Assistantships
Graduate Assistantship (GA)
A student currently enrolled in a UNC graduate program performing administrative duties and/or assigned program related duties including instructional support but who is not the Instructor of Record. Students may be enrolled on a part or full time basis and are compensated in accordance with their agreement.
Graduate Assistantships with Administrative Offices at UNC
Some administrative offices on the UNC campus hire graduate assistants. Click the button below to view listings for current administrative GA openings. If you apply for an administrative assistantship, the application and any supporting materials should be directed to the contact person for the vacancy you are interested in. Application materials will be reviewed by the hiring units. Availability of positions is contingent upon funding.
Graduate Assistant Conference
The Graduate School, Division of Student Affairs, and Division of Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion have partnered to offer a day of workshops and training relevant to
the role of graduate assistants. The conference was held on Monday, August 19, from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., via Zoom.
The GA Conference is for graduate students in graduate assistant roles in any administrative offices on campus, including GA roles in colleges, the Graduate School, ORSP, Athletics, Division of Student Affairs, Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (such as the cultural centers), Housing, SOS, ASAP, Office of Global Engagement, Recreation, clinics, etc. This full-day conference will offer opportunities to learn about setting healthy boundaries, de-escalating conflict, best practices in supervision and planning for difficult conversations. There will also be required sessions on resources for assisting distressed students and responsibilities for creating harassment-free environments. Please go to the registration link. You can also choose to send yourself a calendar invite so you hold the date.
Teaching Assistant (TA)
A salaried employment opportunity for a student currently enrolled in a UNC degree program at the graduate level. A student classified as a GTA teaches only undergraduate courses under supervision and may be instructor of record. Students classified as GTA may support graduate faculty in graduate classes but are not to provide instruction or grading and may expect to receive feedback from faculty on co-teaching and grading.
Graduate Part-time Instructor (GPI)
A salaried employment opportunity for a student currently enrolled in a graduate degree program at UNC who qualifies as instructor of record for one or more undergraduate courses under HLC guidelines. A GPI does not require supervision and does not serve as a course coordinator or a supervisor for teaching assistants.
Annual Graduate Teaching Conference for Teaching Assistants and Graduate Part-time Instructors
The Graduate Part-time Instructor and Graduate Teaching Assistant Conference is designed to prepare students who will teach at UNC. If you have signed or plan to sign a GPI or TA contract for fall 2024 and/or spring 2025, you are required to attend the conference. Each GPI and TA is responsible for ensuring registering and attending the GPI/TA conference every year. The annual training conference was held on Monday, Aug. 19, from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., via Zoom.
The Annual Teaching Conference is required for all graduate students in roles as teaching assistants or graduate part-time instructors. The full-day conference offers a variety of workshops targeting skill development and different levels of experience. Topics include preparing to teach, building an inclusive syllabus, setting healthy boundaries, managing classroom peer review, de-escalating conflict, creating an inclusive STEM classroom, and preparing and leading difficult conversations. Some programs, such as Math and Music, may offer discipline-specific sessions concurrently with some general workshops. No matter how much experience you have teaching, there’s always something new to learn! There will also be required sessions on resources for assisting distressed students and responsibilities for creating harassment-free environments. Please go to the registration link. You can also choose to send yourself a calendar invite so you hold the date.
The conference is mandatory for all GTAs and GPIs. If you have questions, please contact Cindy Wesley, Ph.D., Associate Dean of the Graduate School at cindy.wesley@unco.edu.
Handbook for Students with Assistantships
Information about assistantship contracts, university policies, learning and teaching processes, students’ rights and responsibilities, and university services is provided in a Handbook for Graduate Assistants, Graduate Part-time Instructors and Graduate Teaching Assistants.
Handbook for Graduate Assistants, Graduate Part-time Instructors and Graduate Teaching Assistants (coming soon)
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for a teaching or graduate assistantship students must meet the following requirements:
- You must be admitted to a graduate degree program at UNC while maintaining good academic standing (at least a 3.0 cumulative grade point average) and not on academic probation. Students admitted with a GPA lower than 3.0 and academic provisions may not be hired for assistantship positions until they earn at least a 3.0 GPA at UNC or the academic provisions are met.
- To qualify for a tuition waiver, you must maintain enrollment in at least 3-10 graduate credit hours per semester during the agreement term.
- If enrolled in dissertation hours only, you will be allowed to hold an assistantship for a maximum of two (2) semesters, provided that you are enrolled for a minimum of six (6) hours of dissertation each academic term.
- For international students, demonstrating English language proficiency with a score indicating that communication in English is generally effective. The communication task is performed completely and successfully uses the following compensatory strategies:
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- Functions generally performed clearly and effectively
- Appropriate response typically given to the audience/situation
- Coherent communication, with some effective cohesive devices
- Generally accurate pronunciation, grammar, fluency and vocabulary
- Graduate assistant and teaching assistant appointments are based upon full-time employment using a 20-hour work week over 17 weeks (15-week semester plus one week each before and after class) as the standard. Summer is based on 13 weeks to include one week prior and one week after. Stipend is calculated based on minimum stipends and by degree level.
- You may not hold a single appointment or a combination of appointments exceeding 20 hours a week for any semester.
Compensation
- The University has established a standard base salary schedule setting a minimum level of pay for all graduate assistantship positions, one at the master’s level (a student who does not have a master’s degree or does not have at least 30 hours of graduate work) and one at the doctoral level.
- Most graduate assistantship positions provide stipend, along with tuition assistance and partial fee waiver that covers a portion of Student Services and LEAF fees.
- Generally, graduate assistants with appointments of 16-20 hours a week during a semester receive full tuition assistance during that semester, and students appointed for 8-15 hours per week receive partial tuition assistance. Students appointed for 3-7 hours a week typically are not eligible for tuition assistance. Academic units have flexibility in determining tuition waiver. The Graduate School will provide tuition waiver for 3-10 credit hours per semester. Tuition is based on the number of credit hours enrolled.
- Eligible students may receive nonresident tuition assistance for their first year of enrollment only. For subsequent years, only in-state tuition assistance may be provided. Any exceptions to this policy must be requested in writing and approved by the dean of the Graduate School. Students must apply to change their tuition classification from nonresident to Colorado resident. For information regarding tuition classification, please visit the Residency web page. For deadlines and forms related to applying for a change in tuition classification from nonresident to Colorado resident, please visit the Residency Deadlines web page.
- You are financially responsible for student health insurance, as well as tuition and remaining fees not covered by your tuition and partial fee waivers.
Managing your Assistantship
Information About your Assistantship:
Your graduate assistantship agreement states that tuition and partial fee waivers
post to student billing accounts after the add/drop deadlines to accommodate enrollment changes. To stay informed about
your assistantship, we encourage you to follow these steps:
- Check your Ursa account. You will be able to view your fall bill starting Aug. 1. You will find details on viewing your bill at https://www.unco.edu/bursar/your-bill/. In the meantime, to obtain estimated cost information (e.g., tuition cost), please click on the tuition calculator posted at https://apps.unco.edu/tuitioncalc/.
- If you have student loans, realize the amount of any loan may be adjusted throughout this process.
- Check your student bill for the total number of credits enrolled.
- Tuition and partial fee waivers are applied next, after the add/drop period, to reflect any changes (add or dropped credits) made to your registration.
- Once your waivers have posted, check your bill and pay the balance due by the Sept. 9 billing deadline to avoid service charges for any outstanding balance remaining.
If this change in GA/TA waiver disbursement causes financial hardship, please go to the Cashier’s window at the Bursar’s Office, located in Bear Central of Campus Commons, for assistance. Alternatively, you may phone 970-351-1198 or email Kathi.Bland@unco.edu.
Stipends pay via direct deposit on the last business day of each month. Academic year appointments have 10 stipend payments, August through May, and semester appointments provide five equal payments, August through December and January through May. You will receive the same pay amount each month.
If you have any questions about the GA/TA waiver disbursement schedule, please direct them to bursar@unco.edu.
