Assistantships

Graduate research, teaching, and service assistantships are available on an annual or nine-month basis. Individual academic and non-academic departments/units are responsible for award decisions, the duties and responsibilities, stipend rate and work schedule. The minimum stipend rate is $600.00 per month.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships - Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) normally serve in an instructional capacity and are selected on the basis of a student’s past teaching experience or academic promise to be effective instructors in their field of study. Most academic units offering graduate work budget for one or more teaching assistants each year. Graduate Teaching Assistants who have primary responsibility for teaching a course for credit and/or for assigning final grades for such a course must have earned at least 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline, be under the direct supervision of a faculty member experienced in the teaching discipline, receive regular in-service training, and be regularly evaluated. Assistants may lecture, assist in laboratory, grade papers, or perform other tasks associated with the academic program. Stipends vary by assigned responsibilities and between units. All first time teaching assistants are required to attend the Teaching Assistant Workshop that is held annually prior to the beginning of the fall semester. To inquire or apply for an assistantship, please contact the department of your concern.

Teaching Assistant Workshop - The Teaching Assistant (TA) Workshop consists of two segments.

Segment One – Required of all teaching assistants. This segment focuses on the role of a classroom instructor. Presentations may include topics such as the role of a GTA, syllabus development, effective teaching techniques, understanding sexual harassment, the impact of cultural diversity, ethics in the classroom, assessing academic achievement, and academic support services.

Segment Two – Required of all teaching assistants whose native language is not English. This segment which focuses on communication skills, cultural adjustment, and University orientation concludes with an English language proficiency test. The test consists of a five-minute student presentation to a panel of three judges. After each presentation, the judges engage the student in a dialog related to some aspect of the presentation in order to evaluate the student’s language proficiency.

A student who is not successful in the language proficiency examination is invited to attend a special semester-long class at no cost. This class further assists the student with language deficiencies as diagnosed in the fall workshop. At the end of the semester, the student is again tested on language skills.

Failure to complete Segment One of the TA workshop will render a student, international or domestic, ineligible for a teaching assistantship. A student whose native language is not English must satisfactorily complete both segments to be eligible for classroom instruction.

Graduate Research Assistantships - Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs) are employed by many of the University’s academic, research, and administrative offices. GRAs provide important services in many University research activities. This is an excellent opportunity to learn new techniques and methods as well as expand knowledge by association with the research-oriented responsibilities. Some GRAs are appointed by units other than their academic discipline; however, the GRA will bring knowledge and skills of value to the project wherever employed within the University. Duties and stipends vary from program to program and are usually dependent upon the nature of the assigned duties and the time required for performance. If interested, an applicant should contact the academic department of concern.

Graduate Service Assistantships - This title generally refers to students who are employed to aid faculty and staff members with administration and operations within a unit. Many academic and non-academic units have service assistantships available. Assignments vary depending on administrative needs of the unit making the award. Stipends vary according to the nature of duties and work-time required for performance. Application should be submitted to the department/unit where employment is sought.

Eligibility for an Assistantship - To be eligible for an assistantship appointment, a student must have "regular" or "contingent" admission status to a specific graduate degree program. However, a student with "contingent" status must, within the first award enrollment period, satisfy "regular" admission requirements. A student with "provisional" or "unclassified" admission status is not eligible for an assistantship appointment. An assistantship award will be terminated when these requirements are not met. A student’s admission status may be verified by calling the Office of Admissions (662-325-7393) or the Office of Graduate Studies (662-325-7400).

Application for Graduate Assistantships -

Application for an assistantship appointment must be submitted to the college, department, school, support unit, etc. with a position available. Each department may provide its own application form or use the generic "Application for Graduate Assistantship" provided by the Office of Graduate Studies. The department establishes application deadlines and reviews procedures.

Graduate assistants must be full-time students (registered in at least nine graduate credit hours) and may not enroll in more than 13 graduate credit hours. The required full-time status must be maintained throughout the entire semester. Therefore, no course may be dropped if the resulting course load would be less than the required nine graduate credit hours, nor may any courses constituting the nine-hour load consist of or be converted to audit status. The nine-hour course load may not be composed of undergraduate courses unless the course is a program prerequisite. In such case, the minimum graduate load required will be six credit hours and only one undergraduate course will be permitted as part of the nine-hour load (Policy revision approved by the Graduate Counsel - 3/23/01).

Required Course Loads – Full Summer Awards - Full summer awards require an enrollment in at least six graduate credit hours with a maximum allowed of 13 credit hours. Any combination can be used to make up the 13-credit hour maximum; however, enrollment in either five-week term must be limited to seven credit hours or fewer.

Required Course Load – Half Summer Awards - This applies to awards ending June 30 or beginning July 1. "Half" summer graduate assistantship awards require an enrollment in at least three graduate credit hours with a maximum allowed of seven credit hours.

Satisfactory Progress - To retain an assistantship, a student must demonstrate satisfactory progress in the specified program. Failure to do so may result in a termination of the assistantship.

Unsatisfactory progress may be defined as the failure to maintain a B average in graduate courses attempted, a grade of U, D, or F in any course, more than two grades below a B, failure of the comprehensive/preliminary examination, an unsatisfactory evaluation of a thesis or dissertation, failure of a research defense, or any other failure of a required component of the program. Any of these unsatisfactory performance indicators, or any combination of these, may constitute the basis for the termination from a degree program. Individual departments or units have the right to establish their own criteria of what is satisfactory and unsatisfactory performance.

Matriculation Fees - All Graduate Assistants receive an exemption equal to approximately 71% of assessed tuition and required fees. Graduate Assistants who are not Mississippi residents will receive a 100% exemption of the additional charges assessed for nonresident tuition. All students are personally responsible for paying any student account charges in excess of the tuition exemption. (Please see the Fees, Expenses, and Financial Aid section for more detail.)

COUNCIL OF GRADUATE SCHOOLS

Mississippi State University subscribes to the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees and Assistantships. This resolution and a complete list of the participant institutions are available at Web location http://www.cgsnet.org/PublicationsPolicyRes/resolutions.htm. The resolution reads as follows:

Acceptance of an offer of financial support (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school expect to honor. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties.

Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution. In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15, and subsequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer. It is further agreed by the institutions and organizations subscribing to the above Resolution that a copy of this Resolution should accompany every scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, and assistantship offer.

FORMS & FORM LETTERS CONCERNING ASSISTANTSHIPS   

Application for Graduate Assistantship (Fill-in PDF format) Application for an assistantship position will not receive consideration until you have been admitted to your graduate program of study. Individual academic and non-academic departments and units are responsible for award decisions, the duties and responsibilities, stipend rate, and work schedule.  Your assistantship application must be submitted to the office where you wish to be employed.

Employment Action Form (EAF) HRM100 (Fill-in PDF format)

Graduate Assistant Evaluation Form (PDF format)

Graduate Assistant Tuition Remission Form (Fill-in PDF format)

Graduate Assistantship Checklist (PDF format)

Offer Letter (PDF format)
Offer Letter (Microsoft Word format)

Personal Demographic Data (PDF format)

Request for Other University Employment Activity

PUBLICATIONS:
Graduate Assistant Handbook
The Graduate Studies Bulletin