Long lines at the bank could be a thing of the past for some Marquette student employees, who choose to have their checks directly deposited into their personal bank accounts.

Letters from the Office of the Comptroller were attached to every student employee's paycheck last week explaining how direct deposit works. An authorization form was also attached.

The earliest direct deposit can begin is in two pay periods, said Cindy Antoniewicz, payroll manager. Student employees must submit the authorization form to the Comptroller's Office by the first Wednesday of the pay period. Checks are processed the next day.

Students must submit a voided check along with the authorization form, according to the memo, as proof that the student holds the account.

Antoniewicz said it takes at least two pay periods to establish direct deposit for a student. During the first period, only the student's account and routing numbers are sent to the student's bank to confirm it is the correct account.

She said this is called "pre-noting" and is done for the safety of the students and the university.

Then, in the second pay period after the student has turned in the authorization form, the money will be directly deposited into his or her account, Antoniewicz said.

Students will be notified by e-mail when their application is processed and which dates pre-noting and direct deposit will occur.

On the second payday after the students' information has been processed, employees will then receive deposit pay advices, or check stubs, instead of an actual check.

According to Antoniewicz, Marquette offered direct deposit to students in a survey five years ago but only received nine responses. She said it was not brought up again until last year, when former Marquette Student Government financial vice president Blake Wallace, a senior, began working to make the option available for students.

According to freshman Dan Calandriello, MUSG senator for O'Donnell Hall, who helped Wallace through the process of establishing direct deposit, student employees received a nine-question MUSG survey in September. The survey asked students about where they bank and if they are happy with how they receive checks.

Calandriello said he saw a lot of students who were slow to pick up their checks and would appreciate the option of direct deposit.

"I believe this is definitely a need for students," Calandriello said.

Calandriello said MUSG has been promoting direct deposit and will continue to evaluate it in its year-end survey when students can evaluate all different aspects of the university. He said he hopes next year, student employees will take advantage of this "great tool."

There has been an overall positive response from students about direct deposit, Antoniewicz said, citing almost 400 responses to the MUSG survey from approximately 2,800 undergraduate student employees.

Antoniewicz said since the memos went out attached to Wednesday's paychecks, her office has already received 50 direct deposit applications.

MUSG president Kate Agnew said she was very excited and proud of Calandriello's and Wallace's work, as well as the communication department for their work on last fall's survey.

"It's one more example of how hard the members of MUSG work on things for students," Agnew said. "It's a great service for students, particularly in the years to come as students become more familiar with the option."

Antoniewicz said extra direct deposit forms are available from the payroll office in Straz Tower Room 175. Calandriello said the forms are also available for download on the MUSG Web site, musg.mu.edu.