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University policy regarding graduate assistantships

  1. The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines for the administration of graduate assistantships at the university. Graduate assistantships are offered to selected graduate students to meet the teaching, research, or administrative needs of the appointing unit offering the assistantship.
  2. Definitions.
    1. Graduate teaching assistants. For the purposes of this rule, a graduate teaching assistant performs teaching duties on behalf of the university. Teaching duties may include being assigned as the instructor of record for a course or teaching a section or lab of a course in accordance with paragraphs (B)(1)(b) to (B)(1)(d) of rule 3342-3-02 of the Administrative Code.
    2. Graduate research assistants. For the purposes of this rule, a graduate research assistant performs research related duties to support one or more faculty members in their research or other scholarly and creative activities.
    3. Graduate administrative assistants. For the purposes of this rule, a graduate administrative assistant performs duties assigned by the appointing unit in support of the mission of the university closely related to the student’s academic field of endeavor.
    4. Appointing unit. For the purposes of this chapter, the appointing unit refers to the university unit that selects, appoints, evaluates, and assumes financial responsibility for the costs associated with a graduate assistantship. The appointing unit may be an “instructional unit” as provided for in paragraph (C) of rule 3342-1-01 of the Administrative Code or a “non-instructional unit” as defined in this rule.
    5. Non-instructional unit. For the purposes of this rule, a non-instructional unit refers to an office, auxiliary, or other entity of the university that is not defined as an “instructional unit” as provided for in paragraph (C) of rule 3342-1-01 of the Administrative Code.
    6. Full-time assistantship. For the purposes of this rule, a full-time assistantship refers to a graduate assistantship requiring twenty hours of service per week as provided for in paragraph (D) of this rule.
    7. Half-time assistantship. For the purposes of this rule, a half-time assistantship refers to a graduate assistantship requiring ten hours of service per week as provided for in paragraph (D) of this rule.
  3. Eligibility. To be eligible for a graduate assistantship, students must meet the following eligibility criteria.
    1. A student must be enrolled in a degree program. 
    2. A student cannot be admitted with conditions.
    3. Must be in good academic standing to accept a new graduate assistantship.
    4. Students in combined bachelor’s/master’s degree programs are not eligible for a graduate assistantship until they have completed the bachelor’s degree and have been admitted unconditionally into a master’s degree program.
    5. During the semester in which a graduate assistant receives a master’s degree, the student must apply and be accepted into a doctoral or educational specialist program (or other master’s program) in order to be considered for further assistantships under this rule.  
       
  4. Requirements. A graduate assistant who holds a full-time assistantship is expected to provide service to the appointing unit for a commitment at, and not to exceed, twenty hours per week for a total of three hundred hours per semester. This may include assignments during the week prior to classes and/or during exam week. A half-time assistantship requires approximately ten hours per week for a total of one-hundred fifty hours per semester .
    1. Class enrollment requirements. Students with full-time and half-time assistantships during the regular academic year must enroll for a minimum of eight credit hours per term with the exception of summer term.
    2. Non-instructional unit requirements. The service commitment of a graduate assistant who has been appointed by a non-instructional unit will be equivalent to the total time expectations of a graduate assistant who is appointed through an instructional unit. Due to specific operational requirements of non-instructional units, some of the total time expectation may be satisfied during pre-semester, intersession, or post-semester time periods. If it is necessary to have the graduate assistant provide service the week before classes start, the week after classes end, or during breaks, the weekly hours must be adjusted so no weekly total exceeds twenty-five hours and the total hours of service does not exceed the required hours of commitment. Such arrangements should be understood by the graduate assistant and the appointing unit at the outset of the assistantship period.
    3. Summer graduate assistantship requirements. An appointing unit may offer graduate assistantships over the summer. This may be done at the discretion of the appointing unit and is dependent upon the availability of funds. Assistantships may be offered for variable lengths. Service requirements are prorated for the number of weeks of the appointment, with twenty hours of service per week. For example, a graduate assistantship appointed for one five-week summer term would require approximately one hundred hours of service during the term. Students with full-time or half-time assistantships during the summer must enroll for a minimum of six credit hours across the summer term.
    4. Concurrent assistantships. Students may hold more than one concurrent assistantship, however, the total number of hours of service provided by the student between both assistantships may not exceed twenty hours per week.
  5. Benefits.
    1. Stipends. Stipend amounts are determined by the appointing unit. Graduate assistants are paid semi-monthly on the fifteenth and last day of the month.  Each pay period runs from the first day to the fifteenth day and from the sixteenth day to the last day of the month.
    2. Tuition remission. Graduate assistants must receive a minimum of eight credit hours of tuition remission to be compliant with minimum full-time registration requirements. The maximum number of credit hours of tuition remission is sixteen hours, but individual units may have a lower cap which must be applied equally across all graduate assistantships sponsored by that unit.
    3. Health insurance. Graduate assistants receive a partial health insurance credit towards the health insurance plan for graduate students offered through the university. The amount of the credit is negotiated by university health services with the insurance company and may change from year to year.
    4. Retirement. Retirement for graduate assistants is governed by the Ohio public employees retirement system (OPERS), unless the student is a graduate teaching assistant and has a current membership with the state teachers retirement system of Ohio (STRS).  Graduate students who do not want to contribute to an Ohio retirement account should complete a request for exemption at the OPERS website. As students, graduate assistants are exempted by federal law from medicare taxation.
  6. Implementation. Appointing units are responsible for selecting, appointing, and evaluating students for graduate assistantships.
    1. Selection. Appointing units will establish procedures for selecting students for graduate assistantships.
      1. Acceptance deadline. The university adheres to the following council of graduate schools’ policy on graduate admissions deadlines available here: (https://cgsnet.org/april-15-resolution)
    2. Appointments. Appointing units, working with the office of academic personnel, are responsible for ensuring that graduate assistants are hired according to university policy and procedure.
    3. Evaluation. Appointing units will establish effective means of evaluating and documenting the teaching and other duties performed by each graduate assistant to aid the professional growth of the graduate assistant. This evaluation and documentation shall be used for the purpose of counseling the graduate assistant and to assist in making decisions regarding reappointment.
  7. Reappointment. At the time of the initial notification of appointment, the appointing unit shall clearly communicate its policy on limits on the number of years of support at the master’s and doctoral levels. Appointments or reappointments are determined by the appointing unit and are not automatic. Reappointment may be available contingent upon good progress toward completion of the degree and satisfactory performance of duties as provided for in paragraph (C)(3) of this rule. If a graduate assistant is not to be reappointed, they will be given written notice informing the student of the non-reappointment. Notices of non-reappointment and of reappointment will be given to students no later than the last day of the term preceding the reappointment.
  8. Resignation. A graduate assistant intending to resign should give written notice as early as possible to the appointing unit. The stipend will be paid up to the date of resignation. Tuition remission may be paid by the appointing unit for the entire term, or may be prorated to the date of the resignation.
  9. Termination.
    1. Termination for cause. An assistantship may be terminated for violation of the terms of the assistantship, university policies, laws, or regulations. The appointing unit will give written notice of dismissal to the graduate assistant along with the reason(s) for the dismissal.
    2. Termination for academic reasons. If a student is dismissed from the university for academic reasons, then the assistantship is terminated immediately upon the effective date of such dismissal. In the event the student appeals their academic dismissal and is reinstated in accordance with university policy or process, the assistantship shall be reinstated by the unit.
  10. Appeal. Graduate students who have had their assistantship terminated either for cause or for academic reasons shall follow the appropriate university appeal procedures. For additional resources and information see also A graduate student’s guide to the grievance process.
    1. Appeals of termination for cause shall follow university appeal procedures consistent with paragraph (F)(5) of rule 3342.6-25.1 of the Administrative Code.
    2. Appeals of termination for academic reasons shall follow appeals procedures consistent with the process contained in the graduate academic dismissal and appeal policy (https://catalog.kent.edu/academic-policies/dismissal-appeal-graduate/).
Policy Effective Date:
Aug 19, 2024
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