Graduate Assistantships
Mandatory New Graduate Assistant Orientation
All graduate assistants are required to attend a New Graduate Assistant Orientation prior to the semester in which they start their GA position.
A graduate assistantship serves two purposes:
- To provide graduate students with part-time, paid work experiences in their field of study, and allow them to expand and/or apply their discipline knowledge and skills under supervision.
- To provide GVSU faculty and/or university staff assistance in carrying out special projects or other assignments that require the advanced discipline skills of graduate students.
The activities assigned are to have educational value for the student, to enhance the student's academic experience. Although some tasks may include a clerical component, a graduate assistantship is not meant to be used to provide primarily clerical and office support to departments.
Many graduate assistants are assigned to work in their own program, e.g., a Social Work student will work in the School of Social Work. However, a number of departments will hire across disciplines when the need arises. For example, a position in the Physical Therapy department may require someone with advanced computer skills, thus a student majoring in Computer Science & Information Systems would be eligible for the assistantship in that department. Additionally, some non-academic units may have no specific major in mind when hiring a GA. Some of the non-academic units are: The Graduate School, Autism Education Center, Johnson Center for Philanthropy, the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, and the Office of Sponsored Programs.
To qualify for a graduate assistantship, the student must:
- Be fully admitted as a degree-seeking student in a Grand Valley graduate program at the time of appointment.
- Successfully maintain a minimum course load of 9 graduate credit hours per semester for a full-time graduate assistantship or carry a minimum course load of 5 graduate credit hours per semester for a half-time assistantship.
- Be in good academic standing (not on academic probation or in jeopardy of dismissal).
- Be enrolled in class during the semester or semesters in which the student will be working as a GA.
A typical full-time assistantship includes the following responsibilities and benefits during the appointment:
- a. A 20-hour per week work assignment for 16 weeks per semester, corresponding to the beginning and ending dates for a semester as published in the university schedule of classes and Bulletin.
- b. Support from GVSU which includes:
- A stipend of $6,500 each semester. *
- Tuition credit for up to 9 graduate credits per semester.
A typical half-time assistantship includes the following responsibilities and benefits during the appointment:
- A 10-hour per week work assignment for 16 weeks per semester.
- Support from GVSU which includes:
- A stipend of $3,250 per semester *
- Tuition credit for up to 4.5 graduate credits per semester.
*Stipend payments are split up through the semester so that the student receives a regular paycheck every two weeks.
GA Hiring Process:
- All GA positions must be posted in Workday.
- All GA hiring must be completed through Workday.
- Graduate assistants cannot begin work until their GA hire process is complete and fully approved in Workday, the GA has completed mandatory New GA Orientation provided by The Graduate School, and the GA has submitted a completed I-9 with proper documentation to Student Employment.
Qualifications:
To qualify for and hold a graduate assistantship at GVSU, the student must:
- Be fully admitted as a degree seeking student in a GVSU graduate program at the time of appointment. Students with conditional admissions, provisional admissions, and who are non-degree seeking are not eligible for a graduate assistantship,
- Be in good academic standing and maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA,
- Successfully maintain a minimum course load of 9 graduate credit hours per semester for a full-time GA, OR carry a minimum course load of 4.5 graduate credit hours per semester for a half-time GA.
Tuition Waiver Credit Hours:
- Standard Academic Year Position GA – 18 credit hours (Fall: 9, Winter: 9)
- Extended Position GA – 21 credit hours (Fall: 9, Winter: 9, Spring/Summer: 3)
- Full Year Position GA – 24 credit hours (Fall: 9, Winter: 9, Spring/Summer: 6)
Credit Hour Limits:
- Base-budget funded students are limited to a maximum of 9 credit hours of tuition waiver during the Fall and Winter semesters, and 6 credit hours during the Spring/Summer semester.
- Externally funded students may exceed these limits with prior approval from the Graduate School.
Usage of Tuition Waivers:
- Waivers are only for graduate coursework at GVSU.
- Waivers cannot be used for 696/796 coursework without Graduate School approval.
- Unused tuition waiver credits cannot be rolled over into future semesters without approval from the Graduate School.
Full-Time to Half-Time Positions:
- Full-time assistantships can only be split into half-time positions with prior Graduate School approval.
- Half-time, Standard Academic Year GA positions receive 4.5 credit hours of tuition waiver for both Fall and Winter semesters (9 credit hours total).
- Half-time, Extended GA positions receive 4.5 credit hours of tuition waiver for both Fall and Winter, and 1.5 credit hours for Spring/Summer (10.5 credit hours total).
- Half-time, Full Year GA positions receive 4.5 credit hours of tuition waiver for both Fall and Winter, and 3 credit hours for Spring/Summer (12 credit hours total).
Job Descriptions:
- All GA job descriptions must align with The Graduate School's GA job description template.
- All assistantship job descriptions must be reviewed by The Graduate School annually.
- To comply with IRS definitions, GA responsibilities must include a significant instructional or research component. Non-instructional or non-research duties result in Federal, State, and Local tax withholding on tuition remission and stipends.
Graduate Assistant Job Openings
Graduate Assistant job openings, and the hiring process, are now posted on Workday. You will be required to login with your GVSU credentials.
To view the graduate assistant positions on Workday: log into Workday using your GVSU credentials; in the Workday search bar type Student Jobs, then click on GVSU Student Jobs. The graduate assistant positions will be listed among the student employment positions but will be distinguished with Graduate Assistant or GA in the job title. You may also type Graduate Assistants in the long search bar under Student Jobs to show only graduate assistantships.
Beware of phishing emails offering research assistantships. Check the sender's email address. If it does not match the sender's name or the signature line, and does not end in @gvsu.edu, it could be a scam. Do not reply, delete the email instead.
No. Your semester stipend amount will be divided among the remaining pay days in the semester.
The Graduate School sends an updated list of GAs to Student Accounts every Friday. The rep in Student Accounts goes through the entire list and issues a credit to everyone who has applied for a permit since the previous week. If you just applied for a permit this week, your account should be credited on Friday. If it’s been awhile and you still have not received a credit, please email Sheri in The Graduate School at [email protected]. Sheri will follow up with Student Accounts.
First, inform your supervisor so that he/she can contact IT on your behalf.
Yes. GA supervisors are provided with information on their role and responsibilities.
Ask your supervisor to evaluate you. Let him/her know that an evaluation should be part of your GA assignment.
Yes. Contact The Graduate School to discuss your concerns.