The question sometimes comes up as to whether a graduate student should be employed as a student hourly or as a project assistant. If the expertise of a graduate student is needed to carry out the assigned duties, the position should probably be a project assistantship rather than student hourly. If the duties do not require the knowledge expected of a graduate student, the work may be appropriate for a student hourly employee, even if the student filling it is a graduate student rather than an undergraduate. If a position was once filled as a project assistantship, it should not subsequently be filled by a graduate student as a student hourly unless the original designation was incorrect or the work is substantially different. If the position is a short-term position, an hourly Project Assistant may be possible; please contact Nancy Westphal-Johnson (3-2506) or Brian Bubenzer (5-0603) in these situations.

With this raise in the student hourly maximum, it is extremely important that every department have a process set up to ensure that graduate students are not inappropriately paid as student hourlies (e.g., department could continue to require faculty to submit justification to the payroll staff for all student hourlies whose rate is over $10.00). Please consult with Associate Dean Nancy Westphal-Johnson (3-2506), Brian Bubenzer (5-0603), or Diana Allaby (3-4964) if there are questions about the appropriate employment designations.  

GRADUATE STUDENT SUPPORT AND ASSISTANTSHIPS

Graduate Student Support Guarantees

Each year, early in the spring semester (or earlier upon request), departments are given the opportunity to request permission to make guarantees of support to both incoming and continuing graduate students. For many departments, the ability to offer such guarantees is an important component in the recruitment of outstanding graduate students. In working with departments to determine the number of guarantees that may be made, we must carefully consider the department's use of teaching assistantships, other types of graduate student support available in the department, the number of continuing students in the department who already hold such guarantees, and the percentage level of support the department is requesting.

For incoming Ph.D.-program graduate students with no prior graduate work, the guarantee will normally be for four or five continuous academic years; those who will have completed at least one year of graduate work when the guarantee takes effect would receive a three-year guarantee. There may be exceptions to this under special circumstances, or for departments whose graduate programs typically are for only two or three years. All guarantees are contingent on the student maintaining satisfactory academic progress toward the degree for which he or she was admitted, and on satisfactory performance in any assigned responsibility. Guarantees to non-native English speaking students should be made contingent on demonstration of the requisite level of spoken English proficiency for any student who may serve as a teaching assistant (see the "Teaching Assistantships" section in this chapter).

IF YOUR DEPARTMENT DOES NOT USE THE SPEAK TEST SCORING GUIDELINES TO DETERMINE ELIGIBILITY FOR TEACHING ASSISTANT ASSIGNMENTS, YOU WILL BE ASKED TO SUBMIT DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE ENGLISH PROFICIENCY OF EACH NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKING TA. THIS IS A NEW REQUIREMENT THAT WILL BE IN EFFECT STARTING FALL, 2007. GRADUATE STUDENTS WHO ARE NOT QUALIFIED IN ENGLISH WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO SERVE AS TEACHING ASSISTANTS.

As a member of the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States, the University follows the "Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees, and Assistants." This resolution, copies of which are available from the Graduate School, allows students until April 15th to respond to such offers of support.

Guarantees of support may be fulfilled by such types of appointments or awards as the following:

• Teaching Assistant
• Project Assistant
• Fellow, Trainee
• Research Assistant

Summer appointments are not included in the guarantee of support.

Criteria for Satisfactory Progress as a Graduate Student

Degree-granting programs are required to have a set of Criteria for Satisfactory Progress as a Graduate Student, telling graduate students what is expected of them in terms of quality and time standards. These statements are particularly important in that they determine eligibility of graduate students for aid and continuance of long-term support guarantees. In addition, most types of University assistantships, fellowships, and traineeships require that the recipient be making satisfactory academic progress. For these reasons, criteria should be clear and unambiguous, and departments should take care to have criteria to which they adhere consistently.

The Graduate School reviews and approves all changes to satisfactory progress criteria while updating the department/program profiles in the Graduate School Catalog.  In addition, satisfactory progress criteria is always considered during a university mandated program review, in which the Graduate Faculty Executive Committee plays a key role. 

Graduate Assistant Appointments Upon Completion of Degree

Should a teaching or project assistant complete all requirements for his/her academic degree before the end of the semester, the department should contact Nancy Westphal-Johnson or Brian Bubenzer to determine whether a change in title is necessary for the remainder of the semester.

Graduate Assistant Appointments for Students Beyond the Sixth Year of Graduate Work

In February 2001, the L&S Academic Planning Council revoked the College policy requiring that special permission be obtained to offer teaching assistant and project assistant appointments payrolled through the College of Letters and Science to graduate students who are beyond the sixth year of graduate work. While the Council still believes that long-term graduate students who hold teaching and project assistantships may find that work responsibilities not directly related to the degree interfere with degree progress, departments are best able to develop policies governing whether these assignments can and should be made.  The Council urges departments to develop such policies and to review each assignment in the context of the duration of the graduate student's degree program and whether such an appointment is really beneficial to the career goals of the student.

RESEARCH ASSISTANTS, PROJECT ASSISTANTS, AND READERS

Research Assistants

The research assistant title is used for graduate assistant appointments in which the activity performed is directly applicable to the student's degree and research, and research assistants are not "employees" in the sense that teaching assistants and project assistants are. Regardless of the source of funding, research assistants are required to register for a minimum of eight credits prior to reaching dissertator status and for a minimum of three credits thereafter. (Graduate students holding research assistantships in the summer must also be registered.) Research assistants holding appointments (or a combination of graduate assistant appointments) equivalent to one-third of the full stipend over the course of the semester are eligible for health care coverage and remission of out-of-state tuition and in-state fees.  (For more information about remission of tuition and/or fees, please consult the Bursar's "Tuition Remission Policy" at http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/bursar.)  Contact Maggie Sullivan for additional information or if you have questions.  Research assistantship appointments at the non-dissertator or dissertator level are permitted up to 75%. (For more details on combining appointments with student status, see Chapter IV, Section 9, "Overloads and Summer Appointments".)  All research assistants should receive the standard appointment letter provided by the Graduate School. Contact Maggie Sullivan for further information.

Project Assistants

The project assistant title is used for graduate assistant appointments in which the graduate student is employed to assist with research, training, administrative, or other academic projects that are not necessarily directly applicable to the student's degree work or research.

The employment relationship between the University and project assistants is governed by a collective bargaining agreement between the State of Wisconsin and the Teaching Assistants' Association. See the following section on teaching assistantships.

Project assistants appointed through the College of Letters and Science are required to register each semester during the academic year for a minimum of six graduate credits unless they are dissertators and register for a minimum of three credits.  Exceptions can be made at the departmental level for graduate students whose programs temporarily require different registration patterns.