Graduate Assistantship Policy

The following policy is applicable to all Graduate Assistantships:

• Upon initial appointment, and prior to subsequent appointments, each graduate assistant must be provided with a letter of appointment that describes and clearly defines his/her work assignment, term of appointment, and expectations of the position. Appointments are generally made on a semester-by-semester basis.
• All international students who are to be appointed to a GTA position must have the appropriate visa and be completely aware of all immigration requirements. It would be best if all such students had the following sentence added to their basic GTA appointment letter: "You are required to provide documentation to (insert chairperson's or other appropriate name) of your eligibility to work in the United States within three days of the start of this appointment. If the required documentation is not provided, your appointment is voided."
• No one may be offered an assistantship unless he/she is a full-time graduate student and until she/he has been accepted into a graduate or professional program. Non-degree students may not hold a graduate teaching assistantship.
• The maximum work assignment associated with the assistantship, including any preparation time, should not exceed an average of 20 hours per week for the semester.
• All graduate assistants, by State Statute, are provided full waiver of tuition and abatement of special fee schedule B.
• The above statute sets a limit for the fee waiver to "a period of time not to exceed the number of semesters normally required in the recipient's academic discipline," At WVU this is interpreted to mean that a fee waiver period for a master's student is up to 3 years while that for doctoral students continuing beyond the master's is up to 5 years. Exceptions to these time limits may be requested from the Office of Graduate Education and Life
• College/School-specific fees (non-HERF) will not be waived as part of the state mandated tuition waiver, but must be paid either by the student or the hiring unit.
• A graduate assistantship must provide for the enhancement of the student's professional skills and knowledge. Graduate assistants should not be assigned clerical duties or other duties generally considered to be "hourly-rate activity." Such assignments are reserved for student assistants who are treated as employees.
• All graduate assistants will carry a 0.25 FTE assignment for budget purposes and will not be eligible for fringe benefits.

Among equally-qualified candidates, West Virginia residents should be given preference for graduate assistantships.

• All graduate teaching assistants, except those at the Health Sciences Center, are required to attend the WVU GTA Professional Development Workshop in the first fall semester of their appointment. While attendance at this workshop is mandatory for all newly appointed GTAs, experienced GTAs and those from the Health Sciences are encouraged to participate.