Graduate
Assistantship

So, what is a Graduate Assistant? A Graduate Assistant is a graduate student who the university has appointed to assist the Institution, a Program, a Department, or a Faculty Member, in carrying out certain duties. Graduate Assistantships are obtained by applying to the university and are granted based on academic merit and faculty referrals or recommendations. Based on the roles and responsibilities the graduate assistant has to undertake, they receive a tuition waiver or a stipend, or both, that can ultimately fund their studies.

A Graduate Assistantship is invaluable to students who wish to pursue their Ph.D. due to the practical field experience, broader and deeper understanding of their subjects they acquire, and the connections they build with faculty, students, and industry experts.

There are broadly three types of Graduate Assistantships offered by Universities across the country. These are:

1. Graduate (Student) Assistants
   The roles and responsibilities of a Graduate Assistant are largely generic and seem administrative. Graduate Assistant Students are expected to assist with program assessments, accreditation, and other academic activities. They plan and organize special events, participate in marketing and recruitment, assist with program development, and guide undergraduate organizations and help with public relations.
2. Graduate Teaching Assistants
   Graduate Teaching Assistantships are typically awarded at the Master’s or Doctoral level. These assistants are required to work under the mentorship of a faculty member. A graduate teaching assistant’s roles and responsibilities vary, depending on the program, the department, and the university. However, assistants are generally expected to grade class assignments, assist the professor with teaching materials and learning resources, sometimes run an undergraduate laboratory, lead recitation, help or tutor undergraduate students and make presentations as part of a regular class. These are only some of the duties of a Graduate Teaching Assistant. Additional, specific, or other duties could very well be part of the assistantship.
3. Graduate Research Assistants
   A Graduate Research Assistantship is usually tied up with a research or scholarly project of the faculty mentor. Such a project need not necessarily relate to the student’s project, dissertation or thesis and may be qualitative or quantitative. The roles and responsibilities of a Graduate Research Assistant largely depend on the nature of the research project. They could include examining supporting documents, assisting with literary reviews and design of the project, collecting and organizing research data, and assisting with the actual research.

The term ‘Fellowship’ is a respected one for the student fraternity, and its exact meaning can vary depending on its scope, offering, and specifics. Fellowships are generally given through monetary benefits in the form of Scholarships at the graduate or postgraduate level. Graduates or pursuing students typically receive additional training in their field and are funded for research, often through stipends. A Fellowship allows students to devote themselves completely towards research or an internship without worrying about external employment to raise additional funds for their education. A Fellowship’s scope is unlimited because it gives the student the freedom to indulge in active, actual, and practical fieldwork, research, experimentation, and study. There is seldom routine work done by way of documentation, assessment, or administration related to the program and/or the university, and demands no real assistance to be offered to faculty members.

An Assistantship, or a Graduate Assistantship, similarly brings with it tuition waivers and a stipend, but the work done is largely related to discharging the department or university’s duties. Assisting the faculty members, the department, undergraduate students, or the university as a whole is what assistantship is all about. Limited in scope, assistantships generally revolve around routine tasks and duties that ensure a program or department’s smooth functioning.

Depending on the Program, University, financial requirements, and availability of time, Graduate Assistantships can either be an advantage or a disadvantage. The table below lists out some of the advantages and disadvantages Graduate Assistantships carry with them:

The length or duration of a Graduate Assistantship depends largely on the university being applied to. The term of the contract for a Graduate Assistantship can be valid anywhere from 10 weeks to 36 weeks or more and maybe full-time or part-time.

Full-time Graduate Assistants have to put in 20 hours per week typically. This 20-hour Graduate Assistantship coupled with class attendance and study is considered a full-time contract. As such, a tight schedule can be hard to cope with; many Universities require the Graduate Assistant to satisfactorily fulfill their responsibilities to the Institution without conflict by outside employment.

Half-time Graduate Assistants are typically required to put in 10 hours per week. The half-time Graduate Assistantship generally caters to the special needs of departments and working students. Here too, a Graduate Assistant is expected to fulfill their responsibilities to the university without any conflict from outside employment, but this can be ignored under normal circumstances.

At the end of each contractual term, a student may reapply for Graduate Assistantship, but it must be noted that renewal is usually neither automatic nor guaranteed. Always check the university’s guidelines for schedules, benefits, application requirements, terms, renewals, and exact information eligibility.