Graduate Assistants
The Graduate Assistantship Program benefits the College of Business and its residential graduate students. It provides funding opportunities and work experience for graduate students while providing a resource to complete work that otherwise would require hiring additional personnel. The program supports the recruitment of higher quality students and provides opportunities to enrich the graduate experience and develop meaningful relationships.
Graduate assistant positions fall into three categories:
- Positions with stipends funded from sources outside the COB. In these situations, the outside entity, whether another unit on campus or external to the University, funds the stipend and COB funds the tuition waiver. This may be a University unit such as Athletics or through a research grant that can be used to support a GA.
- Positions to support the operations of the COB that would otherwise require additional staffing.
- GA Special Projects Team (also known as the GA Pool), which is accessible to all COB faculty and staff to use for short-term, well-defined projects.
Supervisors for all graduate assistant positions must complete a Qualtrics survey with questions about the positionās responsibilities prior to the GA matching process in order to be considered for a Graduate Assistant. Rising MSA students match toward the beginning of spring semesters, and incoming MBA students match over summer semester. MAcc students are placed by the program director(s); please contact the FTMAcc director(s) to request a MAcc GA.
Work Requirements
Each program has set an allowable work requirement fit into constraints for that program. Assistantships are offered during Fall and Spring semesters. GAs have a set work requirement during the weeks of the semester EXCEPT finals week. Should the position require work beyond what is allowable by the assistantship it must be detailed in the job description. In these situations, the student will be hired as an hourly employee for work beyond the graduate assistantship and paid from the requesting unitās budget.
In accordance with University policy, students on graduate assistantships may not work more than a total of 20 hours per week on or off campus, including their assistantship hours. Students may not accept full-time employment on or off campus, nor can they have two full-time Graduate Appointments.
The standard work requirements, by program:
- MBA GAs, including first-year Dual MBA/MSA students, are eligible for GA assignments of up to 10 hours per week.
- MAcc GA assignments within the College of Business are typically 10 hours per week. MAcc students are permitted to take GA assignments of up to 20 hours per week outside the College of Business.
- MSA GAs are eligible for GA assignments of up to 20 hours per week.
Expectations of Graduate Assistants
Graduate assistants are required to abide by all University, College, and Program Policies. In addition, they are expected to perform their GA duties as outlined in their job description and established by their GA supervisor satisfactorily. Specific requirements fall into three categories.
Policy Information
Graduate Assistants are required to abide by the policies set forth in this document as well as the 51ĀŅĀ× Student Code of Conduct and 51ĀŅĀ× Graduate College Appointment Information and Policies.
Academic Standing
Graduate Assistants must remain in good academic standing as defined by their program throughout the duration of their appointment, including maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.0 in all graduate courses.
Performance
- Graduate Assistants must complete employment paperwork by the timeline outlined in the university policy.
- Graduate Assistants are required to attend Graduate Assistant Orientation that is conducted by the College of Business Graduate Programs office.
- Graduate Assistants are expected to participate in an introductory meeting with their supervisor in the first week of the semester. During this meeting Graduate Assistants will be provided expectations and requirements of the position. If the Graduate Assistant cannot meet these expectations or feels that the expectations are unreasonable, they should speak with the Graduate Programs Team as soon as possible.
- Graduate Assistants are required to work the number of hours required by their Graduate Appointment.
- Graduate Assistants are expected to abide by the College of Business Student Professionalism policy and conduct themselves in a professional manner representative of the Graduate Program and the College of Business including but not limited to effective and respectful communication, punctuality, and personal accountability.
- Graduate Assistants are expected to perform duties as laid out by their supervisor in a satisfactory and timely manner.
- Graduate Assistants are NOT permitted to grade any College of Business Graduate coursework.
Expectations of Graduate Assistant Supervisors
- Supervisors are expected to submit a response to the GA Request Survey prior to the communicated deadline and participate in the placement process as outlined by the Graduate Programs Office. This will take place in early Spring Semester for rising MSA students and during Summer semester for incoming MBA students. The survey must be fully completed and submitted in order for your GA position to be considered by the students. Any requirement of off-campus work must be clearly stated in the job description and approved by the Graduate Programs Office.
- Supervisors are expected to conduct an introductory meeting with the Graduate Assistant(s) assigned to them no later than the first week of Fall semester. During this meeting, supervisors should set expectations for their position including scheduling and tasks required. This meeting should also be used as an initial skills and interest assessment.
- Supervisors are expected to address work performance issues with the Graduate Assistant(s) directly at any point at which they arise, as well as inform the Assistant Dean of Graduate & Professional Programs Administration of said issues and resolution.
- Supervisors are expected to provide enough work each week to fill the required number of work hours for the Graduate Assistant(s).
- Graduate Assistants are NOT permitted to grade any College of Business Graduate coursework.
Process for Reassigning a Graduate Assistant
If an issue arises indicating an unsatisfactory assignment or utilization of GA, the Graduate Programs Office will conduct a review of the position and assignment.
- This review would consist of meeting with the Graduate Assistant and the supervisor to evaluate the issue.
- Based on the review, the GA may be reassigned and the position may or may not be backfilled with another GA.
Process for Revoking a Graduate Assistantship
If the Graduate Assistant fails to abide by the policies set forth in this document their Graduate Assistantship including any associated tuition waiver and stipend may be revoked. The process for revoking a Graduate Assistantship follows.
Fails to abide by policy
- A Graduate Assistantship can be revoked at any time, without warning, for violating 51ĀŅĀ×ās Graduate Assistant Policies.
- For Student Code of Conduct or College of Business Student Professionalism violations, the Graduate Assistant will have their Assistantship revoked and the student will be referred to Community Standards.
Fails to maintain good academic standing
Being placed on academic probation will result in the automatic revocation of a graduate assistantship. Students whose cumulative GPA falls below a 3.0 will be placed on academic probation.
Fails to meet performance expectations
- Prior to beginning the process to revoke a graduate assistantship, the GA Supervisor must have attempted to resolve performance issues directly with the GA and notified the Assistant Dean of Graduate & Professional Programs.
- If the GAās performance continues to be unsatisfactory, the Supervisor should refer the situation to the Assistant Dean of Graduate & Professional Programs.
- The Graduate Assistant will be notified in writing by the Graduate Programs office that they have failed to perform the requirements of their role, are on probation for the remainder of their time as a Graduate Assistant associated with the College of Business, and that any further infraction will result in the revocation of their Graduate Assistantship and its associated waiver and stipend.
- Should the Graduate Assistant continue to fail to perform, their Graduate Assistantship will be revoked. The Graduate Assistant will receive a formal letter notifying them that their assistantship has been revoked and the process to appeal.
Process for Appealing a Revoked Graduate Assistantship
- The Graduate Assistant will be required to send an appeal letter to the GA Appeal Committee and will be considered on the merits of the case.
- The committee will be comprised of the Program Director, the Associate Dean of Graduate and Professional Programs, the Department Chair, and the Financial and Operations Officer.
- Once the letter has been received, the GA Appeal Committee will review.
- The committee will make a recommendation to accept or deny the appeal.
- The student will receive a formal letter via email notifying the student of the status of their assistantship.