Assistantships

Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA)

The GTA is a graduate student, enrolled in accordance with their plan of study, who serves as Instructor of Record for an undergraduate course in the discipline.  This student has full responsibility for a course, including leading the class and assigning grades.  Teaching Associates may also lead discussion sections, grade papers and exams, or supervise laboratory sections. GRAs must have completed a minimum of 18 graduate credit hours in the instructional discipline. Graduate Teaching Associates may NOT teach graduate-level courses. Teaching Associates are supervised by a faculty member experienced in the teaching discipline, participate in pre-service training, and receives regular in-service training as well as planned, periodic evaluations. All GTAs must complete GTA training at the beginning of August in their first year of teaching.

Graduate Instructional Assistant (GIA)

The GIA is a graduate student, enrolled in accordance with their plan of study, who may assist with grading and other administrative responsibilities related to a course. GIAs may be listed in the schedule for labs, recitations, tutorials, etc. that are linked to a course with a credentialed Instructor of Record. These courses are designated with an R, L, or T and the linkage to the Lecture course is clearly noted. This may include lab assistance and set-up, serving as a lab supervisor, meeting students in office hours or group settings to provide tutorial assistance, lead recitation sections; but does not deliver new course content. GIAs serve under the direct supervision of the faculty member who is instructor of record and a member of the graduate faculty, participates in pre-service training, and receives regular in-service training as well as planned, periodic evaluations.

Graduate Research Assistant (GRA)

The GRA is a graduate student, enrolled in accordance with their plan of study and are assigned to work in a faculty member’s lab or provide fundamental support for a faculty member’s research. The supervising faculty member may or may not be the student’s main advisor. Duties of research assistants vary by discipline and lab but include all tasks needed to pursue research in a given area, such as: data collection, entry, and analysis; reviewing the literature and other library work; writing reports; copying, filing, and collating; organizing and/or cleaning the lab or office.

Graduate Clinical Assistant (GCA)

The GCA is a graduate student, enrolled in accordance with their plan of study and engaged in clinical teaching, research, or clinical practice under the supervision of or in collaboration with a member of the graduate faculty. These students may be assigned case-loads, group counseling, crisis intervention, outreach programming, personality assessments, maintaining clinical records, or other clinical duties as assigned.

Graduate Office Assistant (GOA)

The GOA is the title given to graduate assistants when there are no expectations of classroom teaching or grading. This individual may staff an open laboratory, studio, or workshop, where students complete assignments or work on projects; provide non-graded, individual instruction or tutoring, or help faculty prepare and manage classroom materials. The office assistant may also perform academic duties such as assisting in non-central roles of faculty research.  An office assistant may also be assigned to a wide variety of other responsibilities that are not related to instructional or research processes but support the mission of the University. Graduate students who have appointments in non-academic units are always classified as office assistants.

To hold a graduate assistantship, a student must be:

• Admitted to a program as a master’s or doctoral student.
• Full-time enrollment, maintain a 3.0 GPA and otherwise making satisfactory academic progress toward degree attainment during the period of the assistantship.

Each department or unit establishes its own documented procedures for recruitment, selection, retention, and dismissal of graduate assistants in accordance with UNCG policy and Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity guidelines.

Renewing Assistantships

An assistantship without a fixed term specified in the initial letter of offer may, at the discretion of the academic program, be renewed if the following criteria are met:

• Funding is available.
• The student is making satisfactory academic progress, with a GPA not less than 3.0.
• The student’s assistantship performance is evaluated in writing by their supervisor to be satisfactory.
• The student’s professional and ethical behavior in all tasks and duties — including in courses in which they are enrolled and in research and creative work — is judged by the academic program to be satisfactory.

I-9 Instructions for Graduate Students:

Most Graduate Assistants are contracted to start work on August 1. On or before the contract begin date on your official offer letter from the Graduate School, you must complete an I-9 verifying your identity and employment authorization to work in the United States. Failure to do so will delay your ability to start work and your first paycheck will be delayed to the end of September. Regardless, you MAY NOT begin your work assignment until you have filed your I-9.

All I-9 paperwork is now handled by the Student Employment Office in the Office of Career & Professional Development. Please see their webpage for instructions.