FAQ

The Develop Your Own Summer Internship Program, commonly referred to as the DYO Program, is an employment assistance program monitored through the Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment and Cornell Career Services for students eligible for Federal Work-Study (FWS) funding. You find or develop a paid summer job or internship that is academically or career related for you and if approved, Cornell will reimburse the employer for a portion of your wages (typically up to 50% of your gross earnings). The position must be located in Ithaca, at Cornell, or within the United States. The benefit to you is that the possibility of reimbursement acts as an incentive for employers to consider you over other equally qualified students, or to offer you a position that might not otherwise be paid!  NOTE: If you work for a Cornell department you must be approved through the DYO Program for summer work-study funding BEFORE you start working or your wages may not be reimbursed.

Cornell undergraduates who had Federal Work-Study eligibility during the Academic Year and who will be returning to Cornell full-time in the fall semester. You cannot be graduating before December 2008 and you cannot be registered for 6 or more credit hours of summer classes. Because your eligibility for FWS may change each year, you must submit a new DYO application every year. Your funding is NOT automatically renewed even if you are rehired by the same employer (including all on-campus departments).

Yes. To be eligible for DYO summer funding all applicants must have FWS eligibility as part of their 2007-2008 academic year financial aid package. In addition, there is very limited funding through an alumni organization for one non-work-study (NWS) student to work in a Non-Profit Public Service organization through the ACEF Public Service Internship. The employer parameters for this one NWS subsidy are similar to the DYO program. Check with Nancy Law, 203 Barnes Hall for more information.

No. Any non-profit organization, and in some cases very small for-profit businesses may be eligible for funding approval.  Internship listings through Bear Access and CornellTrak are only two of many resources to use for locating summer internships or jobs. The intent of the DYO Program is for you to find/develop a career related summer internship that may not otherwise be advertised. Don't be afraid to approach a potential employer or faculty member to discuss your career goals, your skills and background, and to explore the possibility of establishing a paid internship opportunity with the organization on a trial basis. You have nothing to lose!

No, unfortunately there are no guarantees. What the DYO program does is help make you more "attractive" to a potential employer in a competitive job market by offering the possibility of a partial reimbursement to the employer for a portion of your gross earnings. It's totally up to you to conduct an effective job search and identify potential opportunities.  

First you identify an employer who is fairly committed to hiring you, then you and the employer complete your respective application sections, and you return the full DYO Funding Request Application with your resume to the appropriate office. This information packet comes with a cover letter that provides the employer with a brief explanation of the program. The Funding Request Application is simple; basically, the employer describes the position and you explain why the position is career or academically relevant to you. The DYO Funding Request Application forms may be picked up at The Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment in 203 Day Hall, Cornell Career Services, 103 or 203 Barnes Hall or printed from their websites (see page 3, application locations).

Yes. However, funding will be approved for only ONE employer. If you submit more than one DYO we will ask you to choose which employer is more important to you. Therefore, only submit DYO applications for employers with whom you have a realistic potential for being hired. 

We recommend you submit your application by Wednesday, May 7th to allow us to process and approve your application before you leave campus for the summer. (It often takes at least 3-5 days to process.) It is best to submit the completed application earlier in the semester, or as soon as you have identified an employer willing to consider you for a summer job or internship. We award funding on a rolling basis, beginning in March, meaning we approve applications until the funding is spent. 

A waitlist is used only if funding gets low, which rarely happens. If you are put on the waitlist, you would be notified immediately. Your application is still reviewed, and if approved, you are put on a waitlist for funding. Typically there are a handful of students approved for the DYO program who decide not to work, or they decide to work for a different employer...when this happens we use the funding that was reserved for those students to approve others off the waitlist.  Many employers will still hire you, without the subsidy, if you are waitlisted.

Starting in March we send approvals and denials to students by e-mail. If you are approved, we will send hiring confirmation paperwork directly to the employer. It will be your responsibility to follow-up with the employer to confirm whether or not you are hired and to establish a convenient start date. You will also be responsible for confirming that your employer has completed the hiring papers to accept the DYO funding within two weeks following your approval, and no later than June 30, 2008. Applications and hiring confirmations received after June 30 are not accepted.

Jobs or internships that meet the following criteria generally are approved:
• internship/job must be career related or academically relevant
• U.S. employment only (i.e., location of job must be in domestic U.S.)
• full-time employment of at least 35 hours/week
• must work on-site, under regular supervision (not independent, submitting hours for payment)
• Employers must pay an hourly wage equal or greater than local, state or federal minimum, whichever is higher. (Note: Federal Minimum wage increases from $5.85 to $6.55 on July 24, 2008. The student's wage must increase on this date, if lower than $6.55)
• position must last at least 8-10 weeks

YES. Jobs with a direct religious or partisan political affiliation cannot be approved. You cannot work for a family owned business, lobbying organization, nor can you be self-employed. You cannot work from home or independent from the employer’s work-site. You cannot work for the U.S. Dept. of Education. You must be paid an hourly wage. Stipend or commission based salaries are not allowed. You cannot work in a foreign country. And, you must be paid by the employer and not through a temporary employment agency that "places" you with the employer. NOTE: Employers will NOT be reimbursed if you are paid by stipend, commission or by a third party.

Yes, but you must be taking fewer than 6 credit hours. If you are planning to take 6 or more credit hours you must complete a summer Financial Aid application (in 203 Day Hall). If you are unsure about the number of credit hours you will be taking during the summer, complete both applications and adjustments will be made at the time your summer status is finalized, BUT it is YOUR responsibility to keep us and your employer informed of your plans and intentions. You will NOT be approved for both summer Financial Aid AND DYO funding; you will need to notify us which you plan to accept before approval is final.

No. The DYO form is not used if you apply for a job through the New York City Public Service Corps, but you must still have Federal Work-Study eligibility for that program. Nor do you complete the DYO form if you are taking more than 6 credit hours at Cornell during the summer and working on-campus.

This depends on your hourly wage, the number of hours per week, and the number of weeks you work. The typical student earns around $2,500. For example, if you're paid $9.00/hr and work 9 weeks for 35 hours/week you'll earn $2,835. Please note that your earnings are considered taxable income, including FICA. If your employer fails to withhold the appropriate State, Federal and FICA taxes, you will be responsible for claiming your gross income from the job on your income tax return. Remember that Cornell expects all financial aid students to save 54% of their gross summer earnings to help meet the costs of returning to Cornell for the next academic year. 

If you work for an on-campus employer, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Isle of Shoals, or the Community Work Study Program (Cornell Public Service Center), you are appointed to the Cornell payroll. Otherwise, your full wages are paid by the employer, and Cornell reimburses the employer a percentage of your gross wages in the fall. It is your responsibility to understand the employer's payroll process before you start working. Per the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid on a regular (weekly/bi-weekly) basis. In addition, payment for this program must be made on an established payroll system (i.e., no cash payments, personal checks, stipends or lump sum payments).

First, the hiring confirmation forms must be returned within two weeks of your approval and no later than June 30, 2008. Once you begin work, you fill out weekly or bi-weekly time cards and the employer pays you throughout the summer. At the end of the summer employment period the employer must provide Cornell with copies of your timecards (signed by both you and the supervisor) and prove that you were paid an hourly wage for the hours you worked. If all the required paperwork is received by a September 30 deadline, Cornell sends a check to the employer for up to 50% of your gross earnings. It's important to remember that you have a gross earnings limit ($4,000) and the maximum amount an employer can be reimbursed is $2,000. Most employers receive their reimbursement checks by the middle of November. An explanation of the reimbursement process and additional paperwork will be sent directly to the employer once you've been approved. However, if you or the employer have questions about this process, please call our offices. NOTE: If you begin work prior to receiving funding approval, we cannot guarantee reimbursement for the pre-approval hours that you worked. ( For interns employed by Cornell departments, the reimbursement occurs automatically through the bi-weekly payroll.)

This program has been working with Ithaca’s non-profit agencies, schools and municipalities for 30 years, helping Federal Work-Study eligible students find paid jobs in Ithaca. The office lists career or course related jobs for over 80 employers. Jobs are available in the summer as both full and part-time, as well as, during the academic year. Jobs range from engineering or environmental positions to daycare to computer administration and marketing, to name just a few! For more information please contact the Cornell Public Service Center at 255-1148 or visit the office at 200 Barnes Hall.