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Graduate Assistantships

Program Description
Graduate Assistant Benefits
Eligibility
Application and Selection Procedures
Responsibilities

Program Description
Graduate assistantships are service-related appointments, requiring teaching, research, or administrative service. A full-time assistantship during fall and spring semesters requires approximately 20 hours of work per week; a half-time assistantship requires about 10 hours weekly. For summer assistantships, a full-time appointment requires approximately 320 hours of work throughout the summer; a half-time assistantship requires approximately 160 hours.

Graduate teaching assistants may be assigned: (1) responsibility for a self-contained class, or (2) responsibility for a laboratory or discussion class accompanying a faculty taught lecture class, or (3) responsibility for assisting a faculty member with teaching-related tasks, such as grading papers, meeting with students, preparing class materials, assisting during class. Graduate teaching assistants are generally supported with departmental funds that are allocated through CMU’s regular budgeting process.

Graduate research assistants are generally assigned to individual faculty members to assist with their research. The nature of the assistance varies by discipline and can involve a variety of activities, such as library work, proposal writing, data gathering, and data analysis. Graduate research assistants may be supported with departmental funds, but more often they are funded through grants and contracts.

The responsibilities and funding for graduate administrative assistants may be quite variable.
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Graduate Assistant Benefits
Graduate assistant benefits include a stipend, tuition scholarship, payment of some required fees, classification as a Michigan resident, sick leave, travel accident insurance, and special library privileges.

For the 2004-05 academic year, the funding amount for full-time master's and some post master's graduate assistants ranges from $8,600- $11,500. The funding amount for full-time graduate assistants in a specialist's, doctorate, or MFA (with 30 hours beyond baccalaureate) program ranges from $9,650 - $14,200. Graduate assistants working less than full-time are paid on a pro-rated basis.

A full-time graduate assistant appointed for the academic year receives a tuition scholarship for 20 credit hours. Graduate assistants working less than full time receive prorated tuition scholarships.  The tuition scholarship covers courses taken during the academic year or the following summer. Tuition is paid at the on-campus rate.

Graduate assistants are classified as Michigan residents for the purpose of determining tuition rates at CMU. This classification remains in effect for the duration of their stay at CMU if working on a doctoral program. For specialist's and master's degrees, and graduate certificates, this classification as a Michigan resident is in effect only during the academic year of the award (including the subsequent summer).

Graduate assistants appointed full-time for at least one semester receive sick leave which accrues at two hours per bi-weekly payroll period.

Graduate assistants are covered by travel accident insurance which provides $25,000 to a beneficiary in case of accidental death while traveling on university business.

Graduate assistants are given special library privileges, allowing them to check books out for a six month period.
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Eligibility
To receive an assistantship, a student must be admitted to the College of Graduate Studies under regular, conditional, or non-degree admission. Students who have concurrent admission status may be appointed as graduate assistants only if they have special permission from the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies. Other hiring criteria are determined by the department or office responsible for the assistantship.

Graduate assistant appointments require that a student maintain a grade point average of 3.0 in graduate work. Graduate assistants with appointments for the fall and/or spring semesters must register for and maintain a minimum of six semester hours of graduate credit at CMU during each semester of the assistantship. Requests for exceptions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies. Graduate research assistants with a summer appointment must register for and maintain a minimum of one semester hour of graduate credit during the summer at CMU. Graduate teaching assistants appointed for the summer will be required to take 1-6 credits for the summer.

U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service regulations affect international students’ eligibility for assistantships. The College of Graduate Studies will confirm whether an individual international student is eligible for an assistantship.
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Application and Selection Procedures
Each department establishes its own application and selection procedures. Therefore, prospective graduate assistants must contact individual departments to apply. While it is always best to apply early, different departments have different application deadlines and due to extenuating circumstances, graduate assistants are sometimes selected a few days before classes start.
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Responsibilities
The responsibilities of a graduate assistant are determined by the hiring department. The responsibilities must be commensurate with the time constraints of the assistantship appointment.
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