Assistantships

The University provides many students with stipend support, which is available with varying compensation levels depending upon the nature of the service and the amount of time required of the students. Specific information and opportunities may be obtained from the chairperson or the graduate program director in the degree program of your choice. In addition to University-funded stipends, there are foundation grants that provide funds for various kinds of assistantships. Students receiving assistantships must maintain an overall grade point of 3.0 to avoid being placed on probation. Probationary status makes the student ineligible for University funding and employment. Graduate stipends are usually awarded by the graduate programs and fall into the following classifications:

Graduate Assistant

A Graduate Assistant (GA) is a student-employee paid by the University to engage in activities related to their academic degree programs under the following conditions. GAs are identified based on two criteria: the nature of their work and the nature of their relationship to the university.

• The nature of their work: GAs are full-time students whose primary responsibilities are linked to their academic and professional development. Thus, their roles and responsibilities are directly related to and often part of their academic requirements. Examples of GA duties include the following:
  • Serving as a “teacher of record” or teaching assistant to another instructor
  • Serving as a research assistant on a range of research or scholarly projects as defined by their discipline, such as working in a lab, assisting with a journal, or editing a book
  • Serving as a TA or RA or in other roles related to their professional development outside their home academic department
• The nature of their relationship to the university: GAs are identified by their Graduate Program Directors and approved by the Graduate School. They are full-time students who are awarded, normally as part of their admission into their program, full tuition and stipend funding for all or most of the time required to complete their degree and are eligible for subsidized student health insurance per the Graduate School’s insurance subsidy policy.
• GAs are employed on an on-going basis, either 10-months or 12-months per year, throughout their enrollment in a graduate degree program, subject to continuing academic eligibility and other factors.
• GAs must retain full-time enrollment and are expected to devote an average of 20 hours per week to their assistantship responsibilities. Graduate Assistants may be assigned and compensated for more than 20 hours with approval of the Graduate Dean but may not be assigned more than 28 hours of work that is not directly related to their academic program.

Graduate Student Employees

Graduate students who are employed by the University but whose employment or relationship to the university does not meet the definition of a Graduate Assistant as defined in the Graduate Assistant Policy are classified as either a Graduate Student Employee (GSE) – Monthly or Graduate Student Employee (GSE) – Bi-Weekly. The exempt (monthly) or non-exempt (bi-weekly) distinction is based solely on the primary work duties assigned to the graduate student, as further explained below. GSEs may be assigned up to 29 hours of work per week in total. Additional hours beyond that must be approved by the GPD and the Graduate Dean.

Graduate Student Employee (GSE) – Monthly

A non-GA graduate student performing professional services utilizing knowledge or experience beyond the experience of an undergraduate and whose primary duties are teaching or research, as defined by the US Department of Labor. Based on the duties performed, GSE – Monthly employees are classified as exempt employees in the performance of work duties for wage and hour purposes. Examples of exempt GSE assignments include the following.

• A graduate student who is employed as teacher of record for a single course
• A graduate student who is employed to conduct research under the direction of a faculty member

In many cases, the work performed by GSE monthly employees (exempt professional work) may be very similar or even identical in nature to work being performed by GA’s. However, a Graduate Assistantship is not awarded to every graduate student performing professional exempt services at the university.

Graduate Student Employee (GSE) – Bi-Weekly

A graduate student performing non-exempt work as defined by the US Department of Labor.  Examples of non-exempt GSE assignments include assisting with the professional or administrative functions of the university.

Baylor University is a member of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). Baylor abides by a CGS Resolution, “Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellow, Trainees and Assistants,” that concerns the conditions surrounding the acceptance of offers of certain kinds of graduate student financial assistance, namely, scholarships, fellowships, traineeships, and assistantships. The general spirit of the Resolution is that students should have an opportunity to consider more than one offer and should have until April 15 to do so, that institutions and students should be able to view acceptances in force after April 15 as binding, that everyone should know what the rules are, and that an offer by the institution and its acceptance by the student constitute an agreement which both expect to honor.  The Resolution acknowledges that students, after having accepted an offer, may change their minds and withdraw that acceptance. The intent of the Resolution is to provide a uniform and widely acceptable framework for so doing, one that provides protection for both student and institution. Full text of the Resolution can be viewed at www.cgsnet.org/pdf/resolution.pdf. The April 15 date applies to fall applications submitted by the Graduate School’s posted deadline.