Each full-time faculty member is entitled to hire during the academic year one research assistant (RA) for up to 15 hours per week, and during the summer one or more RAs for a total of 40 hours per week. If you need more hours than that, please send an email with the reasons to the Research Dean, who can authorize a second RA for work that merits and requires it. During the semester, please do not impose more than 15 hours per week on a single RA, as that can interfere with the student’s academic work. The best way to advertise for an RA by posting an opening on the Office of Career Strategy’s Symplicity system.

Faculty may hire only currently enrolled students as RAs. The Law Center makes rare exceptions to this policy based on faculty needs. An example might be a need for an RA with skills or knowledge that can’t typically be found in our JD/LLM student body, such as deep familiarity with an esoteric body of law, an advanced degree or graduate study in another discipline, foreign language facility, or skills in statistics or empirical methods. Or an RA might have been working on a project, graduated or transferred to another school, and it would be a substantial burden to bring a new RA up to speed. If you feel you are within the logic of this exception you must clear it with the Research Dean first. The administrative steps (and costs to the Law Center) of hiring a non-student are considerably more burdensome and bypassing these steps will result in the RA not being put on payroll.

Please refer to the Student Hire Instructions for detailed information about hiring RAs and entering time.

Although RAs are now able to submit their hours in GMS, they still require the approval of the faculty supervisor. Your RA can email their hours to you, then you can approve and forward them to lawhr@georgetown.edu, or the student can email lawhr@georgetown.edu and copy you directly. If you have questions about RA payroll, please contact Employment Services at lawhr@georgetown.edu or x9045.