Hiring Personnel

How Hiring Works

There are two ways an employee can be hired at Rhode Island College. The first is as a biweekly employee, which is regulated by the Human Resources Office. The second is on Special Monthly Payroll, which is reviewed by Accounting, Human Resources and ORGA.

One-time payments and stipends may be covered in the form of honoraria or College requisitions, to be discussed later on this page.

Biweekly Employees

As there is a full-time employee cap on state institutions, new biweekly employee hires require prior approval. This information should have been provided to us in the first step of the application process. Please contact ORGA staff to learn more about hiring biweekly employees, as it is a less-recommended and more complex process than Special Monthly Payroll.

Special Monthly Payroll

The common way to hire employees for grant projects or to pay existing employees involved in funded projects is to place them on special monthly payroll. This means that a separate paycheck is issued to employees after special monthly payroll forms are submitted to ORGA. These forms are due on the 5th of each month in order to be paid for that month, and as project director or PI you are responsible for submitting these forms on-time. ORGA reviews special monthly payroll forms to be paid on grant funds and then forwards those forms to the Accounting Office. Please note that payroll of some kind should have been named in the proposal budget and/or cleared with ORGA in order to begin paying individuals on Special Monthly Payroll. Extra forms can be obtained from the Accounting Office at (401) 456-8001.

Hiring a SMP Employee

SMP employees must first go to Human Resources (Roberts 302) and complete an employment packet if they have not previously worked on-campus. The I-9 form requires an active US passport or two forms of identification; typically these are a driver's license and un-laminated Social Security card. Please note that special monthly payroll cannot be immediately paid without corresponding paperwork; therefore, please have the worker fill out the I-9 packet immediately upon employment to avoid a delay in payment.

Note: If you are a PI who has noted you are contributing time and effort to your grant-funded program as part of a cost sharing (What is "cost sharing"?) or matching requirement, you may not pay yourself through Special Monthly Payroll.

One-Time Payments/Stipends

Non-recurring or 'one-time' payments made to individuals or organizations for work related to your grant-funded program may be paid via other forms. Please see below.

Payments to Businesses

usinesses or organizations may be paid for services via a College requisition, as you are 'purchasing' their services. Please see the Purchasing page for more information on submitting College purchase requisitions. Note: Remember that giving major portions of project effort to other entities to perform may constitute a subcontract! Please contact ORGA if you are unsure of the distinction.

Payments to Individuals

One-time payments and stipends to individuals are often best served by College honorarium forms.


Honoraria are payments made to a non-employee for fees which are not traditionally required. For example, honoraria are often used for conference presenters. They may also be used as student stipends. Note: Honorarium forms are used for a single payment only. For example, a traveler coming to the College to present at a conference would not have his or her travel costs reimbursed on the honorarium form. A travel form would need to be used for any charges related to the conference presentation itself.

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