University of Southern Maine
An essential purpose of graduate study is to transform participants from students to developed professionals and scholars. Well-designed graduate assistantships serve to enhance the graduate experience and to facilitate the desired growth in professionalism and scholarship. Assistantships should be integrated into the programs of recipients and move them toward timely and successful completion of their degree program. While a student moves toward an advanced degree, he or she also receives professional and/or scholarly experience under the direction of a faculty mentor.
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.
Graduate assistantships are awarded by the Office of Graduate Studies and distributed through individual academic programs. Other assistantships are created and funded by departments or through external grants.
New Students interested in Graduate Assistantships can pursue these opportunities via two primary methods:
Returning students are not guaranteed their previous assistantships. Re-appointments, approved through the department’s or program’s normal processes, are made by previous supervisors.
To be eligible for a graduate assistantship position, students must be:
All OGS GA awards to programs are in the form of stipends and tuition waivers. Stipend amounts are as follows:
All OGS-sponsored GA’s working 10 or more hours/week will receive tuition waivers, up to a maximum of 18 credits during any academic year, in addition to their stipends at the following rates:
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.
Please see the summary of responsibilities for supervisors of graduate assistants for important details toward hiring and working with a graduate assistant.
* All HR forms must be completed for GA's who have not been employed by USM during the past 6 months.
If you have any questions, please contact Janet Casey in the Office of Graduate Studies: jancasey@usm.maine.edu or 780-4877. The office fax number is 207-780-4969.
