Graduate Assistantships
Assistantships serve to facilitate graduate students in the prompt and successful completion of an advanced degree program and to provide work experience in a setting under the supervision of a faculty or administrative mentor.
Graduate Assistantship Levels
Full-time Graduate Assistantship
A full-time graduate assistant (GA) will work, on average, 20 hours a week (equivalent to a half-time employee). Therefore, they should not be scheduled for more than 20 hours of work each week (see work assignments below). Full-time graduate assistantships must include full tuition, fees (university service fee AND course fees),and a stipend during the fall and spring semester. Departments do not have to cover tuition and fees during the summer, although they should consider doing so if it will shorten time to graduation and result in the same amount of tuition and fees being paid, just in a shorter time period. The stipend must be, at a minimum, equivalent to 15$ an hr. Full-time graduate assistants must be enrolled full-time (9 credit hrs.) credit hrs unless they are at late-stage (dissertation stage), or in the last semester of their master’s program or a master’s student taking thesis hours. Enrollment is not required during the summer. Over the course of a semester, a full time GA will work at most 300 total hours. This is based on a 15-week semester. A health insurance benefit of 100% of the premium coverage will be granted to full-time GAs who have been contracted for at least 4 months.
Part-time Graduate Assistantship
A part time graduate assistant (GA) will work, on average, 10 hours a week. Therefore, they should not be scheduled for more than 10 hours of work each week (see work assignments below). Part-time graduate assistants should receive at least half tuition, fees, and a stipend during the fall and spring semester. Departments are not obligated to cover summer tuition but should consider doing so if the cost of tuition and fees would assist the student in completing the degree sooner and the cost would be the same to the department if the student were not to pursue summer courses. Health insurance is not currently available for part-time graduate assistants. Part-time assistantships are available to students enrolled in at least 3 hours or for those at dissertation/thesis stage who are enrolled in at least one credit hr. Enrollment is not required during the summer. Over the course of a semester, a part time GA will work at most 150 total hours. This is based on a 15-week semester. The minimum stipend must be equivalent to $15 dollars an hour.
Graduate teaching and research assistantships are available in many of the academic areas of the University of Memphis, Contact the department directly for additional information.
Be certain to review the responsibilities of a graduate assistant. A student must be admitted into a graduate academic program to be eligible for appointment as a graduate assistant.
Non-degree students may not be awarded an assistantship. Graduate assistants must maintain a 3.00 GPA to retain their assistantships.
Graduate teaching assistants instructing their own course must have a master's in the teaching discipline or 18 graduate credit hours in the discipline. Graduate teaching assistants must have direct supervision by a faculty member experienced in the teaching discipline, regular in-service training, and planned and periodic evaluations.
Non-native English speakers must also pass the SPEAK test before they can be appointed teaching assistants. Contact the Center for International Programs and Services for more information regrading the SPEAK test.
Graduate teaching assistants may teach only undergraduate courses; in exceptional cases they may be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School to teach 4000/6000 courses. They may not teach more than 6 hours of for-credit courses without prior approval from the Dean of the Graduate School.
For more information on types of Graduate Assistantship positions see here.
