I don't really get why a hacker would take a contract position before going on full time. When I look for jobs I have my choice of several options. A contract position is pretty much the worst thing you could offer me. In fact I don't think it's ever happened to me.
I feel the same way about W2 positions; but yeah, uh, if you are going for someone who is good (and who is recognised as good... not all good programmers are recognised as such.) they aren't desperate, and they are unlikely to take a contracting position if they want a W2 (and visa-versa) without a large premium.
A lot of good people in niche areas have their own projects and goals and don't mind picking up part-time work if it fits in with their goals. This might not describe the guy you want running your server, but its the way a LOT of creative freelancers work.
Just anecdotally, two of my best hires started working for me in some part-time capacity before coming on full-time. In these cases, hiring part-time ended up being a kind of courtship. Especially since people instinctively judge most jobs by the salary, if you've got a small but growing company, hiring part-time can be a useful way of ramping up help while controlling costs.
Although short, the last bit about focusing on a single school is important. Electronic Arts does some heavy recruiting at my school, including tours and talks with our student ACM chapter.
I know it works because they got me to intern there twice. :P
