Payments to Students, Faculty, and Staff

Wages are defined as a payment for services made under an employer/employee relationship where the University receives a benefit from the services provided. If payment for wages is earned as an employee of the University, the payment must be processed through the Human Resource and Payroll processing procedures. 

If there are past-due fees owed by the student, the award will first apply to charges past due.  Any remaining amount will be refunded to the student.

Financial Aid Website

To initiate a payment to a student from any department or business unit the requester completes a “Student Award Request Form”. The form can be found below. The completed form is submitted to Student Financial Services (SBS 285) or email cash@humboldt.edu. If you wish to utilize DocuSign to submit your form, please contact 707-826-4407.

If there are past-due fees owed by the student, the award will first apply to charges past due.  Any remaining amount will be refunded to the student. Exceptions can be requested by contacting Student Financial Services at 707-826-4407. This may include special award presentations to students. 

Payments will be processed weekly by Student Financial Services. Once the payment is available, the student is notified by email that a check is available for pick-up at the Cashiers' Office. If the Student has enrolled in direct deposit, the student receives an email notifying them that the funds are being transferred into their bank account. If the student would like to enroll in direct deposit, this can be done by accessing their student center and clicking “Enroll in Direct Deposit” under the Finances section in their Student Center. Student Financial Services coordinates with the Financial Aid department daily with detailed information regarding the students receiving awards. The Financial Aid department will work directly with students if the award impacts their Cost-Of-Attendance (COA) and Financial Aid award package.

Information Needed to Fill out the Form:

• Student’s name
• Humboldt ID number
• Amount of award
• Distribution frequency of the award
• Specific dates for distribution
• Chartfield from which the award will be paid from
• Student Authorizations-(HMSPF Only)- If the student is required to certify that they have participated in the program prior to receiving any payments, a separate request form must be submitted for each payment (found here).

Download the Student Award Request Form to Initiate Payment

Download the Student Request Letter (to coordinate with Financial Aid of an expected award over the academic year)

For more information about third party payments for organizations covering the cost of student's fees, click here.

Student Gift Card Policy:

All financial support to students must be reported to the Financial Aid Office, including gift cards from the University. If a student receives awards that would cause their total aid from all sources to exceed the Cost of Attendance (COA), then adjustments must be made to their Financial Aid package. This may cause a negative effect on students if multiple gift cards are awarded after their financial aid disburses and is in excess of their COA. Students may have to pay back a portion of their financial aid or reduce their award package.

When is a student gift card/cash equivalent appropriate?

• For infrequent participation in a survey, research study, or attending a campus activity or event.
• When no other awarding option is viable or suitable.

When is a student gift card/cash equivalent not appropriate?

• If the activity is related to employment services performed for the university, the compensation must be processed as wages with appropriate income taxes withheld.
• Students who volunteer on campus are not eligible for gift cards in lieu of compensation for work or services performed (see the CSU Volunteer Policy).

Process and Procedure:

1. Faculty, staff, administrators, and student organizations should first consider the use of the preestablished process of compensating or rewarding students (see Student Awards option above).
2. If a gift card is necessary, the university has established a de minimis threshold of $25 in an academic year for reporting and financial impacts to the students.
   • Gift cards are totaled by academic year per student and are outlined in the following:
     • Students receiving a combined total of $25 or less in gift cards during an academic year will not be reported to the Financial Aid Office.
     • Students who received a combined total of $26 or more in gift cards during an academic year will be reported to the Financial Aid Office, which may negatively impact the student's overall award package.
       • If a student receives a single gift card of $26 or more, a pre-approval by the Financial Aid Office is required
3. Prior to the distribution of gift cards, the person responsible for the distribution will need to obtain the Gift Card Pre-Authorization List provided by Student Financial Services. This list requires the student's full name, student ID number, gift card amount, the gift card issuer, and the student's signature acknowledging the financial implications to their financial aid package.
4. Once approved, a Gift Card Distribution List will be provided to the distributor (requiring all of the same fields as the pre-authorization list) to obtain the student’s signature again, verifying acknowledgment of the financial implications and that they received the gift card.
5. The Gift Card Distribution List with the student signatures will then be returned to Student Financial Services for IRS reporting and auditing purposes. A copy of this list will be provided to the distributor for their records.

FAQs:

• What happens if a student receives a $20 gift card for a survey they did in the Fall semester, and then receives an additional $15 gift card for a different survey done in the Spring semester?
  • The student will be reported to the Financial Aid Office in the Spring semester after they have received the second gift card, because the student has now received a total of $35 in financial support.
• What happens if a student receives a $10 gift card for a survey they did in the Fall semester, and then receives an additional $25 gift card for a different survey done in the following Fall semester?
  • The student would not be reported to the Financial Aid Office because the student did not receive a total of $26 or more in gift cards during the same academic year.

Staff/Faculty Gift Card Policy:

• Cal Poly Humboldt staff and faculty MAY NOT be the recipients of a gift card per the University Gift Card Guidelines

• Providing Financial Support to Students Flowchart
• Internship Payment Decision Tree
• CSU Wages vs Scholarship Decision Tree
• Enrolling in Direct Deposit