Assistantships

Assistantships are offered to full-time, matriculated graduate students to serve as teaching, research or administrative assistants. Graduate students holding a full assistantship render a service to the University for an average of 20 hours a week during the academic year. The assistant receives a salary, which is determined by the department or college making the appointment. Most graduate assistants also receive tuition scholarships.

Assistantships in the College of Visual and Performing Arts typically consist of a salary ($9,972 for a full appointment in the 2006-2007 academic year) and a tuition scholarship. A full assistantship carries a tuition scholarship of 24 credit hours per academic year, which is credited to your account by the Bursar’s Office. A half assistantship carries half the salary ($4,986 in 2006-2007) and half the tuition scholarship, or 12 credit hours per academic year.

Although the assistantships are awarded as “packages,” the tuition scholarship is given to you in recognition of your academic merit and is not contingent on your performing graduate assistantship services.

Each full assistantship carries a surplus of tuition scholarship credits that may be used in the summer; however, you must request permission to reconfigure the scholarship to accommodate anticipated changes in credit loads. For example, a full assistantship carries 24 credit hours of tuition scholarship and is applied to your account in the following configuration:

  • 9 credit hours during the fall and spring semesters
  • 6 credit hours in the summer

Students may petition to configure the distribution of their tuition scholarship to better suit their needs. This is done by submitting a “Petition to the Faculty” form. All requests to reconfigure credits must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Student Affairs, 204 Crouse College, no later than April 1, 2007.

Likewise, each half assistantship carries 12 credit hours of tuition scholarship. Typically, 6 credit hours are applied in the fall and 6 in the spring. As with a full assistantship, students may petition to reconfigure the distribution of their tuition scholarship credits to suit their specific needs. (No more than 3 credits can be applied to the summer on a half-assistantship.)

Generally, an assistantship will be renewed each successive year of a student’s program of studies (1) if the student makes appropriate progress toward completion of the degree; (2) if the assistantship’s justification remains viable; (3) if the student’s performance of the assistantship is satisfactory; and (4) if there are resources available to support the position.

The number of assistantships available to the college’s graduate students is not determined by the number of graduate students who need support, but rather by the justifiable needs of the college and the resources available to meet those needs.

In searching for an assistantship, investigate opportunities in your academic department first. This way you have the best chance of finding an opportunity related to your program of study. If there are no opportunities there, your faculty advisor, graduate program director, or department chair may be able to advise you of other departments or administrative offices on campus where students in your department have been appointed as graduate assistants in the past.

If you are interested in administrative assistantships outside of your department, you will need to conduct your own search for offices on campus that have such vacancies. Some offices send notices to Graduate Admissions Processing when they have openings, and these are posted on the bulletin board outside the Graduate Admissions Processing office, Suite 303 Bowne Hall. Other resources include the Human Resources Job Opportunities web site. However, many do not send notices, so it may be necessary to contact offices directly to determine where opportunities exist.

The application procedure for administrative assistantships typically is very competitive. You are advised to conduct the search and application process for these positions as if you were seeking a full-time professional position. Interview protocol, including a well-written resume (that delineates scholastic achievements and professional experiences), professional attire, and attitude should be observed in all communications with administrative offices. Graduate students may also want to adapt cover letters and resumes to the specific responsibilities of each position for which they are applying. Submission of materials during the early part of the spring semester for openings the following fall is recommended as many administrative offices begin interviewing prospective graduate assistants in March.