Policies

Once hired as a Graduate Student, there is some essential paperwork you must complete.

No graduate assistant will receive more than 18 credit hours of tuition scholarship in one fiscal year (July 1 through June 30), regardless of how many appointments are given during that time period. If the GA is not reappointed or is terminated for the following semester, or the GA voluntarily resigns the assistantship, or has not used all the credit hours of scholarship from the original appointment by June 30th, the unused credit hours of scholarship are forfeited.

If a graduate assistant does not want the Graduate School to cover all enrolled credit hours in one term, in order to "save" tuition award hours for a subsequent semester within the same fiscal year, the GA must notify the Graduate School in writing of these plans during the semester in which the "surplus" occurs.

Fall or Winter only appointments, full-time (20 hours):

Entitles a GA to 9 credit hours of tuition scholarship, plus appropriate fees. If one registers for between 6 and 8 credit hours, the remaining hour(s) can be used to pay for a course in the following term, provided the GA informs the Graduate School in writing how the hours are to be used. They must be used within the same fiscal year. (The fiscal year consists of the Fall, Winter, and Summer semesters, in that order.)

Academic year (Fall and Winter), half-time appointment (10 hours):

Entitles a GA to 9 credit hours of tuition scholarship. Tuition is automatically provided for up to 5 credit hours in the Fall semester, with the remaining 4 credit hours of tuition available in the Winter semester. If the GA wishes to have fewer than 5 hours covered during the Fall semester, leaving more credit hours of tuition for the Winter semester, it is the GA's responsibility to inform the Graduate School of this decision in writing before completion of the semester in which the excess hours exist.

Drop/Add or Withdrawal from a Class

University policy is clear about not covering tuition for courses from which graduate assistants drops or withdraws after the time period allotted for 100% tuition reimbursement. If a GA drops or withdraws from classes after the published deadline, he/she will be held responsible for payment of tuition. The semester Class Schedule book identifies the 100% withdrawal/drop date.

To clarify this policy, the following examples are provided:

If a GA officially withdraws/drops a class in time for 100% reimbursement, he/she is NOT liable for tuition payment and the Graduate School account is credited accordingly.
If a GA withdraws after the deadline for any reimbursement, the Graduate School account is credited with 100% of the tuition attributable to the withdrawal and the GA WILL BE CHARGED the 100% adjustment.

Fees and Courses that the Graduate School Will Not Pay

The Graduate School pays for registration, general, student union and technology fees for 18 credit hours. The Graduate School is not responsible for late registration fees, late payment fees, new student record initiation fee, nor program fees.

Courses taken for recreation or vocational reasons will not be eligible for reimbursement under the GA tuition scholarship. The tuition scholarship award can pay for courses that are required by the academic program (e.g., foundation courses, courses that provide a necessary skill such as computer applications or a foreign language), provided that the course(s) is identified in advance as necessary to the GA's Program of Study. A copy of the Program of Study must be submitted to the Graduate School, 200 Boone Hall, so the tuition scholarship can be processed. Programs of Study must also be filed with the Office of Records and Registration in order to process the graduation audit.

Tuition Scholarships

A maximum of 18 credit hours of tuition scholarship are covered by the assistantship during a given fiscal year (July through June), regardless of the number of appointments made. In other words, if a student is awarded a GA position full-time for Fall and Winter, entitling the GA to 18 hours of tuition, the graduate assistant will not receive more tuition scholarship if awarded an additional appointment in the Summer semester. There are no exceptions to the above policy.
To maintain the award, the GA must enroll in and complete a minimum of 6 credit hours for Fall semester and a minimum of 6 credit hours for Winter semester. (Since auditing a course generates no academic credit, the GA tuition award does not pay for these courses.) Tuition scholarship may be used to cover undergraduate courses used to meet curriculum deficiencies only if the course is identified in advance on the student's program of study. Therefore, graduate and approved 400-level undergraduate credit hours may be combined to meet the 6 credit-hour enrollment requirement. Students must complete either a 400 form or 500 form during the semester of enrollment to receive graduate credit for the pre-approved 400-level course. Graduate students may not enroll in 400-level special topic or independent study credit hours – these courses are not pre-approved.
Upon Graduate School approval, a graduate assistant may use a maximum of 10 credit hours of tuition scholarship during either a Fall or Winter semester, as long as the award does not exceed 18 credit hours during the fiscal year.
If the full-tuition entitlement is not used during the Fall and Winter semesters combined, then up to 6 hours of tuition scholarship may be used during the following Summer semester. A student does not have to be appointed (work) as a graduate assistant during Summer semester in order to use the remaining hours of the 18 credit-hour award. However, these hours will not carry over to the new fiscal year that begins July 1.
All requests to carry over tuition credit from one semester to any subsequent semester or term must be made in writing to the Graduate School during the semester in which the excess tuition credits exist. All GA's who intend to register for classes must receive written permission to use carry-over tuition credits by completing the Request to Carry-Over to Summer form by April 15. No late requests will be considered.
Although Summer appointments are rare, if appointed as a graduate assistant for a Summer semester, the GA must be enrolled in at least one graduate credit during employment.
If a GA receives a renewed or new Fall position, he/she may BORROW from FALL up to 5 credit hours to take a Summer course. The Request to Borrow for Summer from Fall form is due April 20. This starts the 18 credit count for the new fiscal year.
If a GA is entitled to credit hours remaining from a previous appointment and he/she was terminated by the department, any credit hours of scholarship not used during the original appointment period will be void and returned to the University accounts.
If a graduate assistant voluntarily resigns or is terminated at any time during a semester, the GA automatically gives up any rights to any tuition support for that or subsequent semesters. Award of any prorated tuition support for the semester is at the discretion of the Graduate School. No credits of remaining tuition will be carried over to any subsequent semester.
Students appointed as graduate assistants have their student accounts credited for the number of scholarship credit hours to which they are entitled, reflecting the terms of their GA appointment. For example, if one is appointed for Fall semester, full-time, the Graduate School will credit the student account for up to 9 credit hours of tuition scholarship. If a student drops a class after the "drop/add" period, or withdraws from courses late in the semester, he/she will be responsible for paying tuition charges.
The Graduate School will pay for the registration, general, student union, and technology fees, but will not pay for new student record initiation fee, late registration fee, late payment fees or program fees.

File Review

By federal regulation, some student aid applicant files must be reviewed for accuracy of financial information reported. If selected for file review, the Office of Financial Aid will request additional documentation including, but not limited to, most recent federal income tax return (1040), W-2 and a Verification Worksheet that requests information such as child support paid or received, social security benefits and income credits. All documents must be received and reviewed by financial aid staff prior to processing student loans and earning College Work Study GA wages.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Federal regulations require the Office of Financial Aid to monitor the academic progress of all students toward degree completion. Academic progress is measured using three factors: GPA, number of credit hours taken and the percent of credit hours completed with a passing grade. Failure to maintain SAP will result in cancelation of eligibility to receive funds from federal, state or University programs.

A copy of the SAP Policy is available at the Office of Financial Aid and online.

Reappointment, Academic Probation and Continuation

In order to be reappointed or continued on an assistantship from semester to semester, one must have maintained a cumulative 3.0 or "B" average and have provided satisfactory performance as a GA (Please note: individual department requirements for reappointment will vary.) A 67% course completion rate must also be maintained.

Any GA failing to maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA is automatically placed on academic probation and is subject to removal from the assistantship. No graduate student currently on academic probation may be appointed or reappointed to a graduate assistantship.

Students who fail to maintain a cumulative 3.0 ("B") graduate grade-point average for any semester while on assistantship and/or whose duties have not been performed in a satisfactory manner will not be reappointed for the following semester. Stipend and tuition scholarship benefits will be terminated.

F1 and J1 Visas

Students on an F1 and J1 visa can only work a maximum of 20 hours per week, which is usual full time load for a graduate assistant. Should a student with an F1 or J1 visa be offered a position that requires a 29-hour work week, such as an adjunct professor, specialty project, etc., prior permission must be granted from the Office of International Students. The Office of International Students (OIS) allows a GA or student worker an additional 9 hours accounted for as CPT on top of the 20 work hours.

Curricular Practical Training (CPT)

The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) will grant F1 and J1 visa carrying students a Curricular Practical Training (CPT) after completing one full academic year. Being granted a CPT will allow a student to work off campus as long as the employment is in a field related to the student's major. CPTs can be full or part time work. Permission must be obtained from the Office of International Students (OIS) and employment detail is printed on the I-20.

Sexual Harassment Training

All GA's and Doc Fellows must complete the sexual harassment online training, print off a certificate of completion, and turn the document in to the Graduate School.