This P&P includes the following main sections:

• Background
• Type of graduate assistantships
• Qualifications for appointment
• Appointment procedures
• Appointment to an assistantship
• Condition of service
• Responsibilities
• Privileges
• Rights
• Evaluation
• Annual stipend rates
• Implementation

Programs of graduate study at Southern Polytechnic State University have been designed to introduce students to research that is industrially, technically, or applications focused. Thus graduate assistantships, well conceived by the faculty and well performed by students, serve as ideal apprenticeships for the purpose of applied scholarship.

Graduate assistants occupy dual roles--they are both students at the university and temporary student employees of the university. In their student role, graduate assistants are expected to concentrate on their studies under the direction of faculty mentors as a means of developing a knowledge of their field of study and their professional skills. As temporary student employees, graduate assistants are expected to meet the obligations assigned, whether they involve teaching, research, or other support work.

At all times, graduate assistants are to work under the supervision of faculty who are experienced and knowledgeable in their field. Supervision of graduate assistants includes providing appropriate training prior to and during the work period of the graduate assistant.

Academic units of the university employ graduate assistants in four classifications. The types of graduate assistants to be employed depend on the needs of the academic units, the availability of funds, and the qualifications of students involved. The four classifications are as follows:

• Graduate teaching assistants are students fully admitted in a graduate program and enrolled full-time for the semester during which they are assigned instructional responsibility for a course. They may have autonomy for teaching and assigning grades.

• To qualify as such, said students must have earned a master's in the discipline in which they are asked to teach, or have a master's and 18 graduate semester hours in the discipline. The personnel forms of graduate teaching assistants must be processed through the office of the vice president for academic affairs to obtain administrative approval from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

• Before assuming responsibility for a course, graduate teaching assistants are required to work under the supervision of experienced faculty members as a means of developing teaching skills in the academic discipline.

• Graduate laboratory assistants are students fully admitted in a graduate program and enrolled full-time for the semester during which they are assigned teaching responsibility for a laboratory section that is part of a regularly scheduled course. Graduate laboratory assistants, working under the supervision of experienced members of the faculty, are responsible for laboratory instruction.

• Such students are required to have earned at least 18 graduate semester hours in the discipline and participated in a teaching assistantship program provided by the university.

• Graduate research assistants are students fully admitted in a graduate program and enrolled full-time for the semester during which they serve as research assistants. In most instances, research assistants are assigned duties such as library searches and laboratory experiments under the close supervision of faculty mentors.

• Such students need not have earned 18 graduate semester hours or participated in the extensive graduate teaching assistantship program offered by the university, but normally they should be majoring in the discipline itself.

• This category encompasses all other enrolled graduate students receiving assistantship stipends not covered by the three previously mentioned categories. Duties assigned to graduate assistants may include grading papers, gathering, organizing, and analyzing data, and assisting administrative staff. Whenever possible, the duties assigned to graduate assistants should be relevant to the graduate program and the professional goals of the students.

• Such students need not have earned 18 graduate semester hours or participated in a graduate teaching assistantship program offered by the university, but they must be students who are fully admitted to a graduate program and who are enrolled full-time during the semester they serve as a graduate assistant.

1.    To be eligible for an assistantship appointment, students must have been fully admitted to a graduate program as prospective candidates for a graduate degree and be enrolled full-time during the semester of their appointment.

2.    Teaching, laboratory, and research graduate assistants must have substantial academic work in the field in which they receive the appointment. They should have achieved a strong academic record and must be committed to full-time study for the degree.

3.    All departments must conform to the guidelines promulgated by the office of the vice president for academic affairs (VPAA) when appointing graduate teaching assistants. These guidelines provide that all new graduate teaching assistants must attend a university-wide workshop held for graduate teaching assistants prior to the beginning of fall semester classes. The guidelines also specify that graduate teaching assistants with no prior experience must participate in equivalent program or school training before they are given responsibility for a course.

4.    Teaching assistant competency in English is also assessed. Teaching assistants are assessed for English competency at the initial interview. Those who lack English language proficiency must enroll in a special program provided by the ATTIC. After attaining a recommendation from the ATTIC's director, the dean, program head, or graduate program coordinator will re-assess the applicant's suitability for a teaching or lab assistantship. If English skills are still unsatisfactory, the individual must take additional coursework and be reassessed until a satisfactory English competency is established.

• Appointments of graduate assistants are made by the dean of the school involved. Appointments also must be approved by the vice president for academic affairs.

• The dean of the school offering the assistantship is responsible for making the offer of appointment in an official letter. The letter should provide full information on the terms of the assistantship, including:

1. Title, percentage time, and length of appointment
2. Stipend level and remission of the non-resident fee and reduction in the matriculation fee
3. Minimum and maximum course load
4. Description of duties
5. Name and position of supervisor
6. Evaluation procedures
7. Procedure and timing for reappointment
8. Any contingencies, including the availability of funding
9. Deadline for acceptance
10. Conditions under which the assistantship may be withdrawn

• At the time the assistantship offers are accepted, the deans of the appointing units should provide recipients with a copy of school or program policies relating to graduate assistants. Those students who have been assigned teaching duties should be notified of orientation meetings and other training opportunities as soon as these meeting are scheduled.

• In most cases, appointments to graduate assistantships should be made for at least nine months so that employing units and graduate assistants can plan effectively. In some instances, appointments may be made for one semester only.

• To be eligible for reappointment, graduate assistants must have maintained a 3.0 average on all graduate course work and must have received acceptable performance evaluations from their immediate supervisor.

• Graduate assistants are expected to make uninterrupted progress toward completing requirements for the degree. As a rule, students may hold only one assistantship at a time. In no instance may students hold assistantship appointments that require more than two-thirds time service. Students holding assistantships requiring two-thirds time service may not accept other university employment during the tenure of the assistantship.

• Graduate assistants who hold assistantships that require from one-third to one-half time service must register for a minimum of 9 hours and no more than 12 hours during an academic semester.
  • Those graduate assistants who hold assistantships requiring more than one-half time service must register for a minimum of 6 hours and no more than 9 hours during a semester.
  • Exceptions to the maximum course load may be obtained on written approval of the dean of the school involved.
  • Because of the intensive nature of course work in the summer semester, graduate assistants may register for a minimum of 6 hours during this semester. Summer semester rules for maximum loads apply.

• Students are not permitted to hold assistantships when they are placed on academic probation by the university.

• Graduate assistants are not permitted to teach upper-division or graduate-level courses or to enroll in courses for which they are assigned assistantship responsibilities.

1.    Graduate assistants are responsible for being informed concerning program, school, and institutional regulations and for following them consistently.

2.    Regardless of the work assignment, graduate assistants are obligated to maintain standards of academic honesty and integrity and to report violations of these to their faculty supervisor.

3.    Recognizing that the assistantship is a temporary position, graduate assistants should keep careful records of work assignments and should leave records in such a condition that decisions can be traced, results verified, and incomplete work finished after the assistantship has ended.

1.    Graduate assistants have access to the privileges available to all graduate students, such as health care, psychological counseling services, libraries, and computer-usage time.

2.    In addition, they should be assigned appropriate space and equipment, including copies of textbooks and other supplies, to enable them to carry out their assignments effectively.

3.    When preparing materials related to their assistantship assignments, assistants should have access to secretarial facilities, if necessary and, if approved by the program head or dean.

4.    Under special circumstances, program or school travel funds might be made available to support graduate assistants making presentations at professional meetings. Graduate assistants may request such funds from the dean of the school in which they are enrolled.

Graduate assistants must be notified in writing of all decisions that affect their status as temporary student employees. They will be given advance notice of evaluation procedures and must receive notice of reappointment procedures in time to permit preparation of their assistantship applications.

Graduate assistants have access to appeal and grievance procedures operative in the university. Appeals from academic decisions are usually directed to the unit responsible for the decision. An unfavorable ruling may be appealed to successive levels in the university and ultimately to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

1.    The performance of all graduate assistants in each academic unit must be evaluated annually following written policies and procedures adopted by the unit. Evaluation is to be made by the immediate supervisor(s) of the graduate assistant and monitored by the program head or dean. Evaluation results must be reported in writing to graduate assistants, and the report should identify strengths and weaknesses of their performance.

2.    Ongoing informal evaluations should occur in addition to the annual evaluation.

• If these informal evaluations identify weaknesses, the graduate assistants should be advised in writing of the weaknesses, and a notation of the evaluation should be entered in their personnel records.

• A plan of improvement should then be devised by the graduate assistant and his or her immediate supervisor(s). In a particular instance, if the performance of a graduate assistant fails to improve in accordance with the plan, further action should be taken.

• In those situations where continuance of the assistantship would be detrimental to the effective operation of the academic unit, consideration should be given to terminating the assistantship.

• When an assistantship is terminated, the student must be advised in writing of the termination of the assistantship and of the appeal procedures available.

• Appeals of terminations, unless they include charges of discrimination, will be heard through channels established for academic decisions. The appeals must be in writing and must specify the grounds on which they are based.

Annual stipend rates for graduate assistants will be established by the university at the beginning of the yearly budgetary period. Annual rates for graduate assistants that vary from the rate set for budgetary purposes by the university may be approved by the VPAA providing:

1.    The rate used is uniform for all graduate students in a particular degree program in a school.

      Note: This policy applies to funds from all sources.

2.    Each dean or director requesting a reduction in the matriculation fee certifies to the VPAA that the students will perform at least one-third time service.

In keeping with past and current policy promulgated by the VPAA, the deans of schools offering graduate programs have responsibility for the proper implementation of these policies. Thus they are delegated the authority to obtain compliance from all units in the university regardless of the source of funding.

To permit them to fulfill their responsibility, units must indicate on personnel reports, summer school payroll vouchers, and extra compensation requests that the persons receiving payment are graduate students. All requests for payment to graduate students must be submitted to and approved by the dean of the school employing the student, who then will send the approved forms to the VPAA for further consideration and action.