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UC Assistantships
Graduate Assistantships (GAs) are awarded to almost 2000 full-time graduate students each year at the University of Cincinnati. A student awarded a Graduate Assistantship receives a financial stipend for services rendered in addition to a tuition scholarship.Graduate
Assistants are entitled to a discount at the University Bookstore
and a credit for winter and spring quarters health insurance if they are enrolled in student
health insurance.
The appointing academic program, college, or area of responsibility determines the workload requirements of students who hold assistantships, although the awards obligate awardees to no more than 20 hours per week of services that make a substantive contribution to the student’s academic and professional development. If the student determines that he or she cannot meet the requirements of the award, it is imperative that he or she notifies the program to initiate renegotiation or reassignment of the award with correspondingly less support. A student is not required to be available during break periods unless he or she is given additional compensation.
A student who receives a Graduate Assistantship devotes his or her effort to a combined program of formal study and assigned duties of teaching, research, or administrative service. The stipend received by the Graduate Assistant is in recognition of these services. Those with teaching duties are Teaching Assistants (TAs), and those with research duties are Research Assistants (RAs). During the appointment, the goal is to produce a graduate student who becomes a more learned, creative, and professional individual through formal instruction, interaction with faculty, research, and administrative experience. Any assignments that result from a graduate award should be consistent with the student’s academic pursuits.
Students receiving Graduate Assistantships from university general funds must be registered for 12 graduate credit hours or more each quarter, exclusive of audit credits. Assistantships are awarded for designated periods of time by the graduate programs with funds allocated and monitored by the Graduate School. Minimum stipends are set by the Dean of the Graduate School. Graduate students who have attempted 260 graduate credit hours at the University of Cincinnati are not eligible for a university award for enrollment beyond the 260. (See Requirements for University of Cincinnati Graduate Awards.) University assistantships will be cancelled if the awardee does not meet his or her enrollment obligation.
Non-native speakers of English who are awarded teaching assistantships at the University of Cincinnati are required to score at least a 3.0 on the Oral English Proficiency Test (OEPT). The OEPT tests the spoken language skills of non-native speakers of English. Students who pass are certified for oral English proficiency and may assume the full range of duties associated with their teaching assistantship.
Graduate Assistants are governed in their duties by their program. If awarded an assistantship outside their program, Graduate Assistants are governed in their duties by the academic program, college, or the area of responsibility that made the award.
Each year that the assistantship is in effect the appointing program, college, or area sends an award letter to the recipient of the assistantship. The letter must state the amount and duration of the award; any tuition and/or fee not paid by the program; the specific academic requirements for completion of the degree; the expected time per week or per quarter of required duties; a description of the duties assigned to the student; a description of the conditions under which either the student or unit may terminate the award prior to its end-date; criteria for reappointment of the award; criteria for determining variations in stipend levels where such variations exist; information on current IRS guidelines, Medicare, and the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS); and graduate appointment procedures if any of the documents have been modified since the student’s initial appointment. The program’s handbook for graduate study must be available to the student. Upon the student’s acceptance of the offer, the program and the student are bound by the terms and conditions set forth in the letter of appointment.
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