Although work-study students are not considered regular employees by the Office of Human Resources, those students will be subject to the University's drug-free workplace policy, University personnel officials say.

University lawyers debated throughout last semester whether work-study students would be considered employees for the purposes of the drug-free workplace section of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. An official decision was made in December.

"A better way to describe the situation than to say 'work-study students are employees' is to refer to the applicability of the Drug-Free Workplace Act to Penn State students," said Nancy Sassano, coordinator of faculty/staff health programs for the Under the Drug-Free Workplace Act, employers who receive federal funding must certify their places of employment are free of drug use and traffic. Employers who fail to comply with the regulations could lose federal funding.

"It is important to understand that there are many state and federal laws that define what an employee is for different purposes," said Robert Evans, the University's director of financial aid.

Sassano said students are not labeled employees because they are not expected to fulfill the same requirements as other University personnel, such as making mandatory contributions to the state retirement fund.

However, she said students must uphold certain standards while employed -- one of which is to maintain a drug-free workplace.

Within the next few weeks, the University's Office of Human Resources will send a copy of the new policy to students employed under the work-study program, Sassano said.

The letter will be identical to the one sent to all regular University employees last August.

According to the August memo, University policy is to prohibit "the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensation, possession or use of a controlled substance, on property owned, leased or controlled by the University and used in the performance of Employees must notify their supervisors within five days of any criminal drug conviction for violations which occurred in the workplace.

During the course of an academic year about 4,000 Penn State students are employed under work-study programs.

Last semester some University offices were receiving U.S. Department of Education documents while others were not, Sassano said, causing some discrepancies in the definition of work-study students.

Despite the delay, Sassano said, "We're on the move to make sure we're meeting all federal requirements."