Current Graduate Assistants & Supervisors

GA Contract Dates

GAs are expected to work when the University is open and in accordance with the official university calendar. Since GAs are considered employees, they are not eligible to take academic holidays like Fall or Spring Break since the university is officially open during those breaks. Consult the university holiday calendar for the official listing of observed holidays. 

  • Fall Term Contract Start: July 1 (returning) or August 1 (new) – December 15
  • Spring Term Contract Start: First work day in January (typically) January 2 or 3 – June 30th

Tracking Your Time

GAs require a flexible schedule to accommodate their class and program responsibilities, but 20 hours per week must be maintained and documented. An electronic work log should be maintained by the GA, approved by the supervisor either weekly or biweekly, and filed for subsequent review by the Office of Graduate Student Success. GAs should use Toggl or Clockify to track hours each week. GAs must submit the weekly time log to the supervisor(s) and to the GSS service account: . 

Workload Waivers

Prior to the GA/GTA performing any additional duties at the university beyond the 20 hours of work associated with the assistantship, approval must be obtained first by the CEHD Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and then by the Dean of the Graduate School. This rule applies to work with or without additional pay.

Leave Time Policy

The Funded Graduate Assistant Leave Recommendations allow for 20 days annually including University holidays. The University calendar lists the University approved holidays (10-11 annually) which allows approximately 10 days of leave available for GAs for sick, vacation, and personal time. GAs should request leave time in advance if possible and add the leave time taken on their work log.

Annual Evaluation

Supervisors should develop a set of academic, experiential, and professional goals with the GA, provide continuous feedback concerning progress toward those goals, and finally share a summative evaluation of the GA’s overall growth. GA evaluations are to be annually conducted by their supervisor and submitted to the Office of Graduate Student Success. Supervisors and GAs will receive the notification regarding the annual evaluation by March 1. The deadline to submit the annual evaluation is March 25.

Supervisor Roles & Responsibilities

  • Mentorship
    • Supervisors act as mentors for their graduate assistants. In this role, supervisors should seek opportunities to integrate their assistants into the academic community. In particular they should seek ways to involve GA’s in teaching, research and publication, and service to the profession activities as well as help their GA’s build technology and leadership skills. GA’s who contribute significantly to publications, i.e. writing initial drafts of manuscripts, should receive appropriate author credit. Explain at the outset whether or not there is a prospect for coauthored research results.
  • Advocacy
    • Advocacy is similar to mentorship but may apply to situations that outside of the assistantship itself. This is a proactive role for the faculty supervisor to troubleshoot issues the student may face negotiating the academic and institutional challenges that may occur during their tenure as a student. In addition, the supervisor should assist in helping the GA connect the academic program with professional and work experiences.
  • Supervision
    • It is important to set clear expectations for the work that the Graduate Assistant will be doing by providing a detailed job description and clear instructions and timelines for specific projects and duties. All graduate assistants are to have a written work plan that will guide their daily activities and provide a structure for their annual evaluation.
Compliance Training
  • Human Subjects Protection Program - IRB and Ethical Research
  • Conflict of Interest Training – Annually
  • CITI Training – The University uses the CITIand SafeColleges platforms to provide online HIPAA Privacy training.
  • FERPA- FERPA Tutorial and Quiz – Required to work with student data or PeopleSoft Campus Solutions. Available on BlackBoard under "My Organizations"
  • PeopleSoft Campus Solutions– Contact Dr. to request a PeopleSoft Campus Solutions account to access student records.

 

 Questions? Check out the GA Supervisor Handbook

Still have questions? Email the Graduate Student Success Office @