Graduate assistantships serve three purposes: to provide financial support for students, to enhance students' professional and scholarly development, and to support faculty scholarship and teaching. It should also be noted that graduate assistantships are not to be used for day-to-day support of programs and departments. Rather, the graduate assistant receives financial support for graduate study through work that contributes to the teaching and/or research missions of the university.

The recipient of an assistantship is both a student and an employee. As a student, he or she is expected to maintain a high level of academic performance, and to develop professional skills through regular counseling by a faculty mentor. As an employee, the graduate assistant should expect to meet specified teaching or research obligations under faculty supervision and to receive in-service training. While the responsibilities of the graduate assistant may be greater than those of other students, the opportunities for professional development are proportionately greater.

Graduate studies and assistantship work should reinforce one another. Research projects, for example, should be of interest to the student, and whenever possible should be useful in completing course or program requirements. Teaching should enhance assistants' own mastery of subject content and give them insight into effective pedagogy. To achieve these kinds of integration the mentor relationship is crucial. Careful planning and monitoring are hallmarks of truly successful graduate assistant experiences, in which the relationship is beneficial to both the student and the university.

Receiving a Graduate Assistantship
Graduate assistantships are distributed through individual academic programs.

New Students interested in Graduate Assistantships can pursue these opportunities via two primary methods:

• by indicating their interest on Question 16 of  their graduate school application.

• by contacting their academic program directly as early as possible before the semester for which they are seeking an assistantship.

Returning Students
If you received an assistantship during a previous semester, you must obtain a re-appointment through your previous supervisor. Returning students are not guaranteed their previous assistantships.

Eligibility for Graduate Assistantships
To be eligible for a graduate assistantship position, students must be:

• Fully matriculated in a degree program at the graduate level.  (They must have met all criteria for graduate student status, including completion of a baccalaureate degree); and must be
• Registered for at least 6 credits of coursework in the semester(s) in which they will be working (master's and CAS students), or registered for GRS 602 (masters) or GRS 701 (doctoral)  and have a certificate of satisfactory progress from their program.

1.  Office of Graduate Studies Funded Graduate Assistantships
All OGS GA awards to programs are in the form of stipends and tuition waivers. Stipend amounts are as follows:

• Full-time (20 hours per week) $9,000 per academic year ($1,000 per month)
• 1/2 time  (10 hours per week) $4,500 per academic year ($500 per month)
• 1/4 time    (5 hours per week) $2,250 per academic year ($250 per month)
  

• Full time (20 hrs) - 18 credit tuition waiver per academic year
• 1/2 time (10 hrs) -   9 credit tuition waiver per academic year
  

2.  Department Funded GA's and Externally Funded Graduate Assistantships
Stipends paid by external (grants and contracts) or department funds must meet the minimum stipends required by Graduate Studies (see above).
Some of these positions include tuition waivers. Others are stipend only.

2008-2009 GA Information Sheet for Students (pdf)