Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A)
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.
(B)
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.
(C)
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.
(D)
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.
(E)
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.
(F)
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.
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.
(G)
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 nonreappointment. Notices of non-reappointment and of reappointment will be
given to students no later than the last day of the term preceding the
reappointment.
(H)
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.
(I)
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.
(J)
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/).
