Managing Graduate Assistantships

Who Helps Manage Assistantships?

There are a number of people involved with managing and maintaining each assistantship on campus. The person(s) responsible for managing assistantships may also vary by college or department. This page is an overview of the different aspects for managing and maintaining assistantships for the faculty and staff perspective. For questions regarding managing assistantships, please contact the Graduate School at ndsu.gradschool.asst@ndsu.edu.

Overview of Roles and Responsibilities

The assistant is supported by the following roles and how they generally contribute to each assistantship.

Initiating Contracts

Official NDSU Graduate Assistantships are recorded and facilitated using the Graduate Assistantship Contract form. This form should include all pertinent information for the appointment, including the expectations of the assistant, parameters for the appointment, and any unique benefits or circumstances for the appointment including tuition waivers.

A complete contract must include the following information:

• Assistantship Type
• Hours per Week
• Start and End Date
• Position Number and Job Code
• Stipend Amount by Frequency
• Tuition Funding: Type, Amount, Codes
• Duties and Responsibilities
• Position Training Requirements
• Reviewer and Review Date
• Background Check Requirements

The direct supervisor and other related roles may need to provide information to your department's designated contract initiator. Having this information included prior to the assistantship starting will create a clear understanding of the assistantship appointment and make processing contracts and waivers more efficient for all parties. Adding additional info in the relevant comments boxes also helps to clarify information for future processing.

Hiring into any new positions requires a New Hire contract. If a student is adding a secondary assistantship or transferring assistantship positions, for example, a new hire contract for that position should be initiated.

Timing Contracts

Contracts should be initiated to begin a new appointment or to renew a concluding appointment. Contracts may only be made out for 12 calendar months at a time, and a minimum of one annual review is required for all assistantship types, which must be specified on the contract. GTA review with respect to overall communication proficiency must be completed by the third week of the semester.

Renewal or Addendum?

Addendums are to be used to make changes or corrections to current, active contracts. They are meant to be a formal record of any and all changes to an assistantship and should be used on an as-needed basis. Addendums generally are not used to extend contracts for renewed appointments; a renewal contract should be submitted.

Renewal contracts are used to formally extend an assistantship appointment as a result of satisfactory review and maintenance of assistantship eligibility. Renewal contracts should be made for a minimum of one semester, and may be made out to one full calendar year. This is an opportunity to refine or revise aspects of the assistantship appointment, although it should remain within its initial purpose or nature.

Transfer Contracts

If a student is currently employed at NDSU, especially in a graduate assistantship position, a Transfer Contract should be submitted to communicate if a Graduate Assistant will be transferring to a new assistantship appointment. Transfer contracts follow the main rules and procedures as a New Hire contract except that they are meant to transfer a current assistant into a different assistantship position, typically also meant to discontinue their current assistantship.

Waivers

Tuition waivers are dependent on the assistant meeting the eligibility and qualification requirements for their assistantship and waiver as outlined in the Graduate Assistantship and Fellowship Policies.

Waiver Information

When processing a contract to submit to the Graduate School, the program college must first provide Tuition Funding that is approved in that contract.

What to Add:

• Type of funding: waiver or remission
• Amount: 0% (N/A), 50% or 100%
• Funding Information: Funding numbers/strings
• Comments: clarify or specify college's allotment and/or approvals

What to Know

Please be aware that the Graduate School cannot process non-standard amounts or apply tuition funding by approved credits. Any information regarding unique tuition funding information may be included on the contract in the tuition funding comments section to assist in processing.

Contracts that span 12 months and overlap a season must include additional comments regarding tuition funding to confirm funding for any overlapping semesters by season. For example, a contract spanning from July 1st, 2024 to June 30th, 2025, will include two summer semesters, but the contract only provides one instance for summer funding. The Graduate School will seek clarification before applying the waiver(s) in question if additional information is not provided, which may cause delays that can negatively impact students.

Calculating a Waiver

Assistantships are mainly eligible for a tuition waiver if they meet the eligibility and expectation requirements, including meeting 160 hours of work in their assistantship position(s) during the three academic semesters. Please note that Leaves of Absence, Paid Leaves, and work completed in hourly positions does not count towards the required 160 hours for fall and spring semesters.

Assistants who have completed a qualifying assistantship in the spring, or are contracted for a qualifying assistantship in the fall, are not necessarily required to meet 160 hours in the summer to qualify for a waiver. New assistantship appointments starting in the summer may be reviewed for eligibility.