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Assistantships

Graduate Assistantships

General Graduate Assistantships Application

Note: Winter Session is NOT Covered.

Graduate research, teaching, and service assistantships are available on an annual or nine-month basis. Individual academic and non-academic departments/units are responsible for making the assistantship award, establishing the amount of the stipend and work schedule, and monitoring the performance of the graduate assistant's duties and responsibilities. Some departments may also require that those seeking an assistantship submit a GRE/GMAT score. Applicants will need to contact the department for their specific graduate assistantship application requirements. A graduate assistant's work schedule is a maximum of 20 hours per week. 

Review the Graduate Assistantship Handbook for additional information.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ASSISTANTSHIPS HERE.

Responsibilities for Maintaining a Graduate Assistantship 

Required Course Load

Graduate assistants must be full-time students (see Full-Time Course Load descriptions in the Academic Policies section of this document). The required full-time status must be maintained throughout the entire semester. Therefore, no course may be dropped if the resulting course load will result in the student not meeting full-time enrollment status, nor may any course in the minimum graduate course load consist of or be converted to audit status.

Undergraduate Courses

The full-time course load may not be composed of undergraduate courses unless the course is a program prerequisite to maintain an assistantship. In such cases, only one undergraduate course will be permitted as part of the full-time load. Some international students are required by the University to take ESL 5323 and/or ESL 5313. Both are considered undergraduate courses and program prerequisites, and a graduate student is permitted to enroll in one of these courses while holding an assistantship.  ESL 5323 and ESL 5313 cannot be taken concurrently.

Course Overload

A graduate assistant wishing to schedule more than a full-time course load may, with the approval of their major professor, Department Head, Graduate Coordinator and Academic Dean, register for more than 13 hours by submitting an Overload Form to his/her major professor. The Academic Dean’s office sends the approved form to the Registrar’s Office. Such transmission permits application of additional tuition exemption consistent with existing policy.

Academic Achievement

To retain an assistantship, a student must demonstrate satisfactory progress in the academic program as defined in the Academic Probation and Academic Dismissal sections. Failure to do so shall result in termination of the assistantship. Individual programs have the right to establish their own criteria. If a student is dismissed, their assistantship is terminated.