Assistantship Info for Faculty and Staff
Tuition Waiver Funding for Assistantships
The Graduate School allocates graduate stipend dollars and tuition waivers to colleges through a review process based on request submitted by the schools through the deans of the colleges. Assistance with undergraduate teaching is prioritized, followed by support for the research, clinical, and professional missions of each school. Ideally, an assistantship should strengthen the student鈥檚 professional skills in alignment with their field of study. Hiring a GA with allocated stipend dollars to be a service assistant is no longer allowed.
Requests are submitted each year by the schools through the online form: . The deadline to submit the request form is November 15 of each year for the next fiscal year's budget.
External funding projects in progress or awarded prior to September 1, 2025 that do not have tuition budgeted in the project to fund both the stipend and waiver their graduate assistants must request tuition waiver support from the Graduate School annual through the . These requests are to be made for the duration of the project for any assistantship stipend supported by the project. In addition, any active project that exhausts all tuition waiver funding allocated must submit the in order for the Graduate School to review and consider supporting the waiver(s) for the remainder of the project as the budget allows.
External funding proposals from September 1, 2025 forward should follow the Guidance on Budgeting Graduate Student Tuition policy which aims to ensure that graduate student tuition is appropriately budgeted in all external funding proposals. It is the responsibility of the PI to work with the Graduate School to request tuition waivers if tuition is an allowable expense but not feasible within the proposal budget, or a tuition waiver is needed to meet cost share requirements. This tuition support request should be submitted through the form and approved prior to the proposal submission. Do note that the proposal call and the proposed budget are required uploads as part of the tuition waiver request.
Tuition Waivers & Mid-Year Tuition Review
Full-time (0.5 FTE; 20 hours/week) will receive a full tuition waiver (covering 9-13 hours), including non-resident tuition, if needed. Half-time (0.25 FTE; 10 hours/week) GAs will receive a 50% tuition waiver, including non-resident tuition, if needed, and the student is responsible for the remaining 50%. Both full-time and half-time GAs are responsible for all additional fees each semester.
To be eligible to receive the tuition waiver, GAs must be enrolled in a minimum of 9 graduate credit hours in the fall & spring, and a minimum of 1 graduate credit hour in the summer term. Summer tuition waivers cover 1 鈥� 3 credit hours of tuition depending on enrollment and days worked. Prorated tuition will apply if students are not working the full summer term.
Tuition waivers for the fall semester each year are processed and awarded as part of the hiring process each year. No additional form is required to process a GAs tuition waiver that first semester if they are going through the hire/rehire process. Do note that students must be enrolled full-time for the upcoming semester and loaded to job by Human Resources for the tuition waiver to award properly in the automated system. Waivers for the remaining portion of their assistantship will be awarded through the Mid-Year Tuition Review.
If your graduate student is not hired as a GA and is considered a graduate fellow paid through a remittance voucher processed by Accounts Payable, you will need to submit a tuition waiver form to process any waiver they are eligible for or submit a scholarship authorization form if they are supported on a project.
The Mid-Year Tuition Review is completed between the fall/spring and spring/summer semesters for any continuing graduate assistants hired for a full 9 or 12 鈥� month appointment. To award spring tuition waivers, the tuition review process will be generated in SOARHR after fall graduation for supervisors and/or their proxies to complete. A tuition review will need to be submitted for each GA verifying their hours worked, job responsibility code and eligibility to receive funding for the spring semester. GAs on a continuous appointment between the spring and summer semester will need to have the tuition review completed again in May to award summer tuition waivers. Each time the Mid-Year Tuition Review process is generated, an email will be sent to supervisors with instructions on completing the tuition review for each of their graduate assistants.
General Graduate Assistantship Information
1. Regular Admission Status - Graduate assistantships cannot be offered to applicants before a positive regular admission decision is made and verified by the Graduate School. Applicants may be informed of the benefits of an assistantship and that if accepted they will be eligible for an assistantship. Conditionally admitted students are not eligible for an assistantship. Following a successful first semester (GPA of 3.0 on at least 9 graduate credit hours), the student鈥檚 status can be changed to regular, and they will become eligible for an assistantship.
2. Full-Time Enrollment 鈥� All graduate assistants must be registered in a minimum of nine (9) graduate credit hours during the fall and/or spring term and have no prior term balances. Students on assistantship during the summer must enroll in a minimum of 1 graduate credit hour. Students who have completed all coursework towards their degree, are in their last semester of study and have applied to graduate may be approved for a decreased number of hours. Contact the Graduate School for more information,
All assistantships are assigned one of the job codes listed below when hired as it pertains to their specific duties.
- Graduate Teaching Assistant NIR; Other Duties (GTO7) - The graduate student supports classroom instruction but does not have in class instructional responsibilities. Duties could include preparing examinations, proctoring examinations, grading papers, assessment, preparing class lectures, maintaining class records, lab management, and tutoring students outside formal classes. This is the only TA level that can be funded, fully or partially through course fees.
- Graduate Teaching Assistant NIR (GTL7) - The graduate student may have some of the same duties as the GTO7 but also has instructional responsibilities in class. Duties could include making presentations in laboratories/classrooms, conducting lectures, leading discussion groups, and being primarily responsible for assigning grades. These duties involve classroom or laboratory teaching of students, but the graduate teaching assistant is not the instructor of record.
- Graduate Teaching Assistant Course/Lab IR (GTC6) - The graduate student will teach for credit as the instructor of record for a course or lab (i.e. their name is in SOAR). Students listed as instructors of record must have approved credentialling paperwork on file per the Faculty Credentials & Qualifications Manual.
- Graduate Professional Assistant (GPA7) - The graduate student provides general support and services to a program, school, or support unit that may or may not be directly relevant to the profession or practice of their degree. Some examples could include theater production, marketing, writing and editing for publications, managing clinical practices, and service assistant.
- Graduate Research Assistant (GRA7) - The graduate student provides research support for faculty members, academic or support units and/or projects funded by an external agency. The research may or may not relate to a student鈥檚 thesis/dissertation.
Minimum stipends are based on a 20-hour work week. GAs may be paid more than the minimum if funding is available:
- Master鈥檚, Professional Doctorates, and Specialist Degrees: $12,000 for a 9-month contract; $6,000 per semester
- Ph.D. Students: $18,000 for a 9-month contract; $9,000 per semester
The minimum stipend for the summer term is $3,000 for all GAs in any discipline at any level. Given that, 12-month appointment minimums are as follows:
- Master鈥檚, Professional Doctorates, and Specialist Degrees: $15,000 per year; $1,250 per month
- Ph.D. Students: $21,000 per year; $1,750 per month.
A stipend calculator is provided annually by the Graduate School to assist schools and units with calculating the monthly rate of pay that corresponds with the total stipend being offered.
The award memorandum template is provided by the Graduate School and updated annually to be used for all graduate assistant hires and rehires. Supervisors must list specific duties assigned to the GA on the Award Memorandum, and the signed agreement is a required upload with the ePAF when submitted through SOARHR. No other types of award documentation will be accepted. In the event changes or updates need to be made to a current graduate assistant鈥檚 assignment and/or compensation, this information must be included on the Addendum template. The signed addendum is required and must accompany the maintenance PAF submitted for the assistantship updates.
FY2027 GA Award Memorandum
Spring 2027 Only Award Memorandum
Summer 2027 Only Award Memorandum (coming soon)
12-Month Award Memorandum FY2027
Addendum Template
1. Hiring dates for each academic year and semester are determined in conjunction with Human Resources and will be communicated to campus through the HR Newsletter and the Graduate Assistant 鈥� Procedures & Paperwork Microsoft Office Team. Please note that all 12-month GA appointments have a hard end date of July 31 if not before each year for processing purposes, and the earliest start date for a new to USM graduate student (never been enrolled) starting in the fall is August 1.
2. Clear for Hire - GAs may not begin their assistantship until the student has been loaded to job by Human Resources in SOARHR and the supervisor has received the official email notification that they are 鈥渃lear for hire.鈥� All GAs are required to clear a background check through University Human Resources, complete an I-9 and fill out the new hire paperwork to be officially hired. Please refer your GAs to the following 鈥淚nstructions from Human Resources鈥� PDF for complete details.
If it is discovered that a student did not complete the paperwork for which they are responsible prior to beginning work, they must cease working immediately. These students may be terminated, or stipend and tuition waivers may be prorated. A student working as a GA prior to the clearance of all required hiring paperwork is a violation of federal law and renders the University subject to penalties and fines.
3. Prorating Tuition Waivers - Fall/Spring tuition waivers will be prorated if a student is not on campus and ready to work by the 15th of the month after school starts (September 15 for fall; February 15 for spring) or if a student鈥檚 employment is terminated at any point of the semester due to acceptance of another job, personal reasons, etc. Students must be employed the full summer term to receive the full tuition waiver, 1 鈥� 3 graduate credit hours. If they are working only part of the summer term, then the tuition waiver will be prorated based on days worked.
4. Work Week Expectations - GAs are expected to work 20 hours per week as a full-time GA and 10 hours per week as a half-time GA. Assistantship duties may not exceed the expected hours, but GAs generally need to work beyond expected hours on their own time to make progress on their personal research or creative activities. Any allowances for missed work during Spring Break, intercessions, or scheduled vacations are at the discretion of the supervisor and should be consistent with the unit鈥檚 expectations. Monthly-paid GAs are not expected to make up time missed when the university is closed for a holiday.
GA is managed by Holland Insurance, and inquiries should be directed there by calling (662) 895-5528. Domestic GAs may choose to waive enrollment in the policy or they will be automatically enrolled. International GAs do not have the option to waive enrollment and will be automatically enrolled by International Student and Scholar Services. Health insurance is subsidized at 50% for all GAs enrolled with USM鈥檚 GA health insurance provider. Details regarding the current GA Health Insurance plan are available on the Human Resources website or by clicking the link below.
Prior to the start of the fall semester (typically during Fall First Week), the Graduate School partners with the Center for Faculty Development (CFD) to host a one-day orientation for teaching. TAs attend the CFD鈥檚 morning session with new faculty learning about academic policies such as FERPA, Academic Integrity, Student Accessibility Services, etc. In the afternoon, TAs hear presentations from ACUE-credentialed faculty on various aspects of course management, professional behavior in the TA role, and other topics that equip them for the classroom. Attendance is mandatory for new TA鈥檚, excluding those who receive comparable training from their home school. Dates and times are announced during early summer. Questions regarding TA Orientation should be directed to the Associate Director of Professional Development and Outreach, Shaadi Shoubaki at Shaadi.ShoubakiFREEMississippi.
Important Policies for Graduate Assistants