 6th, 2024
• Summer 2024 first day of work — May 6th, 2023
• Deadline to hire — July 5th, 2024
• Last day of work — August 16th, 2024
• Final payroll process — August 23rd, 2024

Ignite Work Period, Fall 2024

• First day of work — September 9th, 2024
• Deadline to hire Fall only and Fall/Winter roles (with the exception of rehires for students that have left roles) —  October 25th, 2024
• Last day of work, final payroll submission — December 13th, 2024

Employers are responsible for reporting a student's hours using the the appropriate timesheet 

There are deadlines for submitting hours to Payroll:

• For employees who have been approved or are working in a Fall term only position, report hours no later than the last working day prior to the Christmas break
• For employees who are working the Summer term, report hours no later than August 18th, 2023
• For employees who are working in both Fall 2023 and Winter 2024 terms, report hours no later than April 12th, 2024.

Hours reported after this date will not be included as part of the Ignite program. Payment will then be charged to departmental budget provided on the Job Proposal form and will become the responsibility of the employer as legally, students must be compensated for all hours worked.

Payroll forms are not to be completed by the student employee. All forms must be completed and authorized by the employer. Do not project hours and do not pay students in advance of work being done.

Employers must monitor the number of hours a student works. Hours worked in excess of the wage subsidy allocation will be charged to the departmental budget provided on the Job Proposal form. If a student does not receive their pay as expected, please check with Payroll before resubmitting another time sheet to ensure that a student is not paid twice for the same period.  If time sheets are submitted by the deadline for that pay period, the pay will be deferred until the next pay period.

For approximate calculations of how many hours per term your student can work, please visit this website. 

Ignite Timesheet: Ignite-Payroll-Timesheet.pdf

Students hired into Fall/Winter  roles can remain in an Ignite role in the same department for Summer Ignite, as long as the student meets the eligibility requirements and the position is granted funding. 

Ignite 2023-2024, will be reimbursed in May 2024. 

Summer 2024, will be reimbursed in September 2024. 

Ignite students who have not worked at the University of Windsor before or in the past year need to submit a completed Student Hiring Package to the Department of Human Resources (HR) in order to be issued an employee number.

All required documents must be submitted to Human Resources in order to be paid. You can refer students to the Employment Services – Student Employees website for details. Once HR processes the Student Hiring Package, the student will receive an employee number.

If the student already has a UWindsor employee number and has worked at the University within the past year, they are not required to submit the Hiring Package again. Be sure to include their employee number on the the Student Hiring Authorization form. If they have forgotten their employee number, they can log on to UWinsite Student and retrieve it.