INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING
GRADUATE
ASSISTANTSHIP
CONTRACTS
PRESENTED BY:
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
Three Types of Contracts
1. Graduate Assistant Contract
Called the Acceptance Agreement &
Appointment Form and Award of Graduate
Scholarship/Fellowship
2. Stand Alone Scholarship
3. Supplemental / One-Time Payment
Graduate Assistant
Contract Eligibility
• Must be fully admitted or have pending admission to a
graduate degree seeking program.
• Must register for a minimum 9 graduate credit hours.
• Must not have over 174 cumulative graduate hours in order to
be funded by graduate school allocated money.
• TA’s must demonstrate proof of English proficiency if their
native language is not English. Acceptable scores: TSE: 50 or
higher; U-Adept: pass or higher; Internet Based TOEFL: 23 or
higher on the speaking portion.
• Contract dates cannot overlap existing contracts.
1. The Graduate Assistant
Contract:
Graduate Assistant Acceptance Agreement
and
Appointment Form
Full or Partial Graduate Assistant Contract:
Full Graduate Assistantship
• Requires 20 work hours
per week.
• Provides 15 hours of
tuition remission
per semester.
Partial Graduate Assistantship
• Requires less than 20 work
hours per week.
• Tuition remission is
prorated based on
the number of hours
worked.
• Must be on form titled
“Partial Graduate
Assistant Contract.”
http://www.uakron.edu/gradsch/facultystaff/gradasstdir.dot
Sample of the Acceptance Agreement portion of the
Graduate Assistant Contract (2 pages)
Sample of the Award of Graduate Scholarship/Fellowship
portion of the Graduate Assistant Contract (2 pages)
The contract should have both the
Acceptance Agreement and Award of Scholarship/Fellowship
completed for a total of 4 pages.
• All contracts must be TYPED
using the Adobe Reader forms.
• The forms are available online at:
http://www.uakron.edu/gradsch/fa
culty-staff/gradasstdir.dot
PART ONE
Filling out the Acceptance Agreement
and Appointment
This portion of the Graduate Assistant Contract provides information on:
• Job title
• Awarding department and funding account
• Stipend award
• Effective dates
• Service hours
Filling out the Acceptance Agreement and Appointment
Step One:
• In the top left-hand corner of
the contract, Check if the
student is a First Appointment
or a Reappointment.
• Be sure to attach completed I-9
for First Appointments.
(Instructions on completion of the I-9 will
appear later in this presentation)
Filling out the Acceptance Agreement and Appointment
Step One, continued:
• Type in the Date, Student’s Name, UA Student ID
Number (EMPLID), and Address.
• It is important to include the UA Student ID Number,
as some students share the same name.
Section I: Check the following information
Select if the student is
Domestic or International.
Select if the student is
admitted to a Master’s or
Doctoral degree seeking
program.
Section I: Check only ONE box for the job title
Teaching Assistant
• Non-native English speaking students must have an acceptable score on TSE, U-Adept,
or speaking portion of the internet based TOEFL. See acceptable scores on the
following slide.
• Native English speaking students must complete the Departmental Assessment.
Instructional Support
• If a student is assigned classroom duties but is not the primary instructor, he/she must
be marked as Instructional Support.
• Instructional Support does not require demonstration of English proficiency.
Research Assistant
• Student participates in research or research-related tasks as directed by faculty
members.
Administrative Assistant
• Cannot be paid from Graduate School accounts: 2-02XXX.
Fellow
• The student does NOT provide work hours as this is a non-service position.
• Newly appointed fellows must complete the DMA Form, but NOT the I-9 Form.
• Stipends for fellowship do not have to meet the Minimum Wage Requirements for pay.
Section I: Acceptable test scores for International Student
working as Teaching Assistant
• TSE: 50 or higher
• U-Adept: “Pass” or higher
• Internet Based TOEFL: 23 or higher on the
speaking portion
Section I: Next, complete the following:
Department where the
student will be working
Department account
or grant account
Leave blank if the student is
working for his/her
academic department.
Section II:
Bi-weekly Stipend and
effective dates
If the student is a
reappointed
graduate
assistant, make
sure that the
contract dates do
not overlap.
Check the current
contract info in
Nolij Web.
Find the
bi-weekly pay
calculator
HERE!
IMPORTANT! This must be the
calculated bi-weekly stipend, NOT the
total stipend award.
Students work an
Academic Year contract
from the beginning of fall
semester through the end
of spring semester,
including exam weeks.
They are NOT required to
work during the winter or
spring break.
Appointees of 12
Month / Other
contracts will work
from the start date to
the end date of the
contract, with the
exception of spring
break.
Section III: Contingencies or Conditions
“The following contingencies or conditions shall be met:”
This is where you specify any special requirements that you may have.
Example:
You need the student to work during break time and they are on an academic
year contract. Specify this contingency and the arrangement to adjust the hours
during the semester to be equivalent to 20 hours per week taking into account
the total hours they will be required to work during the break time.
Section IV: Hours per week
“The appointee shall provide 20 hours service per week under the direction of
the department head/school director or grant director named above, as
assigned and/or specified as follows (not applicable for Fellows):”
You should type a brief description of the student’s duties or indicate duties as
assigned. Change the hours service per week if the student is not working a full,
20 hour contract.
Section V: Agreement to terms and conditions
“The undersigned appointee hereby certifies that all terms and conditions,
including those on the reverse side hereof, have been read and understood.
Further, the appointee hereby agrees to abide by all said terms and conditions.”
All contracts MUST be signed by the Graduate Assistant and Chair of Academic
Department.
•If the student is working in another department, that director must also sign
the contract.
•If the contract is grant funded by a 5-XXXXX or 6-XXXXX account, the
Controller’s Office must sign the contract.
PART TWO
Filling out the Award of
Graduate Scholarship/Fellowship
This portion of the Graduate Assistant Contract provides
information on:
•Tuition charges
•Semesters in which tuition scholarship is awarded
•Policy for repayment of graduate scholarship
Filling out the Award of Scholarship/Fellowship
1.
Fill in the date, student ID, student name, and awarding department.
2.
Check one of the three options for tuition charges.



3.
Tuition is cost-shared
Grant is charged for the tuition
Graduate School is charged for tuition
Check all semesters during which tuition scholarship will be awarded, and
include the effective year.
**If the student is a recipient
of tuition scholarship in the spring,
he/she is automatically entitled
to tuition scholarship in the summer.
Acquiring Signatures
• Students must read, sign, and date all applicable pages of
the graduate contract.
• If the service department and the student’s academic
department are the same, the director/chair should sign to
the right of the student’s signature.
• If the service department and academic department are
different, both directors/chairs must sign the contract.
• After the contract is completed and signed, it is almost
ready to be processed by the Graduate School.
So, you’re almost done filling out
the Graduate Assistant Contract…
The Final Steps:
1. Check the contract and make sure all sections have been completed.
2. If the student has NOT completed the I-9 Form required for contract
processing, attach the COMPLETED form to the contract.
Check the Nolij database to see if the student has already submitted
the I-9 form to the Graduate School.
3. If the student has not yet arrived on campus, the I-9 Form must be
completed within three days of the start date of the contract.
The Final Steps:
4. If the student is being paid from an account code starting 5-XXXXX or
6-XXXXX, forward the contract to the Controller’s Office for review:
SPGA
150 ASB
+6205
5. If the student is being paid from any other account code, NOT starting
with 5 or 6, forward the contract to the Graduate School for processing:
Graduate School
+2101
Some important details about
Graduate Remission
(Tuition Scholarship paid per credit)
• Graduate remission is the payment of the student’s graduate tuition by the
University or a grant.
• If a student works all of spring semester, he or she is automatically entitled
to receive summer remission.
• Summer tuition remission can be used over the combined summer sessions.
• The student must be full time (9 credits for spring / fall – 6 credits for
summer) for any period in which they are being paid a stipend.
• Includes tuition, general service fees, and course fees only.
• Does not include undergraduate or audit tuition, facility, library, technology,
add/drop, late fees or other institution .
Repayment of Graduate Scholarship
Upon Resignation
If the Graduate Scholarship Recipient drops below the minimum required graduate
credits at any time during the contract period, the contract is terminated.
The Graduate Scholarship Recipient is not required to repay any scholarship award if:
– He or she withdraws from ALL classes at the time of resignation
OR
– If it is after the 14th day of the semester and the recipient remains enrolled as
a graduate student and completes the course(s) with a grade of C- or better.
The Graduate Scholarship Recipient is required to repay the scholarship in full if:
– He or she resigns the scholarship on or prior to the 14th day of the semester
OR
– He or she remains enrolled as a graduate student at the time of resignation
and does not complete the course(s) with a grade of C- or better.
Partial Graduate Assistant Contracts
•
•
Students may be offered less than full contracts (20 hours per week). .
Using the Partial Graduate Assistant Contract, indicate the number of work
hours in Section IV of the Acceptance Agreement and Appointment.
•
On the Award of Scholarship/Fellowship form,
complete the prorated tuition remission credit award
based on the following chart:
Work Hours
Graduate
Tuition Credit
1
2-3
4
5
6-7
8
9
10-11
12
13
14-15
16
17
18-19
20
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
Partial Graduate Assistant Contracts
• If a student is offered a partial contract, the
student may work up to 20 hours per week and
earn up to 15 graduate credit hours per
semester.
• For example:
A Polymer student has a 10 hour RA contract
with Polymer Science. He has also been
offered a 10 hour TA contract with Chemistry.
He will qualify for a full 15 credits of graduate
remission between the two departments and
work a total of 20 hours per week.
• All University employment may not exceed a
maximum of 20 hours per week.
Student Employment
• Students cannot work more than 20 hours per week with a graduate
contract. If a student has a half contract (10 hours per week), the student
may also work 10 hours or less per week for Student Employment.
• For example:
A student has a 16 hour graduate assistant contract in Biology. She may work up to 4 hours
per week for student employment, for a total of 20 hours per week.
• Exception: Students with Fellowships may work up to 20 hours a week
for Student Employment.
• Students with Academic Year contracts may work over winter break for
student employment for as many hours as student employment will allow.
Outside Employment
• Students with full contracts (20 hours per week) are required to take a
minimum of 9 graduate credit hours. The student may work a
maximum of 8 hours outside of the university, with written approval
from the department.
• This rule protects the students, as this scenario is equivalent to a 55+
hour work week.
Sexual Harassment
• All students working on campus (does not include nonservice Fellowships) are required to attend the Sexual
Harassment And Other Forms of Discrimination seminar.
• Sign-up for this seminar is available on the Graduate
Assistant Orientation Webpage.
Required Form
for
Processing of
Graduate Assistantship Contract
•I-9 Form
I-9 Forms
• The US Federal Department of Homeland Security requires
I-9 forms be completed for anyone working in the United
States. (Does not apply to Fellowships since the student is
not working).
• http://www.uakron.edu/gradsch/pdf/I9.pdf
• Students are required to complete, sign, and date Section 1
of the I-9 form.
• An employee of the University must review the student’s
documents and complete Section 2.
• It will take two to four weeks after receipt of these
documents for the student to be paid.
Sample I-9 Form and List of Acceptable Documents
I-9 Form
Verification of Documents
• One item from List A is required (typically
a
passport or Permanent Resident Card).
• – OR –
• One item from List B AND one item from List C
(typically a Driver’s License or Zip Card – AND – Social
Security Card or Birth Certificate).
• Driver’s License and a Zip Card are NOT sufficient
without an item from List B.
• Please read the form carefully and refer to the “List of
Acceptable Documents.” The above items are the
most common used.
You have now completed the instructions for filling
out the standard Graduate Assistant Contract.
There are two additional contracts which serve different
purposes:
Stand Alone Scholarship - This contract is awarded to first-year graduate
students ONLY. This is a non- renewable contract. It awards a tuition-only
scholarship, with a maximum of $1,000.00 per fall and spring semester, and
$500.00 for summer.
Supplemental / One-Time Payment – This contract is similar to a
standard contract without the tuition remission. This contract can award one of
two things:
1. Supplemental funding to an existing bi-weekly stipend
2. A one-time payment awarded in a lump sum
2. Stand Alone Scholarship
(First Year Only)
Sample of the Stand Alone Graduate Scholarship (2 pages only)
Stand Alone Scholarship
• For first year students only.
• Provides $1,000 for fall, spring,
and $500 for summer.
• May not be combined with
another assistantship.
• If a partial or full contract is later
offered, the tuition scholarship is
automatically cancelled.
• Fill in all areas of the form and
obtain the appropriate
signatures.
3. Supplemental / One-Time
Payment Contract
Sample of the Supplemental/One-Time Payment Contract
(2 pages only)
Supplemental / One-Time Payment
• Supplemental contract to pay
additional monies to a student already
under contract.
• One-Time payments to pay students
for a one-time assignment.
• Can be in addition to Graduate
Contract or Student Employment.
• May be used to pay a fellowship grant
without tuition remission.
Personnel Action Form (PAF)
Personnel Action Forms (PAF)
• There are two types of PAFs that the Graduate School
processes: Termination & Change
• The PAF request for a termination or change to a
graduate assistant contract must include the following:
• Student’s name and UA ID number
• Details of the change or termination
• Effective dates
• If the student is funded by a 5-XXXXX or 6-XXXXX grant
account, the PAF request should be e-mailed to:
spga_grad@uakron.edu
• If the student is funded by a departmental account, the
PAF request should be e-mailed to: klc@uakron.edu
Contact Us…
• www.uakron.edu/gradsch
• Coordinator: x6310
• Student Services
Counselor: x5858
• Mail code: +2101
•Polsky Building
Room 469