Graduate assistantships and scholarships are intended for students granted regular admission to a graduate degree program. The Dean, School of Graduate Studies upon recommendation of the program and the assistantship sponsor in those cases where these differ, makes appointments. It is noted that all graduate assistants with classroom teaching responsibilities must successfully pass a test of spoken English before signing a graduate assistantship agreement (See Section 2.19).

2.10 Types of Appointments
Four types of appointments are available. Brief descriptions of each type are provided below:
•Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA) - Graduate students who are primarily engaged in instruction and who have primary responsibility for one or more class sections (e.g., lecture, laboratory, or discussion sessions). This category should not include graduate students who are primarily graders or advisors, or who perform other related non-teaching functions.

•Graduate Assistants (GA) - Graduate students who, in addition to course work, are assigned specific non-instructional or non-teaching duties. These duties should require service to the University and should be in support of an instructional, research, or public service function. This category includes graduate students performing functions such as grading or reading, assisting faculty in research endeavors, or other types of assistance, which cannot be classified as routine clerical work.

•Graduate Research Assistants (GRA) - Graduate students who, in addition to course work, are participating in separately funded research program activities or support a departmental research effort. These activities can be applicable to the graduate degree as a research component.

•Graduate Scholars (GS) - Graduate students who have been awarded a scholarship and are pursuing full-time course work (twelve graduate hours). Students are not required to perform additional duties as service to the University with the exception of research applicable to the degree.

2.20 Graduate Assistants

2.21 Length of Appointment
Normally, graduate assistants receive appointments for three quarters beginning with the Fall Quarter. If funds are available, a program may issue a contract to the student for the Summer Quarter at the same quarterly stipend as was received during the previous academic year. Graduate assistantship support may be provided for up to a maximum of eight quarters for master degree candidates. The program sets time limits for doctoral candidates.
To receive continued support, assistants and scholars must perform satisfactorily in both degree requirements and their assistantship duties. Satisfactory progress toward a degree means meeting minimum registration requirements, maintaining a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0, and fulfilling other academic requirements as determined by the program. Failure to meet these standards, or failure to perform satisfactorily as an assistant, will be grounds for cancellation of the assistantship agreement or scholarship appointment.

Continued support of a master’s level student as a graduate assistant beyond the normal two-year period requires special approval by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies.

2.22 Stipends
The stipends noted below are the minimum amounts for an academic year (9 month) appointment for graduate assistants. Higher stipend levels can be granted in each category with the approval of the appropriate college/school dean. Funds for all stipends will be contained within the sponsoring college/school budget or an externally funded account.
Category Minimum (2008/09 Stipend)
GA $5,256
GTA $5,892
GRA $5,490

The stipend is subject to all appropriate withholding taxes.

2.23 Tuition Remission
Students under an assistantship agreement are eligible to be awarded a tuition remission for all instructional fees (not including laboratory or other program fees). Tuition will be applied electronically once the student is registered for the appropriate number of hours.

Tuition remissions are not authorized for audited courses. Tuition remissions are not authorized for undergraduate courses unless the courses are recommended by the graduate program and are directly germane to the assistants' courses of study.
Funds for all tuition remissions, including summer quarter tuition remissions, will be contained within the sponsoring college/school budget or an externally or separately funded account. Students who had assistantship agreements for the preceding three consecutive quarters (Fall, Winter, and Spring) may be authorized, contingent upon availability of funds, a Summer Quarter tuition remission with no service required during the Summer Quarter. Students who have completed their graduate degree program of study are not authorized a Summer Quarter tuition remission.

Graduate assistants not completing the terms of their assistantship agreements in a given academic quarter may be required to reimburse the university for part or all of the tuition that was remitted. In addition, a graduate assistant dropping a course(s) after the refund date, without permission of the department/program and the School of Graduate Studies, is subject to reimbursing the University for the fees that were remitted for the dropped course(s).

2.24 Minimum Credit Hour and Work Hour Requirements
Graduate assistants, teaching assistants, and research assistants, must carry a minimum of eight hours of graduate credit per quarter, and graduate scholars must carry a minimum of twelve graduate hours. These hours must consist of courses listed on the student’s program of study. However, individual departments and/or programs may establish a higher minimum. Colleges/school offering scholarships may also establish a higher minimum registration requirement. Assistants may not drop below the eight graduate credit hour minimum. Such an action is grounds for termination of the assistantship.

Students participating in the Dayton Area Graduate Studies Institute (DAGSI) Consortium are eligible for a graduate assistantship whenever their total registration at DAGSI institutions complies with the full-time registration requirements of their home institution. In particular, students who are full-time at another DAGSI partner institution are eligible for a Wright State graduate assistantship.

Full-time assistants normally devote a minimum of 20 hours per week to assistantship assignments (for the purpose of this manual twenty hours per week is considered a full-time appointment). Academic units should specify any other conditions (working hours, etc.). This includes off time between academic quarters, specific duties, and proper faculty supervision. Such conditions should be stated in writing on the Graduate Student Assistantship Agreement. Scholars may take less than twelve hours of graduate credit only in the Summer Quarter.

2.26 Hour Limit
Students may perform no more than 1500 hours of service to the University in any calendar year. International students who are graduate assistants are permitted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to be employed for only twenty hours per week during a school term.

2.27 Concurrent Appointments
Students may hold concurrent active appointments with the School of Graduate Studies and the Office of Student Employment provided that the students:
• Receive permission from the sponsors of the graduate appointment.
• Maintain a 3.0 cumulative graduate grade point average.
• Do not work more than 30 hours per week in all campus positions while classes are in session (International students are limited to 20 hours per week).
• Do not work more than 40 hours per week at any time when classes are not in session.
• Abide by all other rules governing the Student Employment and Graduate Studies programs.
Failure to adhere to any of the above conditions may result in termination from Student Employment and/or the Graduate Assistantship positions.

2.28 Oral Proficiency Test
All graduate assistants who have teaching responsibilities (including graduate assistants and graduate research assistants who provide instructional or other direct-contact student services in either the classroom or laboratory) must take and pass a speaking proficiency test before they will be allowed to sign their assistantship agreements. An Ohio Law, passed in 1986, requires all assistants who provide instructional or other direct student services in the classroom or laboratory to be tested for English proficiency prior to assuming their assistantship responsibilities.

The Oral Proficiency Test (OPT) is the test that is used to determine the English proficiency of graduate assistants at Wright State University. A preliminary screening test, based on a portion of the OPT, may be given to students from countries where English is the primary language to determine if those students need to take the entire OPT.

Students who are required to take the entire OPT must score 250 (Category 1) or above in order to be approved for teaching responsibilities. Students scoring 210 to 249 (Category 2) are allowed to teach with supervision by a department advisor and simultaneous enrollment in English 095 “Classroom Communication For the International Teaching Assistant”. Students who receive an unsatisfactory grade in English 095 are required to repeat this class the next term. Students who score below 209 (Category 3) are not qualified to teach and must take (or repeat) English 110 before attempting the OPT again. Students may take the OPT only once each quarter and at least a five week interval is required between testing dates.
Students should contact the Department of English Language and Literature for OPT information and registration. Students will be required to provide positive identification (including a picture I.D.) to register and to take the OPT. If possible, the OPT should be completed no later than the end of the quarter preceding the assumption of assistantship duties. Results of testing administered between quarters or during the quarter in which teaching duties actually begin, may not be available for the assistantship agreement to be processed in time.

Students and departments should not contact the testing offices for test results. The School of Graduate Studies will receive the test results from the English Department and will promptly provide the results to the appropriate academic programs and students.

At the end of the first quarter in which the graduate assistants have provided instructional services, the academic unit will forward to the School of Graduate Studies copies of the graduate assistants teaching evaluations. These evaluations will be used to provide feedback to the testing offices on the effectiveness of the tests.

2.29 Off-Campus Employment
Graduate assistants must abide by the policies of the employing program or department in regard to off-campus employment. Generally, to hold off-campus employment will require written permission from the sponsor of the graduate assistantship.
International students, in addition to the above policy, must gain approval from INS before accepting off-campus employment. Questions concerning off-campus employment should be addressed to the University Center for International Education.
Graduate scholars may hold off-campus employment and do not need permission for the employment from the colleges/school that awarded the scholarships.

2.291 Application Procedures and Procedures for Processing Graduate Assistantship Applications
Students should contact the program(s) or department(s) in which they would like to receive assistantships to request applications and discuss opportunities. Assistantships are available in a variety of departments, programs, and some administrative offices. Assistantship openings are also posted on the School of Graduate Studies web site.

A. Students submit the completed applications to the departments or programs. Students may apply to more than one area by submitting an application to each of the departments, programs, or offices.

B. The department, program, or office reviews the applications to insure that the graduate students are eligible for an assistantship, i.e., regular status as a degree seeking student grade point average above 3.0, and able to register for eight credit hours applicable to the degree.

C. Department(s), program(s), or office(s) decide which students to employ. When a
decision is made, they complete a Graduate Assistantship Agreement form and Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 for each student they wish to employ and send the forms to the appropriate college/dean or designated representative for approval. The agreement and I-9 are then forwarded to the School of Graduate Studies for final processing. The School of Graduate Studies will be responsible for the other elements required to complete the agreements, i.e., Internal Revenue Service (IRS) forms, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) forms, satisfactory completion of the OPT, tuition remissions, and input of the appropriate information into the Banner HR/Payroll system.

All assistantship agreements should be forwarded to the Graduate School at least five weeks before the beginning of the quarter. It is important to meet this deadline so that all the processing requirements can be completed in time for the assistants to be paid during the first regularly scheduled pay period.

D. The School of Graduate Studies reviews the assistantship agreements. For legal reasons, major errors found on assistantship agreements will not be corrected by the Graduate School, but will be referred to the academic unit/department/office that prepared the agreement for correction or revision. Corrected or revised agreements should be signed by the student acknowledging the changes.

E. The Dean, School of Graduate Studies, conducts the final review and approval/
disapproval of the assistantship agreement.

F. The School of Graduate Studies (SoGS) notifies the students that their agreements
have been prepared, and that they should contact SoGS for an appointment to
complete their assistantship processing.

2.292 Students’ Responsibilities for Assistantship Processing
A. International students granted a graduate teaching assistantship should contact the Department of English and Literatures to schedule an appointment to take the OPT to demonstrate proficiency in spoken English. This test should be successfully completed prior to an appointment date for assistantship processing. Graduate assistant and graduate research assistant candidates may be asked by their departments to take the OPT if there is any chance they may have limited classroom duties.

B. F-1/J-1 Foreign students seeking Social Security Numbers for on-campus work are required to provided documentations that they have been offered an on-campus job.  A letter will be issued by the employing department that provides employment verification.  Additionally, a letter will also be provided by the UCIE office that verifies the visa status.  The student is required to take these two letters to the Social Security Administration and apply for a Social Security card.  Students may work while the Social Security application is being processed.  However, they must present the receipt that shows they have applied before beginning any campus employment.  The actual card should be received and presented to the School of Graduate Studies before the second pay period.

C. Students should contact the Graduate School for an appointment after being notified that the assistantship agreement is ready for final processing. Appointments are made on a first-call, first-served basis. Since there are deadline dates for insuring the timely payment of stipends, students are encouraged to make an appointment as soon as possible after being notified.

D. Students will complete the required tax forms and sign the assistantship agreement. Tuition will be applied electronically for the current quarter.

E. Students having a full academic year assistantship agreement (Fall, Winter, and Spring Quarters) may receive a tuition remission for subsequent quarters.  The student must be registered for the appropriate number of hours each quarter before tuition can be applied.

2.293 Employment Eligibility Verification
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 requires all employers to verify employment eligibility of anyone employed after November 6, 1986. All graduate assistants are required to comply with this law. Prior to the appointment for final processing of the graduate assistantship agreement, students will be required to complete at the department, program or office employing them, an Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 (see Appendix B, page 85 of this manual for a sample of the form) and provide proof of citizenship or legal alien status and eligibility to work in the U.S. This proof must be provided within three business days from the date of employment, or a receipt must be presented within three days showing that an application has been made for the required document(s). The document(s) must then be produced within 90 days of the date on the assistantship agreement. If the required document(s) is (are) not provided within the specified time, the assistantship agreement will automatically be terminated until the required proof is furnished. The proof required for employment eligibility is contained on the sample Form I-9. Please note that if a student cannot provide a document from List A on Form I-9, then a document from both List B and List C must be provided. However, international students with visas must apply for a Work Authorization through the University Center for International Education (UCIE).

2.294 Second Year Assistantships
A. Departments or Colleges desiring to retain a student as a graduate assistant appointee for a second year must send a new assistantship agreement to the School of Graduate for that period.

B. If a graduate assistant appointee wishes to be considered for a second year assistantship in another program, he/she must reapply as outlined in Section 2.291.

2.295 Graduate Assistant Evaluation
Departments and/or programs are responsible for evaluating the job performance of all graduate assistants (GAs, GTAs, and GRAs). Faculty supervisors or persons having primary responsibility for the assistants’ work activities should complete the evaluations. The evaluations may be completed each academic quarter, or upon termination of the assistantship agreements, and should be submitted to the Department Chair/Program Director at the end of the quarter or upon termination of the assistantship agreements. The Department Chair/Program Director may submit to the School of Graduate Studies, at the end of each Spring Quarter or upon termination of the assistantship agreements, a summary evaluation for each assistant (See Appendix B for form).

2.30 Graduate Scholars and Scholarships
The colleges/school annually award scholarships, through the School of Graduate Studies and the Office of Financial Aid. The scholarships may be awarded to academically qualified new incoming graduate students who have at least a 2.70 cumulative undergraduate grade point average and have been admitted in regular status into a degree program. Students must be considered new into the program and recruited with the scholarship.
Students receiving a scholarship are referred to as graduate scholars. They are not expected to perform work other than attend classes and perform related research. Graduate scholars are required to maintain a 3.0 cumulative graduate grade point average in order to remain on the scholarship.

2.31 Length of Appointment
Scholars normally receive a two year appointment usually beginning with the Fall Quarter (six regular academic quarters and two summer quarters). The scholarship may not be awarded for more than two years. Students do not have to attend the Summer Quarter in order to maintain their scholarships.

2.32 Minimum Credit Hour Requirement
Scholars must register for a minimum of twelve quarter hours of graduate credit per academic quarter with the exception of the Summer Quarter. Scholars do not have to register during the Summer Quarter or they may take less than twelve hours of graduate credit. The credit must be related to the scholars’ programs of study. Students in their last quarter need only take the number of hours required for graduation. Note: Students who declared their last quarter and registered for less than twelve hours, and subsequently do not graduate are not normally continued on scholarship.

2.33 Tuition Remission
Graduate scholars are granted full tuition remissions for all instructional fees up to eighteen credit hours (laboratory and other program fees are not covered).

2.34 Off Campus and on Campus Employment
Scholars may hold on and off campus employment.

2.35 Summary of Graduate Scholarships
Students who are awarded scholarships are entitled to a tuition remission for all instructional fees up to eighteen hours (not including laboratory or other program fees). Tuition remissions are not authorized for audited or undergraduate courses. However, a tuition remission may be used for undergraduate courses if the courses are recommended by the graduate program and are directly germane to the students' graduate programs of study. Graduate scholars will be authorized a tuition remission only for the number of quarters that were granted to them by the scholarship award (no more than eight consecutive quarters). The completion of degree requirements terminates the scholarship award for any unused quarters.

Students not completing the terms of their scholarship awards; such as, completing less than twelve hours of required graduate course work per quarter, having less than a 3.0 cumulative graduate grade point average, etc. will lose their scholarship awards. Normally, the scholarships will be terminated the quarter following the non-complying action. Students do not have to take twelve hours of credit the Summer Quarter (or attend) in order to maintain their scholarship award.

2.40 Other Benefits
Graduate assistants and scholars may purchase regular student health insurance. They also have the option to participate in the University's employee insurance program (at the student's expense). Assistants desiring information about the insurance program should contact Employee Benefits, Department of Human Resources.

Telephone: (937) 775-2976, (800) 452-4723
Fax: (937) 775-2453
E-mail:
Domestic and U.S. students: wsugrad@wright.edu
International graduate students: uciestatus@wright.edu