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Other employment
International students
| Job listings
| Conflict of interest, commitment
A graduate student may not interrupt an academic program
to accept employment on academic, administrative, or research
staff, or as an hourly employee at MIT, Lincoln Laboratory,
or the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, either during the
academic year or during the summer, unless the approval of
the department head and of the appropriate academic dean has
been obtained and unless the work as an employee is not related
to the student's thesis research. A thesis release form indicating
such approval must be submitted to the Human Resources Department
to effect such employment. A graduate student may not include
as part of the thesis any material based upon work done while
holding an academic or research staff appointment.
Graduate students who hold full time research or teaching
assistantships or who receive full support on a fellowship
or traineeship are not usually eligible for such employment.
A full time (100 percent) teaching assistant or research assistant
is defined as 20 hours of work per week. A student who is
a US citizen or permanent resident who applies to work, in
addition to his or her RA or TA appointment, may be permitted
additional compensated employment at MIT for no more than
10 hours per week during the academic year, especially to support student life and learning activities (e.g., staffing
the front desk of a residence hall). Consult the Office of the Dean for Graduate
Education for approval before undertaking such employment.
International students
Regulations for international students are stricter, due to
US immigration laws. International students are allowed by
immigration regulations to work on campus, but they need to
fulfill three conditions: they must be full time registered
students; their work cannot be more than 20 hours per week
when school is in session; and J-1 students must obtain written
authorization from the international student advisor for any
on campus work other than assistantships. International students
who hold full time research or teaching assistantships are
not allowed to take any other employment on or off campus.
Note that the summer term is not considered a period of regular
enrollment for immigration purposes; thus, during this term
only, international students may work on campus in addition
to their full time RA or TA appointment. Fall term research
and teaching staff appointments typically end on January 15,
and spring term appointments begin on January 16. Thus, international
students holding full time RA or TA positions during the regular
academic year remain ineligible for any other compensated
work on or off campus.
Job listings
On-campus and some off-campus job listings are posted online by Student Financial Services. On-campus jobs are available in technical and nontechnical fields in academic departments, laboratories, and administrative offices. Paid community service jobs are also available for students with Federal Work-Study in their financial aid package.
Conflict of interest,
commitment
Although there is no declared policy against working outside
of MIT while a registered student, there are issues of conflict
of interest and conflict of commitment. The student interested
in working part time off campus, and who is a US citizen or
permanent resident, should first speak to his or her research
advisor about the nature of the proposed work. The advisor
must be assured that the work will not compromise the time
that the student is expected to devote to research at MIT,
and that the outside work does not compromise or infringe
upon patent or intellectual property rights related to the
student’s MIT research. The student also must ensure
that the outside work does not violate any departmental policy.
Under certain conditions students may benefit from part time
involvement in outside professional activities of faculty
members. Prior approval for students wishing to engage in
such activities can be granted by the department head after
suitable discussion with the faculty member and student.
In considering such arrangements, faculty should be guided
by the need to avoid conflicts of interest and to avoid infringement
of the student's academic duties and rights. Generally, if
the faculty member has a role in supervising the student's
thesis or in supervising the work of the student as a graduate
teaching assistant or Instructor-G, such employment should
not be undertaken, thus avoiding potential conflicts of interest
in the evaluation of the student's performance. If the faculty
member does not have a role in supervising the student's thesis
and/or the student's work as a teaching assistant or Instructor-G,
the employment may be undertaken. If the outside work is related
to the student's thesis, special care should be expended to
avoid conflict.
Faculty members who are already associated with students
in outside employment should disqualify themselves from becoming
research supervisors, academic program advisors, or examiners
of those students. Within an MIT research laboratory or academic
unit, faculty members should take care not to give the impression
of favoritism to those students with whom they are associated
in outside employment.
Generally, full time research assistants
should not be employed in outside professional activities
of faculty, both to avoid conflicts of interest and in light
of the obligations of the full time research assistant. A
part time research assistant may engage in such employment
if the outside work is not thesis-related and if the faculty
member is not his or her supervisor.
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