Graduate Assistantships are waivers that waive the cost of tuition and some fees for a specified time period. Graduate students, upon admittance into the graduate program, are reviewed for eligibility for graduate assistantships by the department that accepts them into the graduate program.
Once an assistantship is offered to a student, a contract will be sent to the student listing the terms of the assistantship, such as the number of hours the graduate student is expected to work, the funding provided to him, and the beginning and ending dates of the assistantship. Assistantships can be granted as partial, half or full tuition assistantships. The terms of the assistantship depend on the type of assistantship and the department offering the assistantship. For example, work for the department can range from 3-20 hours a week. Should the student violate the terms of the contract, the contract can be reviewed by the department granting the graduate assistantship and rescinded.
Upon receiving the graduate assistantship contract outlining the terms, the student should collect both his/her signature and the signature of the department offering the graduate assistantship and return the contract back into the department that offered the graduate assistantship.
The student should also fill out a Reporting Form for Scholarships and Outside Assistance, attach a copy of the graduate assistantship contract, and submit it to our office. This ensures that the student will receive proper credit to their account for the specified semesters of the graduate assistantship.