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THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

Assistantships, additional assistantship opportunities.

An assistantship provides a monthly stipend and  tuition scholarship.  Assistantship stipends are used when the student is performing service .  Assistantsh i ps may be in the form of: 

• graduate or teaching assistant ships
• research assistant ships

Academic programs or faculty  advis e rs  select graduate students to serve on assistantships.  

Duties and workload

The duration of an assistantship may range from a single academic term to a full year.  Students usually  serve between 15 to 20 hours per week with a maximum 20h/week.  

During the term of an assistantship, students are expected to continue making academic progress towards their degree.  

Every graduate assistant in TGS must meet the eligibility requirements set for all students receiving financial aid.  Please review the   Regulations Governing Recipients of University Assistance   for more information.  

Graduate/teaching assistants

Duties may include :  

• Serv ing  as graders for a course  
• Function ing  in an administrative capacity  
• Lead ing  discussion sections as part of a larger lecture course  
• Instruct ing  their own class sections  
• Assist ing  with academic projects such as editing a b ook  
• Coordinat ing  program activities  

Learn more about graduate or teaching assistantships.

Research assistants

Research assistantships are primarily funded on sponsored research projects.

Duties may include:

• Working in a lab  
• Conducting other types of investigative research for their  advis e r  

Learn more about research assistantships.

/images/cornell/logo35pt_cornell_white.svg" alt="phd graduate assistantship"> Cornell University --> Graduate School

Assistantships.

Full-time Ph.D. and research master’s students may be awarded assistantships, which fall into four general categories: teaching assistant (TA), research assistant (RA), graduate assistant (GA), and graduate research assistant (GRA). These awards are administered by fields and departments. 

Assistantships are an arrangement in which financial support is given to a graduate student who engages in teaching and/or research in furtherance of the university’s academic mission, as well as his or her graduate education. 

Students on full assistantships receive the following:

• a full tuition credit at the research degree rate , and
• Cornell individual student health insurance.

Some fields may supplement the stipend and/or make summer appointments.

See also:  University Policy on Assistantships

Assistantships are awarded by departments, fields, and Principal Investigators. There is no separate application for assistantships. The assignment is usually in your major field or a closely-related one.

Teaching Assistants (TAs)

A teaching assistant is an academic appointment in support of the teaching of a course. Teaching assistants may assist in teaching a section of a course, lead discussions, and/or lead laboratory sections. Teaching assistants average no more than 15 hours per week for the base stipend as established by the Board of Trustees.   

Special information for incoming international students: 

International students who come from countries where English is not the first language and who will TA in their first year at Cornell should visit the Center for Teaching Innovation’s International Teaching Assistant Program webpage for language assessment information.

See also:  On-Campus Work

Support and resources for TAs: 

The Center for Teaching Innovation (CTI) offers a central place where teaching assistants can go for insight and assistance with their teaching responsibilities, including programs and workshops for teaching assistants with all levels of experience. 

Graduate Research Assistantships (GRAs)

A GRA is an academic appointment focused on thesis or other degree-related research of a type that is required from all candidates for the degree. The research project for a GRA directly supports the student’s thesis or dissertation. Because a student devotes considerable time to thesis or dissertation research, the time spent is connected with the project.  

Research Assistantships (RAs)

A RA is an academic appointment for research that is not directly thesis-related, 15 to 20 hours per week, averaging no more than 15 hours per week. For example, a RA appointment might include data analysis on a faculty research project not directly related to the student’s dissertation topic. As with other assistantships, there is no separate application. Students are appointed by departments, fields, or individual faculty.

Graduate Assistantships (GAs)

A GA is an academic appointment requiring 15 to 20 hours a week, averaging no more than 15 hours per week, for the base stipend as established by the Board of Trustees. For example, a GA appointment might include assisting a faculty member in developing and coordinating an academic conference. 

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The Graduate School

Graduate assistantships overview, graduate students collecting data as laura marcoux rides a stationary bicycle inside the mission heat lab at gampel pavilion, what is a graduate assistantship.

An assistantship is awarded to a graduate student who provides teaching (teaching assistantship: TA) or research (research assistantship: RA) support to the University that is a part of their academic program. In recognition of this support, tuition is waived by the University and subsidized health insurance is offered. Graduate Assistants (GAs) are responsible for paying their student fees at the negotiated GA rate.

What is the Eligibility Criteria to be a GA?

To be appointed, to retain an appointment, or to be reappointed, a student must hold Regular (not Provisional) status, must maintain a cumulative average of at least B (3.00) in any course work taken, must be eligible to register (i.e., must not have more than three viable grades of Incomplete on their academic record), must be enrolled in a graduate degree program scheduled to extend through the entire period of the appointment or reappointment, and must be a full-time student.

In order to perform duties with direct instructional responsibilities, a graduate student appointed as a Teaching Assistant will need to provide proof of English proficiency. UConn’s English Proficiency Policy for TAs and Testing Procedures details information about how to provide proof of proficiency.

What is the Appointment Length and Hours Per Week?

Effort devoted to the duties of a graduate assistantship typically range between 10 and 20 hours per week (also sometimes called a “half GA” and “full GA” respectively). Appointments ordinarily are made for the nine-month period, August 23 through May 22, but may be of shorter duration for a variety of reasons.

What Benefits Do GAs Receive?

The Human Resources website has an extensive compilation of information on graduate assistant benefits, payroll, and policies, including detailed information about health insurance benefits . If employed in an assistantship that falls under the Graduate Employee Union (GEU) , additional benefits may be described in the GEU contract and on our GA Onboarding page. Please note, GAs employed solely at UConn Health do not fall under the GEU.

Do GAs Receive a Tuition Waiver?

A graduate assistantship provides the student with a tuition waiver for the duration of the appointment in the fall and spring semesters. There is no tuition waiver for summer or winter intersession courses. GAs are still required to pay student fees. When graduate fee bills are calculated by the Office of the Bursar , the tuition waiver will automatically populate to the GA’s fee bill once two items are in place:  an active payroll authorization input by the hiring department and enrollment for the semester in at least six credits.

What are the Stipend Rates?

Stipend rates for graduate assistants are graduated in terms of progress toward the advanced degree and experience.

• Level B/I: for graduate assistants with at least the baccalaureate.
• Level M/II: for experienced graduate assistants in a doctoral program with at least the master’s degree or its equivalent in the field of graduate study. Equivalency consists of thirty graduate level credits beyond the baccalaureate degree, together with admission to a doctoral program.
• Level P/III: for students with experience as graduate assistants who have at least the master’s degree or its equivalent and who have passed the doctoral general examination.

Specific stipend rates may be found on Payroll’s website and will be included in the GA offer letter.

Are GAs Required to Do Any Additional Trainings?

As part of their employee role, GAs are required to participate in these mandatory trainings . There may be additional trainings or orientations required or recommended depending on the specific GA duties.

What is a Supplemental Description of Duties?

In addition to an offer letter for a graduate assistantship, the hiring department must also provide GAs with a Supplemental Description of Duties (SDD) form for each semester they are appointed. This form summarizes the specific duties a GA is expected to perform and may include, among other things, the assigned course, lab, research project, or position; the faculty member to whom the GA will report; course meeting times and location; the maximum number of students for which the GA will be responsible per class, section, lab, etc.; and the work location. The Supplemental Description of Duties must be signed by both the GA’s supervisor and the GA. The Supplemental Description of Duties form may be issued separately from the assistantship offer letter.

Can GAs Hold Additional Employment?

Graduate Assistants seeking on-campus employment or wishing to hold an internship in addition to a full-time (20 hour) GA appointment during the semester must complete the online Supplemental Employment Approval form, which requires their advisor’s approval and is submitted to The Graduate School for final approval. International students on UConn-sponsored visas are not able to work above 20 hours per week during the semester.

Job Offer Acceptance Etiquette

When accepting a job offer feel free to ask clarifying questions. If you feel that you are not being given enough time to make your decision, ask if additional time might be granted. Supervisors are encouraged to give candidates up to a week to accept an offer but sometimes this may not be possible. 

Once accepting an offer and if resigning from a different graduate assistant position, it is recommended that you immediately notify the department of your resignation. This is especially important when departments are already counting on you to teach courses or labs. They would rather know immediately and be able to initiate a hiring process to fill open positions, ensuring that course offerings remain available, etc.  

If you are applying to UConn, there is a place within the application where you can indicate that you wish to be considered for a graduate assistantship.

If you have accepted an assistantship offer, please visit our GA Onboarding page . This webpage will orient GAs employed at Storrs and regional campuses who fall under the Graduate Employees Union (GEU) and provide information, resources, and to-do items specific to your role as a GA to help you successfully transition into your assistantship.

Current Opportunities

Are you an academic or non-academic department that would like to advertise a GA position here? If so, please send your job description to [email protected] to be posted. Additional guidance for non-academic units can be found on our Appointing a GA in a Non-Academic Unit page.

Marketing GA – 2024-2025, Center for Career Development

Center for Career Development

Graduate Assistant Job Title

Marketing and Communications Graduate Assistant

Campus Location

202 Wilbur Cross Building (WCB), Storrs Campus

Duration of the position

August 2024 – May 2025 with the potential to renew

20 hours per week, in-person

Name and title of individual providing supervision

Evan McMunn, Publicity and Marketing Administrator

Three (3) primary Career Readiness Competencies Associated with the role Communication Teamwork Technology

Position Summary

The Marketing and Communications Graduate Assistant will directly contribute to the brand awareness strategy of the Center for Career Development. This will be accomplished through various communication channels including but not limited to, email, blogs, social media, and video. The Marketing and Communication Graduate Assistant will also work to further the Career Everywhere movement by assisting in the recruitment of and outreach to Career Champions, who include faculty, staff, employers, and alumni.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Content scheduling – assists Publicity and Marketing Administrator in building out content schedules in coordination with Career Center’s short and long-term goals.
• Event promotion - markets Career Center events to targeted student populations via email, social media, student organization collaborations, department collaborations, and other UConn communication channels such as Daily Digest and Soapbox.
• Career Center Development Awareness - Increases awareness of the programs and services offered by the Center via email campaigns, social media posts, original video content, and blog posts.
• Email Marketing Analysis - Analyzes email communications sent through the Handshake platform and uses the data to inform best practices for future email communication.
• Social Media Research - Analyzes past social media content to determine what is driving engagement and make recommendations on what content should be increased or decreased. Researches emerging platforms and makes recommendations on joining and posting on additional networks.
• Website analysis – Audits the Career Center website and reviews peer websites to recommend enhancements and modifications to the website.
• Blogging - Creates blog posts promoting a combination of Career Center events, resources, and services. Assists in the review and scheduling of all blogs submitted by professional staff, student staff, and guest bloggers. Interviews Career Champions about how they infuse career readiness into their work with students. Uses the interview transcripts to write blog posts and social media content
• Career Everywhere newsletter - Assists in the creation of content for the monthly Career Everywhere newsletter based on the objectives of senior leadership and the Career Everywhere Committee.
• Collaborates with the Career Everywhere Committee on projects and administrative tasks related to Career Everywhere and the Career Champion program.
• Assists the Publicity and Marketing Administrator with overseeing, training, and mentoring a team of undergraduate Marketing Interns.

Minimum Qualifications

• Documented experience in a Marketing or Communications role. This can include experience as an undergraduate student.
• Excellent storytelling, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to provide clear, concise feedback.
• Ability to work on tight timelines and shift priorities as needed.
• Experience with Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere.
• Experience with a website Content Management System such as WordPress.

Education and Prior Experience Requirements Pursuing master’s degree or doctoral degree at the University of Connecticut

Application Steps and Materials

Please submit all application materials by email to [email protected] with the Subject Line: Marketing GA Application. Please include the following application materials:

• Cover Letter
• Contact information for three (3) professional references
• Writing Sample. This can include but is not limited to a blog post, newspaper article, social media posts for a club or organization

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis with final submission deadline for consideration: May 24, 2024. Interviews will scheduled on a rolling basis.

Compensation and Benefits Statement

Compensation & Benefits:  Stipend consistent with UConn Graduate Employee Union (GEU) rates and successful candidate’s level of education. Stipend rates can be found  here . See the  GEU contract  for other generous benefits provided, including paid time off, tuition remission, and subsidized health insurance through the Connecticut Partnership Plan.

The University of Connecticut is an AA/EEO employer.

Questions may be directed to: Evan McMunn, [email protected]

Part-Time Research Assistant – Economics

JOB DESCRIPTION : Part-Time (10 h/week) Research Assistant to Prof. Michele Baggio (Economics).

I am seeking a part-time Research Assistant for the summer. The job will involve close collaboration on an interdisciplinary research project investigating the relationship between weather (temperature, precipitation, and humidity), land use, and the prevalence of Lyme Disease and its implications on a range of socio-economic outcomes.

The successful Research Assistant will be expected to work independently within the scope of her/his responsibilities. Duties include, but are not limited to

• Conducting data analysis, producing tables and maps of the relevant data.
• Assisting in preparing funding proposals, budgets, and deliverables for various grants.
• Participating in team meetings.

The Research Assistant will interact directly with Prof. Michele Baggio on a regular basis. The ideal candidate will have the following qualifications:

• Have a MA or MSc.
• Strong programming skills; knowledge of statistical software such as R or Python especially in visualizing geospatial data.
• Strong writing skills to allow for drafting of manuscripts based on the analyses.
• Excellent academic record.
• Prior experience as a research assistant.
• Organization and attention to detail a must.
• Flexibility and an ability to work with a team are essential.

TO APPLY : Please email Michele Baggio [email protected] a single PDF document titled “Lastname_Firstname” containing the following material:

• Your interest in this position
• The start and end dates during which you would be available to fill this position
• Your familiarity with programming languages
• Your prior experience as a research assistant and/or with independent research projects (e.g. a thesis or other research project)
• Names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers of 1-2 references (letters not required)
• A current CV
• All relevant undergraduate and graduate transcripts (unofficial is fine)

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. The position is available starting in June.

Contact Information

860-486-3617

[email protected]

The Whetten Graduate Center, Second Floor University of Connecticut 438 Whitney Road Extension, Unit-1152 Storrs, CT 06269-1152

8:30am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday

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Upcoming Defenses

Doctoral dissertation oral defense of rachel bailey.

Friday, June 7th, 2024

Monteith Building

Title: Perturbations of Orthogonal Polynomials Department: Mathematics

Rachel Bailey [email protected]

Doctoral Dissertation Oral Defense of Sarah A. Rosati

11:00 AM - 01:00 PM

The Effects of Elevating Student Voice on the Behaviors of Elementary-Aged Students with Dis/abilities within a Multicomponent Self-Regulation Intervention. Department of Educational Psychology.

Please direct event questions to Sarah A. Rosati at [email protected]. This will be a virtual defense (link below).

Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Defense of Huda Akef

Monday, June 10th, 2024

Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Sciences

Religion and Families: A Critical Review of the Research and an Exploratory Study of Egyptian Parents in Cairo

Contact Information:

Doctoral Dissertation Oral Defense of Daniel Norman

Tuesday, June 11th, 2024

10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Gant South Building

Investigation of the Analytic Structure of Conformal Cosmological Fluctuations

Department: Physics

Daniel Norman, [email protected], 914-844-4383

Doctoral Dissertation Oral Defense of Brenda Milla

Torrey Life Sciences Building

Basis of breathing problems in mouse models of Dravet syndrome Physiology and Neurobiology

[email protected]

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• Assistantships

Graduate Assistantships

Graduate assistantships give students opportunities for professional experience , academic training , and financial support while pursuing advanced degrees. Prospective students are encouraged to ask about assistantship opportunities in their academic program. Those in graduate assistantships are considered nonregular academic appointees; more information about such appointments is available from the UM System’s Collected Rules and Regulations . Those with assistantships are hired into one of the following job codes and titles:

• Graduate Research Assistant (GRA, 4715)
• Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA, 4717)
• Graduate Instructor (GI, 4685)
• Graduate Library Assistant (GLA, 4690)
• Graduate Fellow (4680)

Obtaining a Graduate Assistantship

Most students with graduate assistantships obtain them through their  academic programs ..

If you are a graduate student seeking an assistantship, contact your academic program for information about open positions. Generally, an assistantship might be offered as part of an admissions package or developed through a professional relationship with faculty or administrative staff. A small number of assistantships that do not require program-specific expertise may be posted at  HireMizzouTigers.com .

Acceptance of Assistantship Offers

The University of Missouri, along with hundreds of other U.S. universities, is a signatory to the Council of Graduate Schools’ Resolution regarding offering and accepting University financial support (e.g., scholarship, fellowship, assistantship).

Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support, which includes assistantship offers, for the coming academic year before April 15.

When a student accepts an offer before this date and subsequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time.

However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 should commit the student not to accept another offer of financial support until they have informed the program of the withdrawal.

Eligibility

To hold a graduate assistantship, a student must be:

• Admitted to a department or area with a specific graduate-degree objective.
• Enrolled in a program and making  satisfactory progress toward degree attainment during the period of the assistantship. If a unit wishes to employ a student for longer than one semester (including summer semester) after graduation, they must transfer the graduate into a non-student title.

Note: Certificate students who are not also enrolled in a graduate degree program are not eligible for a graduate assistantship.

Each department or unit establishes its own documented procedures for recruitment, selection, retention, and dismissal of students with graduate assistantships in accordance with MU policy and  Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity guidelines .

Financial Support

Any assignment of responsibilities must be associated with a fair and reasonable stipend. This precludes a graduate student from “volunteering” for extensive service commitments to the academic programs without an appropriate stipend. The University sets the minimum stipend amount . The minimum stipend levels are adjusted based upon percentage salary increases for faculty and staff from the previous year set by the University.

Academic programs may differentiate graduate assistantship stipends by graduate student status (e.g., master’s or doctoral , first-year or experienced). Within academic programs and within each level of differentiation, stipends should be equivalent. The academic program should provide accessible guidelines used to determine stipend levels to students.

The table below details the minimum stipend funding levels for AY2024-25.

Students who are in 9-month assistantships are to be paid the 9-month stipend over 10 months, from August 1st through May 31st, unless prohibited by a funding source (i.e., granting agency does not allow it).  These positions may also be eligible for deferred pay over 12 months. Students are expected to perform their assistantship responsibilities over 9 months, even if their pay is deferred for 10 or 12 months. If a student is in a position for only one semester, they should receive equal stipend amounts per month for 5 months (either August 1 through December 31 or January 1 through May 31.

In addition, students who meet eligibility requirements also qualify for tuition remission and insurance subsidy . Recipients of graduate assistantships may qualify for merit-based stipend increases through competitive fellowship awards .

Minimum Course Load

Individual academic programs may require full-time enrollment or a minimum course load for funded students. Students enrolled at least half-time (4.5 student credit hours in the fall and spring semesters) are not subject to Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes.

Graduate assistantships generally entail 10-20 hours of responsibilities per week (.25 to .50 full-time equivalent (FTE)). For GI or GTA roles, one student credit hour is considered 3.33 hours of assistantship responsibilities. Thus, one 3-credit hour class is considered a .25 FTE or 10 hours/week. Teaching two 3-credit hour classes in one semester is considered a .50 FTE.  A 5-credit hour language class is equivalent to 16.65 hours/week; a GTA or GI qualifies for a .50 FTE assistantship if the unit provides additional responsibilities, up to approximately 3 hours/week. Students with assistantships enrolled for the first time in Summer 2022 or later can be in a .25 assistantship ONLY if they have a second .25 assistantship or equivalent fellowship. A portion of any project that is part of an assistantship may include minor clerical elements, but all projects should incorporate decision-making, judgment, analysis, and evaluation skills.

Assistantships provide relevant professional and academic experiences that may include:

• Teaching one to two 3-hour class(es) or one 5-hour language class during a semester.
• Leading one to five discussion or laboratory sections of a course during a semester.
• Proctoring and grading large lecture and/or laboratory exams.
• Assisting faculty with research activities that vary from providing assistance with proposal development through participating in preparation of research reports and manuscripts for refereed journals.
• Helping students and faculty use microscopes, computers, and other lab equipment.
• Helping solve assigned research and class problems.
• Keeping library open and staffed to assist users.
• Cataloging new acquisitions.
• Developing administrative and other professional skills

Note:  Specific assignments vary by type of assistantships.

Supervision

All projects are supervised by graduate faculty , administrative staff , or principal investigators . Supervisors should provide feedback to students regarding their performance in the assistantship.

Those holding graduate assistantships may be required to provide their academic advisor with a written report of academic progress at the conclusion of the period for which the assistantship is awarded.

Types of Graduate Assistantships

Research assistantships, research assistantships are intended to support students to graduate with the knowledge and skills to become independent scholars..

A student may be granted a research assistantship (GRA) through a faculty member’s grant or other University funds, enabling the student to progress toward an advanced degree while performing research activities related to the grant or fund requirements.

Academic programs decide whether the research activities required as part of the graduate research assistantship is directly related to the student’s academic program. For example, in some academic programs, research conducted in the context of the assistantship is expected to directly inform the topic of student’s dissertation or thesis research. In other programs, the assistantship responsibilities are designed to help students gain expertise in research skills that can be applied to another project.

Teaching Assistantships

A teaching assistantship in an academic program provides a stipend to a student who assists in teaching duties during the academic year., duties and responsibilities.

Graduate Teaching Assistantship responsibilities include:

• Leading discussion, tutorial, and/or laboratory sections and/or grading student work

Additional responsibilities may also include:

• Setting up laboratories
• Preparing materials for discussion section
• Posting materials online
• Assisting with recording grades
• Providing support for administration of course and classroom instruction

All graduate students with teaching assistantships (GTA or GI) are required to:

• Participate in the graduate teaching orientation (GTO).
• Continue working toward an advanced degree throughout the assistantship.
• Work only with undergraduate students, unless the GTA is a doctoral candidate. Doctoral candidates are eligible to serve as GTAs (not GIs) for graduate-level classes in which only master’s and/or specialist students are enrolled. GTAs cannot be the instructor of record or have responsibility for the overall course direction and final grades. Doctoral candidates are eligible to serve as GIs (instructors of record) for undergraduate courses. This excludes any courses cross-leveled as 4000/7000.
• Successfully complete online teaching certification if they are the primary instructor for an online course.

Requirements for International Students

Graduate students with teaching assistantships whose native language is  not  English are required to:

• Participate in Graduate Teaching Orientation .
• Complete an evaluation by the  International Teaching Assistant Program .
• Meet established criteria for teaching at the level of instruction required for the assignment.

Academic Freedom

The academic freedom of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) is not necessarily coextensive with that of faculty. GTAs are engaged in supervised teaching or instruction activities. Supervisors are responsible for defining the nature, scope, and manner of instruction for each course.

Supervisors should communicate the extent to which GTAs have discretion to introduce additional material, and GTAs should follow supervisors’ instructions. GTAs should not be penalized for expressing their own views on matters within the scope of the course if they represent those views as their own.

In interpreting teaching evaluations, supervisors make every effort to distinguish legitimate critiques of the course from negative evaluations related to:

• Prejudice against the GTA on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, status as a qualified protected veteran, or other protected status.
• Disagreement with viewpoints expressed by the GTA or by students in the class.

Other Graduate Assistantships

Other graduate assistantships provide stipends for students who assist in academic or nonacademic program activities 10-20 hours per week..

These graduate assistantships (e.g., GLI, Graduate Fellow) may involve diverse duties covering a wide variety of functions and may not be housed in an academic unit. However, the responsibilities of these positions must be aligned with the students’ academic and professional goals, verified by the hiring and academic unit that they are academically appropriate, and approved by the Graduate School.

Additional MU Assistantships-Related Resources & Information

• Medical Insurance Subsidies
• Intimate Relationships with Students
• International Teaching Assistants Program
• Appealing Assistantship Evaluation or Termination
• All students who hold an assistantship, must comply with the University’s Conflict of Interest policy

Performance & Renewal Evaluation Criteria for Graduate Assistantships

Graduate assistantship evaluation methods, the responsibilities of the graduate assistantships and the performance evaluation methods should be provided in writing to the student by the immediate supervisor at the beginning of the assistantship., conducting evaluations.

The faculty or staff member who supervises the assistantship must conduct a written evaluation of the student’s performance for at least once a year and provide a copy to the student and to the chair/director of the program or department for placement in the student’s file in MyVita.

This evaluation is separate from the annual review of student academic progress and should take the following criteria into account:

• Prompt, efficient, and accurate completion of assigned tasks.
• Independent work.
• Analysis and problem-solving.
• Adequate evaluations by students for instructional and tutoring assignments in courses, laboratory, and clinical settings.
• Cooperation with a mentor, director, and other students and staff.
• Professional and ethical behavior in all assigned tasks and duties.

Opportunities for improving performance should be outlined.  An appeal process  is available for those with graduate assistantships who assert they have not been fairly evaluated or dismissed.

Equal Treatment

The university of missouri is an  equal opportunity/affirmative action institution ..

Evaluation of graduate assistant performance must not be influenced by  race , color , religion , national origin , ancestry , sex , sexual orientation , gender identity , gender expression , age , genetic information , disability , or status as a protected veteran .

Discrimination on the basis of pregnancy , childbirth , or related medical conditions is also prohibited.

In addition, evaluations must not be influenced by a student’s exercise of First Amendment freedoms of expression and association.

Renewing Assistantships

In the rare case that a fixed term was not specified in the initial letter of offer, the assistantship may, at the discretion of the academic program, be renewed if the following criteria are met:.

• Funding is available.
• Academic program guidelines for the funding duration or limited semesters of support of a student are met.
• The student is making satisfactory academic progress, with a GPA not less than 3.0.
• The student’s assistantship performance is evaluated in writing by their supervisor to be satisfactory.
• The student’s professional and ethical behavior in all tasks and duties — including in courses in which they are enrolled and in research and creative work — is judged by the academic program to be satisfactory.

If the renewal falls within the number of years of funding specified in the initial letter of offer  and  the five criteria listed above have been met, the assistantship must be renewed.

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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Update

On March 11 th  the University announced that beginning March 16 th  instruction for all students will be moving to a remote delivery format. Graduate students enrolled in resident courses should plan on participating remotely, and not coming to campus specifically for face-to-face instruction. Learn more at gradschool.psu.edu/covid19 .

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Teaching and Research Assistantships

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•  /  Teaching and Research Assistantships

About Assistantships

Assistantships are provided as aids to completion of advanced degrees. As such, they should be related to the graduate student's disciplinary field and wherever possible tied to the student's program of study so as to contribute in a relevant manner to the student's professional development. To effectively make such a contribution, the supervisor of the assistantship necessarily serves in a mentoring role, which requires regular interaction, close communication, and feedback with the graduate assistant, including clear expectations for satisfactory fulfillment of the assistantship duties. Assistantships may require work in the classroom or the laboratory, in research, or in other areas on campus, with the opportunity for professional development further benefiting from and enriched by the scholarly environment of the University. As such, assistantships are limited to degree-seeking students enrolled in residence. Approximately 4,000 assistantships are awarded annually.

A prospective student should contact the graduate major program for information , and indicate on the graduate admission application an interest in receiving a graduate assistantship. The necessary application forms will then be sent by the graduate program. Appointments are made subject to the student’s receipt of a bachelor’s degree and admission to the Graduate School as a degree student. Clear evidence of superior ability and promise is required.

Although Penn State’s classes last fifteen weeks per semester, appointments of graduate assistants are for eighteen weeks of activities per semester. Thus the duties in an academic year appointment (thirty-six weeks) such as is normally provided for teaching assistants will begin on the Monday following the last day of summer session final exams and continue until the last day of spring semester final exams, less the period of time classes are suspended at Thanksgiving and during the winter and spring breaks. A 48-week appointment, such as is provided for many research assistants, consists of the 36-week period of the academic year plus twelve weeks for summer session activities.

Reappointment to an assistantship is based on availability of positions and the quality of the student’s performance. In most departments or major programs the number of years an appointment may be renewed is limited. Unsatisfactory academic performance in any semester or summer session is sufficient cause for termination of the appointment at the end of that period. Unsatisfactory performance of assistantship duties is also sufficient cause for termination.

Legislation passed by the University Faculty Senate in 1981 and 1989 requires that all newly appointed teaching assistants participate in a teaching assistant (TA) training program unless they can provide evidence of successful prior teaching experience and that all new international TAs take and pass a test of spoken English. Details of the procedures for meeting these requirements may be obtained by new graduate students during their departmental orientation or by contacting the Department of Applied Linguistics .

Non-degree students are not eligible for assistantships.

Appointments cover tuition and provide a monthly stipend. Appointments are made at one of several grades in consideration of experience and qualification of the individual. Assistantships are of three types:

• QUARTER-TIME—The student normally schedules 9 to 14 credits per semester (5 to 7 per six-week summer session*), receives a stipend plus a grant-in-aid of resident education tuition, and performs tasks that, on the average, occupy approximately ten hours per week.
• HALF-TIME—The student normally schedules 9 to 12 credits per semester (4 to 6 per six-week summer session*), receives a stipend plus a grant-in-aid of resident education tuition, and performs tasks that, on the average, occupy approximately twenty hours per week.
• THREE-QUARTER–TIME—The student normally schedules 6 to 8 credits per semester (3 to 4 per six week summer session*), receives a stipend plus a grant-in-aid of resident education tuition, and performs tasks that, on the average, occupy approximately thirty hours per week.

A graduate assistant may accept concurrent employment outside the University only with permission from the assistantship department head and the assistant’s graduate academic program chair.

Graduate assistants must be enrolled at Penn State as graduate students. More specifically, because assistantships are provided as aids to completion of advanced degrees, assistants must be degree seeking and are expected to enroll for credit loads each semester that fall within the limits indicated in the table below. Maximum limits on permissible credit loads are indicated in order to assure that the student can give appropriate attention both to academic progress and assistantship responsibilities. These considerations give rise to the table of permissible credit loads below.

*Credits taken during the Maymester and/or over both 6-week summer sessions must total a minimum of 9 (quarter- and half-time assistants) or 6 (three-quarter-time assistants) and cannot exceed a maximum of 8 (three-quarter-time assistants), 12 (half-time assistants), or 14 (quarter-time assistants).

To provide for some flexibility, moderate exceptions to the specified limits may be made in particular cases. The credit limits specified above may only be increased or decreased in exceptional cases for a specific semester or summer session by permission of the assistantship supervisor, the student’s academic adviser, and the dean of the Graduate School (requests should be submitted for the dean’s approval via the Office of Graduate Enrollment Services ). The Graduate School expects that an exception made in one semester or summer session will be compensated for by a suitably modified credit load in the subsequent semester or summer session, so that, on the average, normal progress is maintained at a rate falling within the limits above. Failure to do so may jeopardize the student’s academic status. Maintenance of the established credit loads and responsibility for consequences of a graduate student’s change of course load rest with the student and adviser. The course load is a factor in determining whether a graduate student is classified as a full-time or part-time student; has met residence requirements; and is eligible to hold a fellowship, traineeship, assistantship, or departmental or program appointment.

Applicants should write or call the person in charge of their graduate program for information and should indicate on their graduate admissions form that they are interested in an assistantship.

Full-Time Academic Status

Students holding fellowships, traineeships, or other awards based on academic excellence are required to carry 9 or more credits each semester (fall and spring). For awards that require full-time summer registration, students should register for a minimum cumulative total of nine credits (over all summer sessions), or SUBJ 601 (in the case of post-comprehensive doctoral candidates) over the summer. A graduate assistant whose semester or summer session credit load meets, or exceeds the minimum requirements in the above credit table and whose assistantship duties are directly related to his or her degree objectives, is considered by the Graduate School to be engaged in full-time academic work for that semester or summer session. A post-comprehensive doctoral candidate who is registered for SUBJ 601 also is so considered.

Part-Time Academic Status

A student who in any semester or summer session is registered for study but who does not meet the criteria for full-time status is considered to be engaged in part-time academic work for that semester. This includes students registered for SUBJ 611.

Assistantship Information

Graduate Assistants (GAs) are, first and foremost, graduate students pursuing an education. The opportunity to work closely with faculty members and undergraduate students in teaching, research, or administrative environments is an integral part of that education.

Graduate students who hold assistantships benefit educationally and professionally. They gain further expertise in their field; enhance their research skills and develop pedagogical skills; acquire experience in leadership, interpersonal effectiveness, and performance evaluation; acquire academic administrative experience; and enjoy collegial collaborations with advisors that may result in joint publications and other professional activities. Skills learned in assistantships prepare students not only for the academy, but also for corporate, government, and nonprofit organizations.

Assistantships also provide graduate students with the financial resources necessary to pursue their degrees. This financial support—stipend, tuition remission, and benefits—is part of the University’s commitment to the success of our graduate students. Graduate Assistant stipend levels  are reviewed each year.

Please visit the  Office of the Student Financial Aid website  for information about other student financial aid.

The official title of Graduate Assistant is used in all university documents, but, in general practice, Graduate Assistants are referred to either as Graduate Teaching Assistants (TAs), Graduate Research Assistants (RAs), or Graduate Administrative Assistants (AAs). Additionally, a small number of Graduate Assistants serve as resident life counselors. Qualified graduate students often move between these kinds of appointments during their graduate education.

For full details, please see  Policies for Graduate Assistantships .

Teaching Assistantships

The specific duties of Graduate Teaching Assistants (TAs) vary across disciplines and departments. For the majority of teaching assistants, however, assignments and responsibilities fall into four categories:

• Assuming teaching responsibility for a laboratory or discussion session of a course; 
• Assuming teaching responsibility for a classroom section of a multi-sectional course, under the close supervision of the director(s) of the course; 
• Assisting a faculty member in the grading, advising, and administrative duties necessary for a course(s); 
• Assisting in general departmental administrative duties, such as advising or the administration of community programs, workshops, etc.

Within a department, the particular assignment depends on the department’s needs and the experience and academic qualifications of the TA. All graduate TAs serving in any capacity are under the direction and close supervision of a member of the faculty.

Research Assistantships

The specific duties of Graduate Research Assistants (RAs) vary according to the nature of the research project in which they participate and the source of the funding. RAs may occasionally be asked to conduct some work at home or to do their research at times when classes are not officially in session. The duties of RAs are also performed under the close direction and supervision of a member of the faculty.

Administrative Assistantships

A number of academic and non-academic units employ Graduate Administrative Assistants (AAs), generally to perform administrative support functions in an office setting. Such positions are expected to have a research or professional development component. Some administrative appointments are for less than one academic year.

Tips and Other Opportunities

• There is no centralized posting of all available assistantships on campus; however, many are listed on the  University Human Resources ejobs website .
• There are also a small number of positions available on campus as  Resident Life Graduate Assistants . 
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Graduate Assistantships While Abroad

With the exception of temporary overseas research/scholarly trips (extending for only part of a semester), the following policy applies to all GA positions at UMD: Graduate assistantships are not allowed for students abroad. The University's Office of General Counsel, in consultation with Maryland's Office of the Attorney General, has determined that we may NOT provide graduate assistantship appointments to students who are residing outside the US. This applies to new and continuing students, regardless of visa status, whether the duties can be performed remotely, and whether the student currently holds or previously held a GA appointment. Students who have not entered the U.S. with permanent or temporary residency within the first four weeks of the semester cannot be appointed as GAs. Students residing outside the US may receive a fellowship stipend, so long as there is no work requirement or expectation apart from progress on degree requirements (e.g., dissertation research). International students shall consult with campus officials about any visa limitations prior to any temporary scholarly trips.

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How to Find and Land a PhD Graduate Assistantship

Posted by Shelly Quance on 5/4/23 10:48 AM

As a PhD or doctoral candidate, you are already well on your way to obtaining the graduate degree program that is going to serve as a launching pad for the next step in your career.  You’ve chosen the university that aligns with your values; you’ve chosen the field of study that matches your long term career goals; and now, you’re making strides to ensure that you are taking advantage of all of the experiential learning opportunities available to you.

One way to do this? By securing a graduate assistantship position . Let’s discuss graduate assistantships — including how to research and secure one as a doctoral student.

What is a Graduate Assistantship?

Graduate assistantships are a form of academic employment for which students must apply and be accepted based on academic excellence and faculty referral. 

A graduate assistant is a graduate student who secures a specific academic job for which students are selected based on academic excellence and faculty referral. Most graduate assistants receive a tuition waiver and small stipend for the tasks they perform for faculty members or departments.

In addition, graduate assistantships are a strategic way for master’s and doctoral degree students to gain practical field experience, deepen academic understanding, and network with thought leaders and students in their field.

Learn more about the value of graduate assistantships at WVU with The Summit Ahead Podcast, Episode 3.

How to become a graduate assistant the phd or doctoral level.

As a doctoral student at a reputable university, you have a variety of options to choose from when it comes to graduate assistantship positions. Here are a few tips related to researching and securing a PhD graduate assistantship.

Take a look at your availability and bandwidth.

This may go without saying, but before applying for or committing to a graduate assistantship, you need to ensure that you have the time and energy to apply yourself to the additional responsibilities an assistantship will require of you. As a doctoral student, you are busy and your time is precious — so be sure to protect your limited availability and adjust your priorities as needed.

You also may want to consider waiting to secure an assistantship position during a semester(s) that you know your coursework and workload is going to be manageable. 

Identify the type of assistantship that will align with your future goals.

There are several different types of graduate assistantships, and you definitely want to choose one that is going to align with your long term career goals. 

For instance, if you are obtaining a graduate degree that is designed to prepare you for faculty leadership (such as a PhD in Higher Education ), then you may want to prioritize seeking a teaching assistantship.

Similarly, if you are working towards a graduate degree that is research-based (such as a PhD in Public Health Sciences ), then you may want to consider securing a graduate research assistantship.

Network with your mentor or advisor to determine the best choice for you.

Your mentor or faculty advisor will be a great resource as you research assistantships and can help you determine which choice is best for you. Since they know the ins-and-outs of what each assistantship largely consists of, you should seek their guidance before committing to a position. 

In addition, your mentor or advisor can also advocate for you and even put in a good word to the leader of the overall assistantship position.

Apply and interview with confidence.

Once you have determined the position you and your advisor think is a good fit for you, it’s time to apply! You will want to customize your application (if you are applying to more than one position), provide references, prepare for an interview, and conduct yourself with confidence and respect.

Once you’ve interviewed, be sure to follow up in an appropriate amount of time. 

Learn About Doctoral and PhD Graduate Assistantships at WVU

West Virginia University awards approximately 1,700 graduate assistantships annually to incoming and continuing graduate students. These graduate assistantships are supported by state appropriations, federal funds, and private grants and contracts. 

All graduate assistants must be accepted into a graduate degree program and are required to be enrolled full-time while employed during the fall and spring terms (9 credits or more).

For additional information on Graduate Assistantships, visit the Graduate Education and Life site. You can also review the types of graduate assistantship we offer here.

Become a Graduate Assistant at WVU; Connect with Us!

Here at West Virginia University, we know that for driven and ambitious graduate students, obtaining a graduate assistantship is truly a rewarding experience.

Serving as support to some of the best in your field, getting a glimpse of what it is like to be a working professional, and building a network with those who are thought leaders in your area of study are just a few reasons a graduate assistantship is a strategic and excellent way to augment your graduate education.

You have the valuable opportunity to join a community of driven changemakers at WVU. Take this opportunity to request more information or review our one-stop shop Application Guide.  

You can also subscribe to The Summit Ahead Podcast for more stories, research, and more!

Learn more about how to become a graduate assistant with our Graduate Assistantship Guide! hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(1652943, 'a9048d34-7f52-4634-8bc7-085091afca24', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"});

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Topics: WVU Graduate Programs , Funding Your Graduate Education

Posted by Shelly Quance

Shelly Quance has spent almost 20 years working in higher education marketing communications. She currently serves as Director for West Virginia University’s Office of Graduate Admissions and Recruitment where she works collaboratively with College leadership to develop, implement, and evaluate creative and effective comprehensive communication and marketing plans to increase graduate student enrollment.

About the Blog

Deciding what graduate school to attend can be daunting at times, and navigating the admissions process can be that much more difficult. We hope to make the journey from considering graduate school to enrolling in a graduate program easier by publishing content that will be helpful to you as you discern if, when, and where, to pursue your next degree.

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• Readmission When enrollment is interrupted for three or more consecutive terms
• Assistantships More than 3,000 assistantships are available to qualified graduate students
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Graduate Assistantships

Graduate assistantship (GA) is a generic term referring to financial support of graduate students that results in a stipend and compensation and for which performance of defined duties is expected. Specific graduate assistant appointments are made in one of three categories: research assistants, teaching assistants represented by the Graduate Employees Union, and teaching assistants not represented by the MSU - Graduate Employees Union Collective Bargaining Agreement.

More than 3,000 assistantships are available to qualified graduate students at Michigan State University. The University is concerned with the quality of educational experience that graduate assistants receive, and, for teaching assistants, also the quality of the instruction that they provide to undergraduates.

Graduate assistants are enrolled students whose primary association with MSU is directed toward advance degree completion. Satisfactory progress toward earning a degree is a condition of maintaining the assistantship. Departments may limit the number of years that a graduate student may hold an assistantship.

Graduate assistants are responsible for knowing the specific policies and procedures that govern their particular assistantship and academic program. One good place to look for these is  Academic Programs  which includes the Illness, Injury, and Pregnancy Leave Policy .

Graduate assistants are covered under other MSU policies, including those regarding laboratory and campus safety, Drug and Alcohol-Free Workplace, policy on Religious Observance, Procedures for Handling Allegations of Misconduct in Scholarship, MSU Anti-discrimination Policy, and the policies on Sexual Harassment and Conflict of Interest in Educational Responsibilities Resulting from Consensual Amorous or Sexual Relationships.

Graduate Teaching Assistants  (GTAs or TAs) are subject to the collective bargaining agreement with the Graduate Employees Union/American Federation of Teachers. to view the contract, see Graduate Employees Union (GEU) Contract 2019-23 .

If a student has completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, then the student should be aware that receipt of a fellowship, scholarship or assistantship may reduce the student's eligibility for federal student loans.  Please contact the Office of Financial Aid at [email protected] if you have questions.

For graduate programs looking to recruit and retain graduate students who have been accepted into a master’s or a doctoral degree program and whose enrollment will contribute to our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion while enhancing their program’s academic excellence and diversity please see the Academic Achievement Graduate Assistantships page.

Graduate assistant appointments are related to the academic semester of enrollment (Fall: August 16- December 31, Spring: January 1-May 15, Summer: May 16 - August 15). The appointing department/unit defines the conditions of the assistantship (e.g. quarter- or half-time, Fall, Spring, and/or Summer Semesters).

Based on student experience a graduate assistant is assigned to the appropriate level. Level details are found on  Academic Programs .

The hiring unit must complete an offer letter that the student will sign. There are offer letter templates for each of the various types of appointments. These templates may not be modified. The offer letter signed by the student will be attached to the hiring form in EBS.

Prior to the appointment, a criminal background check is required. An electronic disclosure and authorization form will be provided to students via email. The form must be signed and submitted to initiate the background check. Appointments will be contingent upon satisfactory results.

An INS I-9 form (Employment Eligibility Verification) must be completed and attached to the GA Appointment Recommendation form. A department representative must see the documents used to verify eligibility and identity. Acceptable documents can be found at https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents . The I-9 form must be completed within three business days of the appointment start date. If I-9 forms are not filed within 3 days the appointment will be cancelled.

All student employees will have their I-9s processed by the hiring department. Human Resources offers training to those department administrators who need assistance completing an I-9 for a foreign national with valid visa status. Departments needing support can email [email protected] for I-9 assistance.

Graduate assistants are paid on a bi-weekly basis . Departments appointing graduate assistants must meet deadlines set by Human Resources ( https://hr.msu.edu/ua/hiring/graduate-assistants/index.html ) for the filing of appointment forms. If they are unable to meet deadlines, delays may occur in the issuance of the first payroll payment and enrollment in the health insurance plan.

Graduate Assistants are encouraged to complete a withholding tax authorization (Form W-4) and payroll direct deposit form. Graduate Assistants can access the website to complete Form W-4 and enroll in the direct deposit program at https://ebs.msu.edu/ under the Employee Self-Service Portal.

A completed appointment form is the key to receiving the stipend and benefits. It also indicates intent by the department and the student to comply with the regulations pertaining to graduate assistantships as published in this brochure, the Graduate Students Rights and Responsibilities document, and the Academic Programs catalog.

• Graduate assistantships are available only to graduate students who are in good standing and actively pursuing graduate degree programs.
• International graduate assistants must check in online with the Office for International Students and Scholars. Check-in instructions will be sent to their MSU email account.
• Doctoral students with quarter-time or half-time assistantships must carry at least 3 credits (exceptions stated in chart ). They may carry a maximum of 16 course credits (for a quarter-time appointment) or 12 course credits (for a half -time appointment), excluding 899/999 credits. Doctoral students who have passed comprehensive exams may enroll for 1 credit the semester after the student’s unit administrator submits the completed exam form to the appropriate college Associate Dean and the college sends the approval to the Office of the Registrar . Note: There is a maximum of 36, 999 credits for all doctoral students.
• Master’s students with quarter-time assistantships or half-time assistantships must carry at least 6 credits. They may carry a maximum of 16 course credits (for a quarter-time appointment) or 12 course credits (for a half -time appointment), excluding 899/999 credits.
• Doctoral and master’s students with three-quarter-time assistantships must carry at least 3 credits. They may carry a maximum of 8 course credits, excluding 899/999 credits.
• During the summer session, graduate assistants must carry a minimum of 3 credits.*
• Visitor credits may count as part of a student’s credit load if approved in writing by the student’s department chair or unit director, college and the Dean of the Graduate School.
• Deviations from the minimum enrollment requirements listed above, except as noted for doctoral students, are permitted only during the semester in which the degree is granted, when students must enroll for at least the number of credits required to complete the degree or meet the University minimum registration requirement of one credit.
• Any deviation from the maximum credit requirements must have the written approval of the dean of the student’s college before registration.
• Graduate enrollment must be in courses recognized as being of graduate level unless the student’s department, school or program has granted written permission for course work constituting an exception to this policy.
• Graduate assistants must achieve and maintain satisfactory academic records. This means a 3.00 or higher grade point average. Appointing units or colleges may establish additional or higher required standards.
• Recommendation for appointment as a graduate assistant must be made by the department chairperson or school/program director.
• Lifelong Education students and College of Law students (except if dually enrolled in an MSU graduate program) are not eligible for graduate assistantships. Dually enrolled bachelor’s/master’s degree students are not eligible for graduate assistantships until the minimum number of credits required for a first bachelor's degree is completed.

Graduate assistants are appointed on a quarter-time, half-time, or three-quarter-time basis for 18 -19 weeks each (depending on number of University holidays) for Fall and Spring Semesters and 12-13 weeks (depending on number of University holidays) for Summer Semester. The approximate expectation of normal workload, averaged over the entire period of the appointment, is: 

• 10 hours per week for a quarter-time stipend;
• 20 hours per week for a half-time stipend; or
• 30 hours per week for a three-quarter-time stipend.

Graduate assistants are responsible for understanding the weekly workload expectations during the entire period of their appointments. This includes work assigned and the time frame within which the work must be completed, essential duties and responsibilities, work conditions and vacation opportunities, if any. Graduate assistants are appointed at one of three levels.  See ASSISTANTSHIP LEVELS below.

MSU annually sets stipend ranges based on level and appointment type.

An assistantship includes tuition waiver and health insurance. Academic Programs gives additional information. The non fringe research assistant job is for post-comps (DD status) Ph.D. students during the summer semester with no tuition benefit. For additional information about this assistantship see the related HR page .

Graduate assistants are eligible to purchase a parking permit. For information about Graduate Assistant parking permits go to  Parking Services , click on the Student "Learn More" button, and scroll down to the Other Permits section.

Additional benefits including spousal benefits are listed in Academic Programs .

Graduate Assistantship stipends may not be subject to Social Security (FICA/Medicare) taxes as long as they meet both federal guidelines and requirements for enrollment. Please check with payroll if you have a ¾ time appointment.  These are often subject to FICA.

Stipends are subject to income taxes with few exceptions. The taxability of stipends is subject to review by the Internal Revenue Service. For more information, call the Payroll Office at 517-355-5010. Please note that tax laws are subject to continuing revision and students should verify their tax liability yearly.

The Controller’s Office has a list of tax forms and department contact at https://www.ctlr.msu.edu/COFA/TaxForms.aspx

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Graduate Assistantship Information for Students

One of the most common sources of funding for graduate students are assistantships, which can support general administrative duties, teaching, or research projects. Assistantship policies are documented in University Policy No. 6210 . A full assistantship requires a student to work for 20 hours per week on average. Departments may also offer partial assistantships. Students may or may not be required to report to work during school breaks. You can find some data on assistantship funding here . 

How to Find an Assistantship

• Many departments evaluate graduate admission applications to match them with available assistantship positions.  Most assistantship opportunities are managed at the department/program level and interested graduate students should contact the program of interest directly regarding funding opportunities. Review assistantship funding data to learn more about assistantship funding by degree level, program, assistantship type and more.
• Current students in the Blacksburg area seeking funding are encouraged to monitor  GLC Weekly listserv postings  for assistantship and wage openings that administrative offices share with the Graduate School. Current students in the greater Washington, D.C. metro area should monitor the D.C. Area Weekly newslette r postings.
• Student Affairs posts its available GA positions on their jobs portal . 

Manage your Assistantship

• Quick guide for new GAs, GRAs, and GTAs.
• Making the Most of Your Assistantship

Types of Assistantships (GA, GTA, GRA)

Graduate Assistant (GA) Graduate Assistants provide academic and program support to academic, administrative or service units of the university. Responsibilities may be administrative in nature and consist of duties not directly related to teaching or research (such as academic advising, program planning, advising student groups, and assisting with the administrative duties of an office). GA responsibilities may also include grading examinations, problem sets, and/or lab assignments, setting up displays for lectures or laboratory sections, and preparing or maintaining equipment used in laboratory sections.

Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) Graduate Research Assistants conduct academically significant research under the direction of a faculty member who is generally a principal investigator on an external grant or contract. GRAs are awarded by departments and professors who are engaged in research projects. Research assistantships offer exciting opportunities to participate in  ongoing research developments at Virginia Tech . Since GRAs are often funded by sponsored research grants, they may be paid at a higher stipend level than GAs or GTAs. Students enrolled in Research & Dissertation (R & D) credit hours while holding a GRA position are expected to exert significant time and effort toward earning those credits in addition to fulfilling their assistantship duties. Please discuss expectations with your research advisor.

Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Graduate Teaching Assistants provide academic program support under the supervision of a faculty member. GTAs may assist faculty in teaching undergraduate courses, including laboratory teaching assignments, or in providing other appropriate professional assistance, including grading examinations, problem sets, and/or lab assignments, setting up displays for lectures and laboratory sections, and preparing or maintaining equipment used in lab sections. GTAs must have 18 hours of graduate-level course work completed in their teaching disciplines to be assigned full responsibility for teaching an undergraduate course. GTAs lacking this training will be assigned to work under the supervision of a faculty member who will be the instructor of record for the course.

The  GTA workshop  is held during the week before the start of each semester. All students holding a GTA appointment are expected to attend at the first available opportunity. 

Assistantship Eligibility Requirements

• Must be enrolled in 12-18 credit hours in fall and spring; audited courses do not count toward fulfilling this requirement.
• Maintain a 3.0 GPA; departmental requirements may be higher (provisional students with a GPA between 2.75 and 2.99 may also receive assistantships). Students whose GPA falls below 3.0 may remain on assistantship if their assistantship employer wishes to continue to support them. Exceptions are made on a semester-by-semester basis by the Graduate School.
• Make satisfactory progress toward degree as defined by academic departments and the Graduate School.
• Meet requirements to be eligible for employment in the U.S. You can find information about employment eligibility verification and tax forms from the Payroll Office, or review their website . 

Assistantship in final semester:

• Students who enroll full-time may remain on their assistantship through the end of the semester in which they defend, regardless of when in the semester they defend and submit their ETD. 
• Students who plan to defend early and leave the university during the fall or spring semester should not be on an assistantship but may be paid on wages or P14 appointment. Resigning early from an assistantship may result in prorated tuition responsibility for the student. Comprehensive fees are not prorated and are not refundable. 
• Students who defend in the summer under SSDE may remain on assistantship in the summer if they were on assistantship in the spring.

Compensation - Overview

The University provides an assistantship compensation package that is comparable with those offered by our peer institutions. The standard components of the compensation package, approved annually by the Board of Visitors, are:

• monthly stipend (paid semi-monthly according to the university's salary payroll schedule )
• in-state tuition scholarship in proportion to the assistantship FTE and contract period
• out-of-state tuition waiver (if eligibility requirements are met)
• health insurance subsidy (if eligibility requirements are met)
• payment plan for comprehensive and CFE fees (see below).

Compensation: Stipend

The stipend table for graduate assistants ranges from Step 1 to Step 50, representing a pay range within which graduate assistants must be paid. Departments determine which pay step to use based on the student's qualifications and experience, academic standing, and availability of funds. Departments have a wide range of stipend options to make competitive offers.

• 2023-24R Full-Time Graduate Assistantship Stipend Table Revised (effective Dec 10, 2023-Aug 9, 2024)
• 2023-24 Full-Time Graduate Assistantship Stipend Table (effective Aug 10, 2023-Dec 9, 2023)
• 2022-23 Full-Time Graduate Assistantship Stipend Table (effective Aug 10, 2022)
• 2021-22 Full-Time Graduate Assistantship Stipend Table  (effective through Aug 9, 2022)

Taxes: Federal and state taxes, if applicable, are withheld from the assistantship stipend check, which is issued semi-monthly at approximately the first and sixteenth of each month. Students on summer assistantships who are not enrolled will be taxed at a higher, non-student rate.

Compensation: In-State Tuition, Library and Technology Fees

During the academic year (Fall/Spring; tuition for summer and winter enrollment not included) students will receive a tuition remission for the in-state tuition, applicable program fee, and library and technology fees for the semester of their assistantship, in proportion to the assistantship appointment FTE and time period. Tuition remission is earned in 4-week increments, with full remission earned when students complete at least 16 weeks of work between the standard assistantship contract dates of the semester. If a student’s total stipend payments for the semester exceeds the combined amount of the standard department stipend amount plus the required in-state tuition, E&G and programs fees and the source of funding prohibits tuition payment, then tuition coverage by the department could be optional and the student would be required to pay their tuition and fee.

Payment of Comprehensive fees and CFE (Commonwealth Facility and Equipment) fees is not provided . Virginia residents should complete the In-State Tuition Request form in order to avoid being charged the CFE fees that out-of-state students are required to pay.

Compensation: Out-of-State Tuition Waiver

Graduate students who earn more than $4000 in an academic year on assistantship appointment(s) may be eligible for a waiver of the out-of-state portion of tuition for the year. This waiver does not apply to the Commonwealth Facility and Equipment (CFE) fee.  Summer earnings on assistantship or wage employment do not count towards meeting the $4000 minimum earnings requirement. Tuition bills from the  Bursar's Office  will show the out-of-state tuition charge and a credit to reflect the out-of-state tuition waiver (may also be referred to as "UF Differential"). Students who are enrolled in programs that have a program-specific graduate tuition rate (such as MIT, MNR, PSALS, and LGMC) are not eligible for the out-of-state waiver, since they are assessed a flat rate that is not residency specific.

The out-of-state tuition waiver is automatically applied to students' accounts when the following three criteria are met (this does not apply to level 46 bachelor's/master's students whose out-of-state tuition cannot be waived):

• the student's appointment (PAF) is entered in Banner by the hiring department
• the student meets the earnings criteria described above
• the student has registered for the semester

Virginia residents do not automatically receive in-state tuition status when they enter a graduate program at Virginia Tech, even if they were undergraduate students at Virginia Tech paying as an in-state resident.   You must submit the In-State Tuition Request form  to be qualified for in-state tuition. Also, any current student being charged out-of-state tuition and wishing to be considered for in-state rates must submit this form .

Eligibility for out-of-state waiver based on assistantship status and earnings:

• Fall: Must be on a GA/GTA/GRA and earn at least $2000 on assistantship stipend between Aug 10-Dec 24
• Winter: Must be on a GA/GTA/GRA and earn at least $2000 on assistantship stipend between Aug 10-Dec 24, or $4000 or more between Aug 10-May 9
• Spring: Must be on a GA/GTA/GRA and earn at least $2000 on assistantship stipend between Dec 25-May 9
• Summer: Must have been on a GA/GTA/GRA in immediately preceding spring semester and earned at least $4000 on assistantship stipend between Aug 10-May 9

Out-of-state tuition differential waiver eligibility chart

Compensation: Health Insurance Benefits

Graduate assistants who maintain at least a 50% assistantship (10 hours per week), may be eligible for health insurance benefits. Visit the Graduate School's  insurance benefits webpage  for additional information. Enrollment in the subsidized health insurance plan is available during the open enrollment period posted by the  Student Medical Insurance office , and after your department has entered your assistantship appointment (PAF) in the HR system. 

Compensation: Payment Plan for Comprehensive and CFE Fees

Comprehensive fees are a mandatory cost of attendance for students enrolling in Blacksburg that support the operation of self-funded (auxiliary enterprise) units providing services for the benefit of all students (recreational sports, Schiffert Health Center, Cook Counseling Center, Blacksburg Transit, etc).  Services covered by these fees are accessible to students only in the semesters when they are enrolled. Students who are not enrolled during the summer semester may have the option of paying for certain individual services directly ( Schiffert Health Center ; Rec Sports ). Students are responsible for comprehensive fees each semester. Out-of-state students must also pay a Commonwealth Facilities & Equipment (CFE) fee. See the  Bursar's web page  for a description of fees. The CFE fee requirement cannot be waived and is not part of the tuition charges.

Graduate students on assistantship appointment may pay their comprehensive and CFE fees in installments through a payment plan during the fall and spring semesters. Enrollment is managed through Hokie SPA and students must sign up each semester in which they wish to take advantage of this opportunity. Enrollment is not available for the summer terms.  Fully integrated with the students account system, the plan debits coincide with university payroll dates and adjust seamlessly with changes to the student account balance. 

Enroll in the payment plan before the payment deadline to avoid late fees.

You may enroll in the plan only after you have registered for classes and after your tuition remission has been entered in the Banner system by the hiring department. If you are unable to enroll in the plan , please contact your assistantship department to ensure that they entered your tuition remission award. The projected debit amount and remaining debit dates will be displayed during the enrollment process.  There is no cost to participate.  Once enrolled in the program, you  cannot cancel unless the balance is paid in full.

Request for Reduced Comprehensive Fees

In recognition of students living and studying away from the Blacksburg campus, comprehensive fees may be reduced for students enrolled in an all virtual schedule or who have only research hours/ independent study not located on campus.  Students must certify that they will reside more than 50 miles from the Blacksburg campus   for the   entire   semester.  More information can be found on the Bursar  website .  To be considered, this form must be submitted by the last day to add courses each semester.

Assistantship Agreement Contract

Students offered an assistantship must electronically sign the Graduate Assistantship Contract, which is a contract between the student and department. Assistantship contracts can be accessed through onecampus.vt.edu , Graduate Contracts. All contracts stipulate start and end dates, type of appointment, monthly stipend, percentage of tuition remission, whether the student is expected to work during school breaks, and any other special conditions. 

Performance Expectations

As with most professional appointments, work-time may vary from week to week. Students on a full assistantship (also referred to as 100%, 1 FTE), are expected to work an average of 20 hours/week during their contract period. Specific work assignments are provided by the employing departments. Contact your assistantship supervisor to discuss performance expectations; work schedule; first and last day of work for a semester (which may be different from the standard contract start/end dates); whether you need to work during school breaks, and other details.

Students enrolled in Research & Dissertation (R & D) credit hours while holding an assistantship position are expected to exert significant time and effort toward earning those credits in addition to fulfilling their assistantship duties. Please discuss expectations with your research advisor.

Financial Aid Reporting Requirement for Students with Assistantships

Students receiving financial aid need to report their assistantship compensation, including stipend, tuition scholarship, and out of state waiver, to their financial aid counselors.

Accepting Additional Employment

Graduate students on full assistantships are not prohibited from seeking additional employment (some restrictions apply: assistantships cannot be combined with P14 appointments; immigration regulations further govern  international student employment). Students should consult with their academic advisor and/or assistantship supervisor as applicable regarding the fulfillment of their assistantship and graduate study responsibilities. Students must notify the Graduate School about any additional employment, including the period of employment, name and contact of employer, and job title or short description of duties. Use the online tool for reporting:

Access the Additional Employment Reporting Tool .

Special Categories of Graduate Assistant

Five-year bachelor/master's students can hold assistantships in the last semester of their senior year and receive an in-state tuition scholarship, but their out-of-state fees cannot be waived. Bachelor/Master's students in the last semester of their senior year (level 46 students) who are offered assistantships cannot accept funds from the undergraduate scholarship funds and the graduate scholarship funds concurrently. Departments should discuss with each student the scholarship options before awarding an assistantship and issuing an agreement.

Termination of Contract

When a contract is terminated prior to its end date, the department must inform the Graduate School using this  form .

Tuition Obligation When Students Leave Assistantship

Except in cases where the student is withdrawing from the university for family/medical reasons, if an assistantship is terminated prior to the completion of the academic semester, the remission of tuition and E&G fees will be prorated in four week increments, with each quarter of tuition earned by the completion of four full weeks of work and full remission earned only if the student completes the assistantship (16 full weeks or more in a semester). Other benefits, such as health insurance subsidy and out-of-state tuition waiver, will be recalculated based on eligibility requirements, and the student will be billed for the remaining balance.

The table below details the tuition obligations for students who leave the assistantship appointment before the semester is complete. The table is also available in  pdf format .

Assistantship Contract Dates

Standard assistantship contract start and end dates are the same each year to provide 9 pay periods a semester regardless of the actual semester start/end dates. Assistantship benefits such as the health insurance subsidy are distributed evenly through the 18 pay periods in an academic year. Your reporting to work date and last day of work might be different from the contract start/end dates, including starting to work later than the contract start date and working some days beyond the official contract end date. Work with your supervisor on determining the actual start/end dates.

Standard assistantship appointments:  Academic Year:             Aug 10 through May 9 Fall Semester:               Aug 10 through Dec 24 Spring Semester:         Dec 25 through May 9 Summer:                       May 10 through August 9

Departments must specify whether a student is to work over school- or semester breaks. Students may be offered assistantships at any time of year. Tuition remission is prorated based on percentage and length of contract. 

For assistantships starting on Aug 10, the first paycheck is on Sep 1. 

Summer Changes to Deductions and Services

Changes to deductions.

Virginia Tech follows the safe harbor outlined in Revenue Procedure 2005-11.  All graduate students employed by and enrolled at VT in at least 5 credit hours in fall/spring/summer will be exempt from FICA taxes; students who are not enrolled in the summer while on assistantship are subject to FICA taxes on their earnings. Students who work during breaks and are not enrolled will have Social Security and Medicare withheld from their pay over the break.

Access to services

Services such as recreational sports, Schiffert Health Center, Cook Counseling Center, Student Legal Services, etc., are covered by comprehensive fees, which are mandatory when students are enrolled. If not enrolled in the summer, students on summer assistantship have the option of paying for certain services directly ( Cook Counseling ;  Schiffert Health Center ;  Rec Sports ) if they wish to use these. Day-use charges for Cook Counseling and Schiffert Health Center are reimburseable by the Aetna Student Insurance sponsored by VT, regardless of how often the service is used. However, payment of the full summer health services fee is not a reimbursable expense. For more information on reimbursable expenses, contact the Student Medical Insurance office at [email protected]; 540-231-6226.

Accommodations

For workplace accommodations, graduate assistants should contact the Office for Equity and Accessibility  at  [email protected] or call 540-231-1048. This also includes potential accommodations related to pregnancy, complications of pregnancy, and childbirth, as covered by the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) . Reasonable accommodations under the PWFA may include flexible working hours, appropriately sized uniforms and safety apparel, exemption from strenuous activities or other adjustments. For additional guidance regarding the PWFA,  review the VT PWFA guide  or direct questions to OEA at  [email protected]  or 540-231-2010.

For academic accommodations, graduate assistants should contact The Office of Services for Students with Disabilities at  [email protected] or call 540-231-3788. 

Work-Life Grants

The  Work-Life Grant Program  provides temporary financial assistance to departments to enable them to continue support for graduate students during pregnancy and childbirth or potentially other major medical issues. 

Follow Virginia Tech Graduate School

Contact us at  [email protected]  if you have questions or need assistance.

For the latest news on available assistantships, read the GLC-programs weekly listserv , published every Monday.  

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Assistantships

Available assistantships.

Competitive assistantships are available in our program areas of research for outstanding candidates to thesis-based Master and Doctoral programs. Students on assistantships receive tuition and health insurance. University fees of approximately $2,550/year are the responsibility of the student.

Soil Science Graduate Assistantship

PhD Position for Soil based Climate Change Mitigation Strategies at North Carolina State University

We are seeking a highly motivated PhD graduate student interested in soilbased climate mitigation and resilience research at the lab and field scale. The individual will develop bio-physical-chemical mechanisms underlying soil carbon sequestration, nitrogen retention, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation from the use of soil amendments including biochar and composts. The research includes controlled lab studies (incubations, continually monitored GHG mesocosms) and analysis of soil samples from field experiments for soil physical and biochemical properties. In addition, the student will work on ongoing field studies focused on GHG emissions from amendment inputs within the long-term Farming Systems Research Unit and the Center for Environmental Farming System (CEFS) in Goldsboro NC.

More Information

Soil Science Postdoctoral Position

Postdoctoral Position in Agrometeorology for Soil-based Climate Change Mitigation Strategies at North Carolina State University

As part of the Climate Adaptation through Agriculture & Soil Management ( CASM ) initiative in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at NCSU, we are hiring a 2-year postdoctoral research position related to mitigating climate change through soil carbon sequestration and GHG emission reduction in agricultural systems.

We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral research associate to develop and expand the GHG program in the Sustainable Soils Lab. The successful candidate needs to demonstrate strong expertise in agrometeorological measurement of GHG emissions including eddy covariance techniques. This includes experience with field instrumentation maintenance (data loggers, soil sensors etc.) and management of large continuous data sets including processing and data quality control. In addition, experience with GHG analytical equipment, fundamental knowledge in nitrogen and carbon cycling and experience with field-based research is desired.

Graduate assistantships

Teaching Assistantships award a competitive stipend for the academic year plus a tuition and fee waiver and a subsidized medical plan. Teaching assistants will be expected to perform specific teaching and grading duties. Normally this will not exceed teaching 6 credit hours per semester or the academic equivalent. Awards are based on academic credentials submitted with the graduate school application. Research Assistantships are sometimes available as well.

Teaching Assistantships are also subject to the following guidelines

•  TA support is normally approved for 8 semesters for students entering with a bachelor's degree and 4 semesters for students with a master’s degree, subject to good academic standing and normal degree progress. To get TA support beyond this period requires special semester-by-semester approval of the Graduate Committee.
• Students being supported by a TA are expected to enroll in at least 6 credits of approved graduate coursework. The courses Grad 701 and Math 899 do not count toward this 6-credit requirement.

All graduate students holding an assistantship (teaching GTA or GRA) are considered Nevada residents for tuition purposes. Non-resident tuition is only waived for the duration of the assistantship. To be eligible for an assistantship, students must be admitted to a degree-granting program and be in good academic standing. The student must have an overall GPA of at least 3.0 and must be continuously enrolled in at least 6 graduate-level credits (600-700) throughout the duration of the assistantship. State-funded assistantships (GTA/GRA) may be held for a maximum of: three (3) years for master’s degree students and five (5) years for doctoral degree students.

Information on graduate assistantship in the graduate school website:

• General information
• Graduate Assistantship handbook

Return to table of contents 

Please note: this represents the program handbook for the 2020-2021 academic year only. For an archived version of a previous year's handbook, or to obtain a hard copy of this current year's program handbook, please contact the program director .

40 USA Graduate Assistantships (UPDATED FOR 2025) for International Students

Ifeoma Chuks

May 21, 2024

Have you been looking for USA graduate opportunities to study in the USA?

Also see: 20 Graduate Assistantships in the Middle East for International Students

Get Up to $100,000 Student Loan for Your Master in US or Canada - See if you are eligible

Also see: Proven Steps to Get a Graduate Assistantship in the USA

List of US Universities Accepting 2.2 & HND from International Students (with Proof)

The thing is, USA graduate scholarship is a very popular option for international students. As in, tens of thousands apply to only a handful of scholarships every year. So it follows that your chances of competing and winning a full scholarship to study in the USA are very slim, even more so if you have plans to work while/after schooling.

So then, why restrict your options applying only for scholarships when universities, polytechnics & colleges offer international students “graduate assistantships”? What’s a Graduate Assistantship, you ask?

It will be easier to simply list out top USA Graduate Assistantship opportunities to plan or apply for but you see, while you might know something and then think it is general knowledge, plenty of learners do not know what you know. Infact, the lack of information is so overwhelming that in my experience evaluating scholarship applications, many do not know what or why they have applied. Imagine walking into a room blindfolded?

Shocking, right?

So education begins from ground level up. In future articles, we will tackle how to apply successfully for a graduate assistantship, cold calling a professor, writing a great SOP etc (other strategies are listed in this interview ).

For this article though, we define Graduate assistantship and list some of them from the United States (US) that you may apply for.

What then is a Graduate Assistantship?

A Graduate Assistantship is walking the talk. A GA enables you get your education fully-funded in exchange for professional contribution to your major. So while your tuition is fully paid off, sometimes along with your housing and maintenance, it comes with working in your faculty. Like having a job while studying, only that for a GA, it usually entails academic/administrative work not bartending or housekeeping. GA advances your development more than a scholarship.

In the US of A, Graduate Assistantship is of 3 types:

• A  Graduate Assistant (GA) : Although a Graduate Assistant works with and assists students on a daily basis. they are not required to teach the students. The GA primarily works in administrative capacity with a member of the faculty or the school coach, yet the work of the graduate assistant should not be to do filing and clerical duty. Keyword is “should not”. It’ll however depend on faculty’s pressing needs at the time
• A  Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA): The GTA is required to teach undergraduate students and mentor them. In some cases, the GTA is assigned to masters and doctoral candidates in rare circumstances where exceptional expertise or experience is shown. The teaching assignment is an opportunity to obtain depth of knowledge within the academic discipline. 
• A  Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) : The GRA is employed to aid the research of a faculty member in a capacity that enhances the student’s career and educational development. For the GRA, the research project typically results in a professional paper, thesis, or dissertation. Duties vary depending on the type of research project and may include laboratory experiments, library searches, data entry, preparation of reports, and other relevant assignments.

All graduate assistantships are professional positions that allow you to build the skills that employers are looking for. For master’s students applying to doctoral programs, an assistantship demonstrates that you are well-prepared to contribute to the department. Indeed, for many research fields, not having an assistantship during your master’s could count against you when applying to PhD programs.

How to Apply for a Graduate Assistantship (GA)?

GAs are typically awarded by a specific Graduate Course or Department or College. So you would most likely not be aware of a call for applications if you do not contact the department or college.

You would most likely not be aware of a GA call for applications if you do not contact the department or college.

Let’s point you in the direction of 30 USA graduate schools that open their assistantships to African/international students

So what say you? Wanna apply to some GA positions? Let’s get cracking!

2025/2026 additions:

Ifeoma Chuks is a naturally-skilled writer. She has written and contributed to more than 6000 articles all over the internet that have formed solid experiences for particularly aspiring, young people around the globe.

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Funding & Scholarship: Graduate Programs

Financial support for ph.d. students, all students admitted into our ph.d. program receive full financial support., this support includes tuition, fees, $1,000 in transportation and dental subsidies (as of ay24-25), and a cost-of-living stipend ($3655 per month in ay23-24 and $4083 per month before taxes in ay24-25)..

Support is independent of need provided a student remains in good academic standing and is making satisfactory progress towards his/her Ph.D. degree. Students are expected to complete their Ph.D. requirements in four to six years. Financial support takes several forms: fellowships, teaching fellowships, and research assistantships. Ordinarily, first-year Ph.D. students are supported with full fellowships so that they can devote their time to coursework.

For the class entering in Fall 2024 : SEAS PhD students are expected to complete two sections of teaching in SEAS in their second year or spread across their second and third years. Both sections may be completed concurrently in a single course. Their research assistantship will be adjusted accordingly during the semester(s) in which they are teaching fellow (TF). The academic requirement for the PhD degree is one section of teaching in SEAS. The student and their research advisor may arrange to replace the second section of teaching with a research assistantship. Beyond the first year, when students are in a better position to teach and assist in research, support is ordinarily provided through research assistantships, or a combination of a teaching fellowship and a research assistantship. For more detailed information, please visit the following pages: GSAS Tuition and Fees  G SAS Financial Support for PhD Students

External financial support for Ph.D. students

Applicants and current students are encouraged and expected to apply for all non-Harvard scholarships for which they are eligible, especially those offered by the  National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program  and  National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) . 

Each year, many SEAS students secure fellowships from external agencies.  Should an incoming student be awarded and accept any fellowship external to Harvard, it is the expectation that the student will utilize these funds in the first year of study in place of Harvard funding.   In advanced (G2+) years in the graduate program, students with external fellowships are advised to have a discussion with their financial aid officers from Harvard Griffin GSAS and SEAS about how to best utilize the remaining years of funding based on their activities and academic requirements.

To ensure equitable treatment of all students, the coordination of external award benefits with a student’s existing funding package is determined by the Harvard Griffin GSAS financial aid officer in consultation with SEAS.

PhD students with external support are eligible for a SEAS-sponsored academic incentive.  PhD students who bring in open, competitive external fellowships that are equal to 50% or more of total their support (tuition/fees + stipend) will receive a supplemental award of $3,000 in the first year of the external fellowship.  PhD students who bring in open external competitive external fellowships that are not 50% or more of their total support and are at least $10,000 (tuition/fees + stipend or salary) will receive a supplemental award of $1,000.  The full $3,000 bonus may also be awarded in certain cases of multi-year fellowships depending on the total amount of support provided.

Financial support for terminal masters students (M.E. & S.M.)

While financial aid is not available for master’s students in our M.E. and S.M. programs, there are a variety of funding opportunities available. Prospective students are encouraged to apply for independent grants and fellowships to fund their studies.  Information about tuition and fees can be found here . Students in our Computational Science & Engineering or Data Science programs-should visit this page and also may contact the  GSAS Financial Aid Office  to learn more.

Students in the  MS/MBA:Engineering Sciences program  are eligible to apply for need-based  HBS Fellowships  and student loans in both years of the program.

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Graduate Assistantships

Graduate and doctoral students may be employed as teaching assistants, instructional assistants, research assistants, or graduate assistants in a non-exempt status* from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). A prospective graduate/doctoral employee must be enrolled as a regular, degree-seeking student in graduate studies at Texas State University. The information below can also be found in UPPS 07.07.06 .

Table of Contents

• Types of Graduate Assistantships
• Required Teaching Assistantship Courses
• Course Load
• Allowable Work Hours
• Teaching Load for GTA/DTAs
• Orientation
• Academic Eligibility
• Applying for an Assistantship
• Selection and Appointment
• Supervision and Evaluation
• Salaries and Benefits
• In-state Tuition Eligibility
• Health Insurance
• Non-discrimination Policy
• PCR Documentation

  Types of Graduate Assistantships

• Graduate teaching assistants and doctoral teaching assistants (GTA/DTA) are currently enrolled students employed by an academic department, paid from faculty salaries and reported as the “teacher of record” for an organized undergraduate class. Graduate teaching assistants and doctoral teaching assistants receive a faculty contract for a semester or the academic year and are paid on a monthly basis.
• Graduate instructional assistants and doctoral instructional assistants (GIA/DIA) are currently enrolled students employed by an academic department, paid from faculty salaries, but are not reported as the “teacher of record.” Graduate instructional assistants and doctoral instructional assistants are responsible for a specific group of students (typically undergraduate students) and assign some portion of these same students’ grades. If graduate students are assigned as instructional assistants in graduate courses, they cannot grade other students’ work or have access to their grades. The dean of The Graduate College will allow an exception for doctoral instructional assistants assigned to master’s level classes, provided there is no conflict of interest. Prior to making the appointment, programs should consult with the graduate dean. The academic department may pay graduate instructional assistants’ salaries for those assisting in the operation of a lab or an activity or recitation group from course fees collected for this purpose. Graduate instructional assistants and doctoral instructional assistants are typically appointed for a semester or the academic year and are paid on a monthly basis.
• Graduate research assistants and doctoral research assistants (GRA/DRA) are currently enrolled students employed by a department or university office and may receive pay from grants, sponsored programs, indirect cost recovery, designated lines and faculty start-up accounts approved by the Division of Research, restricted accounts if the funding source allows, or other accounts approved by the Provost. Chapter 10 of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Field Operation Handbook defines research assistants as students “engaged in research in the course of obtaining advanced degrees and the research is performed under the supervision of a member of the faculty in a research environment provided by the institution under a grant or contract.” If employed on a grant, the work performed must directly relate to the objectives of the grant. Graduate research assistants and doctoral research assistants can be appointed for a semester, the academic year, or the duration of a research project or any portion thereof and are paid on a monthly basis.
• Graduate assistants and doctoral assistants (GA/DA) are employed by a department or university office and may receive pay from grants or university funds. Responsibilities may include research (not under the supervision of a faculty member), technical assistance, and institutional support. To avoid conflicts of interest, graduate and doctoral assistants cannot have access to records of graduate students of their degree granting department. Graduate assistants and doctoral assistants who have access to records must be FERPA trained and sign a confidentiality agreement.

*Non-Exempt Status : A graduate/doctoral assistant is non-exempt if the job is subject to the minimum wage and overtime provisions of FSLA. Human Resources determines whether students need to record working times on an exception basis and are not eligible for paid leave including holidays. Non-exempt students who work over 40 hours in a week will be compensated at time and one-half.

  Required Teaching Assistantship Courses

As a condition of employment, all GTAs, DTA, GIAs, and DIAs must complete a total of three hours of professional development course work. The course titles for the required in-service teaching courses vary by department. Some departments offer one three-hour course, some departments offer a two-hour and one-hour course for a combination of three hours, and other departments offer a one-hour course to be taken three times. Assistants enroll in the course offered by the department in which they are employed during their first term of employment and continue to enroll in subsequent terms until the three-hour requirement is met, as applicable. Students may not enroll in this course work beyond the required three hours. Up to a total of three semester hours may be used with other graduate courses to satisfy the minimum nine semester hours of enrollment required as a condition of employment. The university administration will cover the fees and tuition for the required teaching assistantship course (up to a total of three semester credit hours only). These courses are not covered by financial aid. 

  Course Load

The minimum course load required during a fall/spring term of employment as a graduate assistant is nine graduate semester hours. Students who enrolled in nine graduate semester hours during the previous spring and fall terms are not required to enroll during the summer; otherwise, enrollment in three graduate hours is required for the summer term. Assistants taking more than 12 graduate semester hours during the fall/spring terms must have approval from the dean of The Graduate College. Similarly, assistants taking more than six graduate semester hours per summer session must have approval from the dean of The Graduate College.

  Allowable Work Hours

During the fall and spring terms, assistants may work up to 50% full-time equivalent, or FTE, of 20 hours per week. Exception requests for employment over 50% FTE are only approved under the most exceptional circumstances by the graduate dean. 

  Graduate/Doctoral Teaching Assistants

The usual semester-hour teaching load during the fall or spring term is six semester hours or two classes. The usual semester-hour teaching load during a six-week or eight-week summer session is one course (up to a maximum of four hours). A twelve-week summer session carries a normal teaching load of six hours. Exceptions may be made to teaching assistant in their first semester of employment and other workload adjustments (PPS 04.01.40 Faculty Workload). These policies are designed to protect the graduate/doctoral assistant from bearing unfair employment and course load, which facilitates the timely completion of the degree.

The student must hold a master's degree in the teaching discipline or eighteen graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline. ( Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Principles of Accreditation ). The student must have unconditional acceptance into a graduate degree program. The student must enroll in at least nine graduate semester credit hours (SCH) in a graduate degree program each fall and spring semester of employment and in at least three graduate SCH during the summer if their initial enrollment is in the summer. The student must also maintain a minimum 3.0 Texas State grade point average (GPA) in course work leading toward the completion of a graduate degree.

Graduate teaching assistants and doctoral teaching assistants must submit a complete faculty applicant packet that consists of a faculty employment application, official transcripts from all degree-granting institutions, a current vita or resume, a Criminal Background Check Consent Form , and an English Proficiency Form .

  Orientation

Most departments conduct one or more orientation sessions for new assistants. Newly hired assistants should inquire about orientation attendance requirements with the department or university office at the time they apply for employment.

  Academic Eligibility

To see the full list of academic and enrollment requirements needed to be eligible for an assistantship position, please view The Graduate College's guide . 

  Applying for an Assistantship

Applications for assistantships should be sent directly to the department or university office according to their application procedure. It is also possible to apply for certain assistantship positions online through Career Services at Handshake .

  Selection and Appointment

Offers of assistantships are contingent on available funds and admission of the applicant to a degree-seeking graduate program. Graduate assistantship appointments are typically made on the following basis:

• summer term (eight weeks)
• spring/fall term (four and one-half months)
• nine months

The term of an appointment of a research assistant may be based on the period of available grant funding. Renewal is at the discretion of the department or university office for which the student is employed. In all cases, the account manager or the manager’s designee will decide who is hired in accordance with the qualifications and standards required for the position.

  Supervision and Evaluation

Teaching assistants are the instructor of record for the course(s) assigned; however, they are under the direct supervision of a faculty member experienced in the teaching discipline. Instructional assistants are supervised by the instructor of record or laboratory coordinator of the courses assigned. Research assistants are usually supervised by the faculty member or office supervisor with whom they work. All assistantship positions undergo regular evaluation as required by the department in which they are employed.

  Salaries and Benefits

Assistants are paid in accordance with the following student employee pay schedule .

  In-state Tuition Eligibility

Assistants may qualify for tuition waivers through Student Business Services. For more details, please refer to the tuition waivers and exceptions list.

  Health Insurance

Assistants, employed at least half-time (50% FTE) for a minimum period of four and one-half consecutive months, are eligible for employer group insurance plans administered by Human Resources. Assistants are able to make a choice between the Student Health Insurance Plan administered by the Student Health Center and the Employer Group Insurance Program administered by Human Resources . Also, some assistants may already be covered by insurance outside the university and, therefore, may choose not to enroll in a health insurance option offered by Texas State. Assistants should refer to HR's comparison summary in order to make an educated decision.

  Non-Discrimination Policy

Texas State University's graduate student employment policy and procedures must comply with UPPS 04.04.46, Prohibition of Discrimination.

  PCR Documentation

For more information regarding graduate student employment, including the required documentation for your PCR, please visit Faculty Records Frequently Asked Questions .

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The School of Economic Sciences has several graduate research/teaching assistantships available for fall semester. We are inviting applications from self-motivated students to pursue a Ph.D. degree in our department. The graduate assistants are expected to work half-time assisting School of Economics’ faulty in teaching or in research. There is a wide range of fields to accommodate the student’s research interests.

The stipend is competitive and the assistantship includes a tuition waiver and health insurance. The colleague-like relationship between faculty and graduate students in our department helps to explore the students’ academic talent.

Please see  Financial Assistance  for details of application.

Financial Assistance

Assistantships are offered on a competitive basis to applicants who show the most promise for excellence in graduate work and for contributing to the research or teaching programs that provide the funds for their assistantships. Previous academic performance, level of competence in economics and research techniques, and the evaluation of references are all taken into account. The rate of support and the fees paid by graduate students are set at the university level and are subject to frequent change.

WSU offers both research and teaching assistantships. Half-time research and teaching assistants may register for up to 14 hours of graded classes. Research assistants are assigned to work on one of the School’s current research projects, and teaching assistants help in one or more of the classes taught by the School.

At this point, common assistantships (with a 20-hour per week work obligation) pay an estimated monthly stipend of $1,949. The stipend is provided for the nine-month academic year. Health insurance and most tuition costs are provided to you in addition to the stipend, resulting in a total award value of up to $46,396 depending on residency status. Also, students in good academic standing typically receive one additional month of pay for teaching and/or research assistance during the summer.

Therefore, Ph.D. students with a 9-month assistantship plus one-month of summer pay receive a total stipend estimated at $19,490 per year. Please note that we plan to increase monthly stipends starting every year, conditional on funding availability.

Application for Financial Assistance

Prospective students may apply to the School for financial assistance at any time, but it is advised that applications be made as early as possible. In general, a complete application file (including GRE scores) should be submitted to the Graduate School no later than January 10. To apply for an assistantship, check the appropriate box on the application form.

Other Assistance

A number of opportunities are available to graduate students to support graduate study. These include scholarships, special grants through the Graduate School, research and teaching work paid on an hourly basis, and summer jobs related to specific projects.

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Fall 2024 Graduate Assistantships

Each year, faculty fellows at the Center for Geospatial Analytics seek prospective students for graduate assistantships funded through external grants. Opportunities available for students applying for Fall 2024 admission to the Ph.D. program in Geospatial Analytics will be posted below as funding is confirmed. You can also find a list of faculty who will be recruiting new students for Fall 2024 here .

Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions Using Satellite Observations

A Ph.D. position is available in estimating greenhouse gas emissions using satellite observations with Dr. Zhen Qu’s Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Lab . The successful candidate will apply machine learning, statistical analysis, supercomputer simulations, satellite data, and atmospheric simulations to estimate the sources and evolution of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). The student can also be involved with analyzing environmental justice and regulation implications using the results.

Greenhouse gas mitigation attracts a lot of attention and financial support. This project aims to combine big data with new machine learning and statistical techniques to advance our understanding of climate change and greenhouse gases. The result is expected to have a high impact and support the Global Stocktake of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

There are plenty of job opportunities in addition to academia in this field, including climate-related research positions at tech companies (e.g., Google, Microsoft, etc.), consultant positions on climate change and energy transition (e.g., at McKinsey, BCG, etc.), energy trading (e.g., Boston Energy Trading), oil and gas companies, NGOs, government and national labs (EPA, NASA, NOAA, NCAR, etc.).

Desired skills: – Communication, teamwork, and academic writing skills – Interest and motivation for research – Experience with machine learning and statistical modeling, high-performance computing, programming (Python, FORTRAN, etc.), satellite observations, and atmospheric models is highly desired

Please email Dr. Qu ( [email protected] ) your CV, transcript, and research interests before submitting an application.

Nutrient and Water Resources Modeling

Dr. Dan Obenour , a Center for Geospatial Analytics Faculty Fellow in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, is seeking a graduate student to fill an open research assistant position in the Environmental Modeling and Forecasting lab group. The position will focus on modeling of nutrient flows and downstream water quality impacts. This position is associated with STEPS , a convergence research center focused on phosphorus sustainability. Through STEPS, the selected student will have opportunities to interact closely with researchers in other fields, provide stakeholder outreach, and support junior students, including those from under-represented groups.

Primary responsibilities will include computational modeling and the development of scholarly manuscripts and presentations. The student will be based at either the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering or the Center for Geospatial Analytics, depending on the student’s background and interests. Preference will be given to motivated candidates with expertise in one or more of the following areas: water quality dynamics, geospatial analysis, coding, statistical modeling, and/or machine learning.

Interested candidates should contact Dr. Obenour ( [email protected] ), providing a resume/CV and brief summary of research interests and qualifications. Outstanding candidates will be encouraged to submit a full application ( https://grad.ncsu.edu/programs/how-to-apply/ ). Members of under-represented groups are especially encouraged to apply. The position is available in January 2024, though later start dates (e.g., August 2024) will be considered.

Learn more about this opportunity here:  Nutrient and Water Resources Modeling Graduate Opportunity

Pest Spread Modeling

Dr. Chris Jones , a Research Scholar in the Center for Geospatial Analytics, is seeking a PhD student with a strong interest in spatial modeling and agricultural crop pest management. This position will focus on using the Pest or Pathogen Spread (PoPS) model to document dispersal patterns of corn earworm, a major pest of crops in the eastern United States. To do this, the candidate will leverage several decades of corn earworm trap data already collected to calibrate and validate a spread model for this pest. This model will simulate the reproduction, dispersal, and establishment of corn earworm over time to explore changes in population cycles due to both abiotic and biotic factors. We will use the calibrated model to explore future responses to climate change using global climate model projections. We will also assess the accuracy of future forecasts with data collected by the project. Additionally, we include grower stakeholders in the process to explore tradeoffs between management interventions and crop damage risk.

A background using R for analysis would be beneficial.

Interested students should contact Dr. Jones ( [email protected] ) and include a CV. The student will be co-advised by Dr. Anders Huseth ( [email protected] ), Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist, Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology and the North Carolina Plant Science Initiative.

Ecological Impact of Oyster Restoration

Graduate research opportunities are available for studies evaluating the ecological response of a large-scale oyster restoration project in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. Potential projects will involve population modeling, benthic habitat studies, and the use of active and passive underwater acoustic data to monitor marine species. Applicants should have a quantitative background and a strong interest in pursuing research at the intersection of marine science and geospatial analytics.

Students will receive training in field-based methods (e.g. biological sampling, seafloor mapping, and water column imaging) and advanced data science techniques (e.g. model development, geospatial statistics, and machine learning). Opportunities to obtain scuba and scientific diver certifications will be available to interested students. Research partners include the NC Coastal Federation, NC State University, NC Central University, the NC Division of Marine Fisheries, and private contractors.

For more information, please contact Dr. Del Bohnenstiehl ( [email protected] ) and Dr. David Eggleston ( [email protected] ). Students from groups historically underrepresented within the geo- and data-sciences (e.g. domestic students who identify as Black, Hispanic, and/or indigenous) and first-generation college graduates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Geospatial Computation and AI

Developing novel and scalable AI, computer vision, and deep learning techniques for monitoring and mapping natural resources using multi-sensor global earth observations. More info forthcoming. Contact Dr. Raju Vatsavai ( [email protected] ) and include a copy of your CV.

Past Opportunities

Curious about what projects students have applied to work on in the past? Brief synopses are provided below:

Fall 2023 assistantships

• Land Change Modeling –– Join the Urban Systems Lab to model urban growth, future flood hazard and human adaptive response to flooding, with a focus on scenario-based land change modeling that considers human-flood interactions.
• Ecological Impact of Oyster Restoration  –– Students who have been historically underrepresented in the sciences (must be U.S. citizens/permanent residents) are invited to participate in research related to a large oyster restoration program. Potential projects include population modeling, benthic habitat studies and the use of active and passive underwater acoustic data to monitor marine species.
• Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling  –– Join the Qu Lab to develop a research project applying satellite remote sensing observations, atmospheric chemistry models and data assimilation and machine learning methods to estimate the sources and evolution of air pollutants and greenhouse gasses. The student can also be involved with analyzing environmental justice and regulation implications using the results.
• Spatial Social Network Analysis for Disaster Recovery  –– Join the Location Matters Lab as part of a research group focused on understanding environmental and disaster recovery policy implementation through social science frameworks. The student will be actively involved in collaborations with communities recovering from disaster and nonprofit and government organizations supporting social and ecological resilience.
• Invasive Species Modeling  –– Join the Biological Invasions Lab to mode invasive species spread and early detection using remote sensing and machine learning, with a focus on invasive pest and pathogen modeling using process-based models with machine learning or remote sensing with deep learning for early detection of pest and disease symptoms using high-resolution remote and aerial imagery.
• Geospatial Analytics for Natural Resource Challenges  –– Join the Land Change Lab as part of a research group to study conservation and natural resource management in parks and protected areas, including modeling fire and ecosystem processes at landscape levels, studying the impacts of development along park boundaries and building GIS support systems for the National Park Service.
• Global Change and Forest Hydroecology  –– Join the Watershed Ecology Lab as part of a research group focused on the dynamics of forest hydrologic cycling, from the stem to space, including field research, remote sensing and forest dynamics modeling. The student will be actively involved in collaborations with the US Forest Service.
• Urban Conservation Biology  –– Join the Youngsteadt Urban Ecology Lab to examine effects of urbanization and climate change on the crystal skipper butterfly. Field work is an important component of this position.

Fall 2022 assistantships

• Climate Change, Carbon, and Phenology –– Join the Spatial Ecosystem Analytics Lab as part of a multi-institutional team investigating changes in vegetation phenology, the impact of those changes on carbon fluxes, and the effect of drought on ecosystems.
• Aquatic Biogeochemistry and Geospatial Modeling –– Join the Osburn Lab as part of an interdisciplinary and multi-institutional team working to characterize natural and anthropogenic sources and distributions of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in coastal watersheds. The position will be a combination of laboratory and computation activities; limited opportunities for field work are possible.
• Engaging Stakeholders in Flood Resilience Planning through Landscape Forecasting and Interactive Decision Analytics –– Join the Landscape Dynamics Lab to collaborate with an interdisciplinary team to co-envision an open source web based platform for stakeholder engagement and development of flood adaptation strategies. This platform will integrate scientific models to facilitate multi-way communication among stakeholders, decision-makers, and the research team.
• Modeling Phosphorus Flows in Agricultural Landscapes –– Join the Biosystems Analytics Lab  (Biological and Agricultural Engineering) and  Obenour Lab  (Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering) to join a project funded through the  NSF STEPS Center  at NC State.
• Human Exposure to Air Pollution –– Join the Richmond-Bryant Lab  to perform research through the Louisiana State University Superfund Research Program on Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals. The student will be part of an interdisciplinary and multi-institutional team working to characterize human exposure to air pollution emitted by an open-burn-open detonation hazardous waste facility (the only commercially permitted one of its kind in the U.S.) in a community with intersecting vulnerabilities.

Fall 2021 assistantships

• Surface Water and Flooding Dynamics with Multi-sensor Time-series of Satellite imagery –– Join the Geospatial Analysis for Environmental Change Lab to answer questions pertaining to flooding and surface water dynamics through innovative use of remotely sensed imagery as part of interdisciplinary and multi-institutional team funded by NASA.
• Building Capacity for Improved Citizen Science by Understanding the Racial-Spatial Bias in Environmental Data –– Join the Cooper Public Science Lab to explore multiple dimensions in the design and implementation of citizen science programs to address environmental injustices and public health challenges.
• Large Scale Change Monitoring from Multisource Imagery –– Join the Spatial Ecosystem Analytics Lab to answer questions of broad significance through innovative use of remotely sensed imagery as part of an interdisciplinary and multi-institutional team building a system to monitor and characterize change over huge spatial scales using heterogeneous satellite imagery.
• Hydro-Ecology and Forest Management for Global Change (two positions) –– Be part of collaborative project led by four faculty from the Center for Geospatial Analytics and Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources to study climate adaptive management for forest ecosystem services.
• Analytics for Sustainable Agriculture –– Join the Biosystems Analytics Lab to leverage remotely sensed and  in situ  data to develop predictive and explanatory models for use in sustainable environmental and agricultural management.
• Landscape Transformations –– Join the Dynamic Ecosystems and Landscapes Lab to research anthropogenic change and landscape transformations to improve landscape policy and management decisions.
• Inequities in Built Environments & Active Living –– Join the C-WHERE lab to explore spatial energetics (space, place, human movement, physical activity) and how built environments influence active living, with a focus on righting inequities and bringing power to data.
• Modeling the Spread of Infectious Swine Disease –– Join the Machado Lab to develop forecast models of swine diseases, focusing on the epidemiology of transboundary animal diseases, integrating approaches such as traditional spatiotemporal statistics for mapping disease spread and forecasting disease emergence in animal and human populations.

Fall 2020 assistantships

• Carbon Cycles and Environmental Justice Policy –– Join the Ecohydrology and Watershed Science Laboratory to assess impacts of climate change and land use change on terrestrial water and carbon cycles and/or evaluating datasets and methodologies used for environmental justice policy.
• Modeling the Spread of Invasive Species –– Join the Biological Invasions Lab join a research group focused on interactive near-term forecasting of landscape and environmental change, with emphasis on collaborating with stakeholders to explore what may happen in the future under different scenarios.
• Remote Sensing of Geologic Hazards –– Join the Earth Surface Processes Lab to join a team of geoscientists combining field-based studies with geospatial analysis and modeling.

Fall 2019 assistantships

• Landscape Connectivity Dynamics in Surface Water Networks — Join the Geospatial Analysis for Environmental Change Lab to investigate climate and land-use change effects on landscape connectivity dynamics.
• Seasonality from Space — Join the Spatial Ecosystem Analytics Lab on a NASA-funded project investigating satellite data fusion and time series analysis.
• Winter Weather — Join the Environment Analytics group to study the complex interactions within snow storms and wintery mix storms.
• Modeling Forest and Water Resources under Changing Conditions — Join the Watershed Ecology lab group and combine various data sources to create projections of future landscape conditions.
• Modeling Agricultural and Water Resource Dynamics — Join the Biosystems Analytics Lab to study the effects of global and local change on fresh and estuarine water quality, land-sea connectivity and agroecosystem productivity.
• Surface Water Dynamics from Space — Join the Geospatial Analysis for Environmental Change Lab to investigate hydroclimatic drivers of surface water extent dynamics and advance quantification of water extent and volume.
• Remote Sensing Forest Gap Dynamics — Join the Applied Remote Sensing and Analysis lab group to examine the role and influence of forest gaps in relation to localized large-scale disturbances.

Fall 2018 assistantships

• Exploring Urban Planning Scenarios — Join a geovisualization research group focused on developing interactive online 3D visualization systems for innovative public engagement and urban planning in the Research Triangle Region of NC.
• Natural Resource Management and Ecosystem Services — Focus on geospatial analytics for fire and natural resource management in national parks and protected areas, including modeling fire and ecosystem processes at landscape levels, forecasting development along park boundaries, and building decision support systems.
• Sustainability Solutions with Land Change Science — Join an interdisciplinary team investigating the dynamics of urbanization and landscape change in the Southeast US through land-change modeling in collaboration with the US Geological Survey.
• Outdoor Recreation Decision Support Systems — Join a research group focused on built environments and active living, and contribute to developing new decision support analytics for the Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Branch of the National Park Service.
• Smart and Connected Communities — Join a team designing a publicly available, multi-user, online serious game called TomorrowNow to engage citizens and decision makers in developing collaborative scenarios of urbanization and stormwater management, as part of a new grant from the NSF Smart and Connected Communities program.
• Biological Invasions and Plant Health — Join the Spatial Analytic Framework for Advanced Information Systems (SAFARIS) team to develop spatial models and techniques to forecast movement of invasive pests and pathogens affecting food security and natural ecosystems.
• Participatory Video and Engaged Environmental Justice — Use participatory mapping and video methods to understand how communities address resource inequities in disaster recovery plans, as part of a larger research project focused on long-term recovery from Hurricane Matthew in NC.
• Geospatial Social Networks of Environmental Governance — Examine changes in watershed governance following disasters with spatially-explicit social networks in order to understand how and why environmental governance transitions occur.
• Seasonality from Space — Join a NASA-funded research project to generate moderate resolution land surface phenology from Landsat and Sentinel data fusion. Learn more.
• Innovation in Local Government — Join a team developing solutions through geospatial visualizations and analytics for internal and external stakeholders of local government in partnership with Wake County, North Carolina.

Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

At michigan state university, frib graduate research assistant caitlin mccormick earns national science foundation graduate fellowship.

Caitlin McCormick, graduate research assistant at FRIB, has earned a three-year fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program. NSF provides an annual stipend of $37,000 to each recipient. The foundation provides up to $16,000 for tuition and fees as well. 

McCormick’s research aims to enhance our knowledge of processes that compete with superheavy element formation. These processes include fission and quasi-fission. She plans to finish her degree and earn her PhD with the funding provided by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Her goal is to work in nuclear security at a Department of Energy national laboratory. 

“I am extremely excited for Caitlin and very proud of her accomplishment,” said Kyle Brown, assistant professor of chemistry at FRIB and McCormick’s advisor. “As a previous NSF Graduate Research Fellow myself, it was doubly exciting to see my first graduate student receive the fellowship as well. Caitlin worked very hard on her application, and now she can enjoy the rewards of that hard work.”

McCormick is a part of FRIB’s nuclear reactions group. She is preparing to use the radioactive calcium-49 beam available at FRIB to investigate entrance channel effects on the formation of compound nuclei. This work includes developing a new detector array with improved position resolution and durability compared to detectors used in similar experiments. 

McCormick’s research is of fundamental interest to the nuclear reactions community, Brown said. It provides experimental data to theories regarding the interaction between beam and target and its influence on the outcome of the reaction. Her research could also guide the search for new superheavy elements. It may also contribute to the creation of new isotopes of existing superheavy elements.

McCormick said that FRIB is a great community to conduct her research. “The scientific and educational opportunities are among the best and most diverse in the world,” she said. “But it is the people who work here who make that possible. Everyone, including other graduate students, professors, and staff, are very kind, patient, and committed to the education of graduate students like me and of the general public through outreach.”

In addition to McCormick, Monika Fouad, an incoming graduate student who will begin attending MSU and conducting research at FRIB this summer, was also awarded a fellowship from NSF. 

Michigan State University (MSU) operates the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) as a user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC), supporting the mission of the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics. User facility operation is supported by the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics as one of 28 DOE-SC user facilities.

The  U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science  is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of today’s most pressing challenges. For more information, visit  energy.gov/science .

CBS Teaching and Mentorship Award Winners

Posted on Wednesday, June 5th, 2024

The College of Biological Science is honouring three exceptional educators and mentors with the 2024 CBS Teaching and Mentorship Awards. The awards recognize those who’ve demonstrated outstanding leadership and commitment to student learning, wellbeing and success.

The winners of the 2024 CBS Teaching and Mentorship Awards are:

• Graduate Mentoring Award:  Dr. Jennifer Geddes-McAlister, Molecular and Cellular Biology
• Mentorship Award for Post-Doctoral Fellows:  Dr. Brendan Daisley, Molecular and Cellular Biology
• Graduate Teaching Assistant Award of Excellence:  Alex Cosby, Integrative Biology

Graduate Mentoring Award

Dr. Jennifer Geddes-McAlister, Molecular and Cellular Biology Nominated by Brianna Ball, PhD candidate, Molecular and Cellular Biology

She gives each of her undergraduate and graduate students individualized attention, meeting with them weekly and working to support their personal academic and professional goals. Students are regularly encouraged to attend local and international conferences, brush up on skills at workshops, and apply for prestigious awards and scholarships. She helps students build networks by connecting them with leaders in industry and academia and brings in professionals working in industry, government and public health to speak about their career journeys.

“Ideally, a principal investigator is both a good supervisor and a good mentor, but not everyone is. However, Jennifer is both,” writes Dr. Jonathan Newman, vice-president of research at Wilfrid Laurier University and former CBS dean, in the nomination package. “She runs a busy and highly productive lab that has published over 35 papers in the last two years, many of them with her graduate students. She has endless patience not only for her students but also for her colleagues.”

Mentorship Award for Post-Doctoral Fellows

Dr. Brendan Daisley, postdoctoral fellow in Molecular and Cellular Biology Nominated by Christine Macpherson, MSc student in Molecular and Cellular Biology

Described as a dedicated, thoughtful and inspiring, Daisley has supported students in their research and professional development and provided a safe space to discuss personal challenges.

“He embodies the greatest characteristics that any academic aspires to have: the passion and intelligence to embrace and elevate scientific pursuits, and the drive to advance the skills and knowledge of others,” writes Allen-Vercoe in the nomination package.

Graduate Teaching Assistant Award of Excellence

Alex Cosby, PhD student in Integrative Biology Nominated by Dr. Quinn Webber, Integrative Biology

Cosby has been a teaching assistant for seven courses in the past three years. This past year, she took the initiative to independently organize and manage the Courselink pages for Dr. Quinn Webber’s two courses, BIOL*4150 and ONEH*1000, as well as helped write and edit assignments and rubrics, and made herself available to students when they needed help, especially those struggling to learn the R coding language in BIOL*4150.

“BIOL*4150 in F23 was my first course as an Assistant Professor at the University of Guelph and ONEH*1000 in W24 was my second,” writes Webber in the nomination package. “Having an experienced and dedicated TA like Alex made all the difference for me in my first two courses.”

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