Setting Up a Summer Research Assistant

2025 Important Dates

April 16 - SRA Hiring Form Deadline (form now available)

April 30 - Student housing applications close

May 27 - Summer employment period begins (date to be confirmed)

June 7-8 - Summer campus housing first arrival dates

June 9 - Start of on-campus research work

June 16 - Dining Halls open

August 15 - End of on-campus research work

August 17 - On-campus summer housing ends

September 7 - Summer employment ends (to be confirmed)

Summer Research Start and End Dates

For campus-based research, SRAs will have access to campus housing for the research period June 9-August 15 (with weekend arrival/departure dates). If your research needs to take place outside of those dates and your SRAs will need campus housing, please note that on the SRA form. If your SRAs are not living in campus housing or this is a remote position, you can select start/end dates at any point during the summer employment period. Employment start dates begin on Mondays.

Student Status 

SRAs must be current, continuing Middlebury students. Faculty who wish to hire a student who is graduating need to work with HR to set up a temporary staff position and have funds that support this. URO funds do not fund students who have graduated. Graduating students are not eligible for summer campus housing.

SRA Pay, Housing, and Dining

Faculty should include information about SRA campus housing needs on the SRA Hiring Form. Students complete a separate housing/dining form in their housing portal by the end of April. Students must be working 30 hours per week to be eligible for campus housing. SRAs are responsible for all housing and dining charges. See go/seo for rates. SRAs are paid through payroll, submitting timesheets for faculty approval. For students working outside of the US or with special circumstances within the US, we can compensate the student using stipend payments. Please note this in the SRA hiring form.

The 2025 SRA pay rate is $586 for a 40-hour week or $14.65 per hour. 

Non-Middlebury Students

Non-Middlebury students working as SRAs will be paid through a stipend. Campus housing and dining plan costs will be deducted from stipend payments. Non-Middlebury students will be charged the weekly housing cost for students not receiving financial aid. URO will provide Housing with the contact information for non-Middlebury students so they can complete a campus housing/dining form.

Faculty Supervision

Because this is also a pedagogical experience, we expect faculty mentors and student research assistants to be meeting regularly and typically in person.

Work Location

Research may take place on and off campus, or a mix of both, depending on the project. Please discuss with us any significant off-campus portions of research. Work locations outside Vermont may impact how we pay SRAs and/or their compensation rate. Please include this location information on the SRA Hiring Form. This may impact your SRA wage budget.

Steps for SRA Setup

1. Read the Summer Research Assistant Policies These policies must be followed for the position to qualify.
2. Identify your funding sources. Apply for Undergraduate Research funding, if needed, by the March 1 application deadline.  Students are usually funded through faculty grants, Undergraduate Research funds, or other Middlebury funding sources.
3. Submit the SRA Hiring Form as completely as possible by April 16, 2025. This deadline is required for students needing campus housing and faculty with URO funding awards. The SRA Hiring Form is required regardless of your funding source. The SRA Hiring Form will be reviewed by Undergraduate Research staff and information shared with Housing and Human Resources.
4. Student responsibilities: The student will complete any forms required by HR and the housing/dining form in their housing portal. Housing forms must be completed by the end of April deadline.

Tips for Filling Out the SRA Hiring Form

• If you anticipate hiring an assistant but won’t have confirmation of the funding source (or the student to hire)  please still submit the SRA Hiring Form by the deadline.
• Include a funding source, indicate if it is undetermined, or if the position is a volunteer (not paid through Middlebury College).
• Fill out the number of hours per week (estimated), the number of weeks, maximum amount to be paid, start/end dates and work locations for supervisor and student.
• Include a title of the research project. A project description is not necessary. We will contact you if we need additional information.
• Note any SRAs who will need to be compensated with stipend payments rather than payroll.
• For research that requires an earlier start date or later end date AND campus housing for the SRA, please provide the explanation for this.

SRA and Faculty Mentor Expectations

Research positions are considered mentored training. SRA positions are typically 20-40 hrs/wk and typically last 4-10 weeks. Because the nature of some research necessitates extended and/or unusual hours, mentored faculty-student collaborative research positions will need to clearly communicate expectations and monitor hours appropriately. SRAs are paid through timesheets. Faculty and students must track their hours to avoid overtime payments. URO awards do not include overtime payments; it becomes the advisor’s responsibility to identify a funding source for this.

The 2025 rate is $586 for a 40-hour week or $14.65 per hour. 

Campus Housing Guidelines

SRAs are eligible for on-campus housing and/or dining plans, which will be charged to their student bill. Students are responsible for paying their housing and dining costs. Positions funded by college funds are not eligible for room and/or dining supplements. External grant funds may not be used to cover room and/or dining unless the grant was specifically budgeted and the request is reviewed by the Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs.

• Research assistants will be housed according to the dates on the SRA Hiring Form.
  • Summer housing will be available from June 7-August 17. If your research requires SRAs to have campus housing outside of these dates, we will follow up with you and housing on this. Any student with campus housing approved to begin research prior to a June 9 work start date will need to remain on campus after final exams and be prepared to move into their summer housing assignment when it is ready.
  • The 2025 campus housing rates are $100/wk for financial aid recipients, $145/wk for students not receiving grant financial aid and for non-Middlebury student researchers.
  • The first arrival dates are June 8-9.
  • Contact ur@middlebury.edu if the research work requires different arrival, start or end dates.
• An optional dining plan will be available. See go/seo for current rates. Dining halls opening 6/15. See information . Dining halls are closed from Commencement until June 15 .
• Students must have a minimum of 30 hours per week to be eligible for campus housing during weeks of employment. Students with only 20 hours per week in a research position must add another on-campus job of at least 10 hours per week to be eligible for housing.
• Housing charges are weekly (Sun-Sat) and may extend beyond actual start and end dates. Employment begins on Mondays and ends on Fridays. For start dates in the summer research period, students can access their room the weekend before their Monday start date and have one day past their end date to move out.
• Indicate if there are any extended breaks in employment.
• See full summer housing and dining details through HR. 

Travel

For research involving  travel, please see the Global Committee’s information traveling with or sponsoring students abroad and Middlebury’s handbook travel policies. Students are not eligible for travel advances. 

Volunteers

Students doing collaborative research with Middlebury College faculty who are not compensated through Middlebury College (external grant or college funding) are considered to be Middlebury College volunteers, even if they are receiving stipends directly from a grant or other source not administered by Middlebury. Summer volunteers without external funding are strongly discouraged. Undergraduate Research needs to be contacted for volunteer approval prior to any agreements with students or other institutions. 

Faculty need to submit a volunteer form and requests for on-campus housing will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Contact

If you have any questions or need clarification, please contact us at ur@middlebury.edu.