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This serves as a guiding document for all ³ÉÈËAVÊÓƵ, Silverfield College of Education and Human Services (SCOEHS) Graduate Assistants (GAs). The processes contained within shall be communicated annually to all GAs and faculty mentors during GA Orientation the week prior to the beginning of classes for the Fall semester. GAs include graduate administrative assistants (GAAs) who assist with academic program duties, graduate research assistants (GRAs), and graduate teaching assistants (GTA)s.

Each SCHOES Graduate Assistant shall report to the Associate Dean for Research, External Funding, and Faculty Development (ADR). It is required that GAs begin each academic year (no later than the first day of the Fall semester) with a series of goals and objectives for the succeeding 9 months. Additionally, GAAs will report to program coordinators, GTAs will report to department chairs (or assistant chair at the discretion of the chair), and GRAs will report to their faculty mentor.

A breakdown of the responsibilities for each individual follows:

• ADR, along with the graduate school and Associate Director of Operations, is responsible for evaluation, annual contracts, administrative tasks, dispute resolution, and any additional issue which is not resolved by the Faculty Mentor, Department Chair, or Program Coordinator.
• Faculty Mentor is responsible for working with the GRA on research projects and mentoring the student toward desired goals and outcomes shard by the student and faculty member.
• Department Chair (or their delegate) is responsible for assigning the GTA a course and overseeing course quality as part of their role in overseeing teaching and coursework in their department. GTAs may also have a faculty teaching mentor assigned to them at the discretion of the Chair for their course.
• Program Coordinator is responsible for determining administrative tasks for any GAA assigned to their program.

GA Workload and Evaluation

Workload

SCOEHS GAs have 9-month, renewable positions that begin one week prior to fall classes beginning and cease the last semester of spring classes barring failure of the GA to meet their required job functions. GAs can be on a 50% (20 hours per week), 25% (10 hours per week), or 12.5% (5 hour per week assignment). Waiver percentages are determined by the graduate school and posted on the GA information webpage.

Review a listing of GA policies

Research and Administrative Functions for GRAs and GAAs

For GAAs and GRAs they will meet with their faculty advisor or program advisor once during the interview process to develop initial goals and a mentoring plan and again at the beginning of the semester to finalize their plan. The research and administrative plan template is available upon request and will be provided for candidates that complete the first round GRA/GAA interview.

As it relates to research support, the primary function of the GRA is to assist his or her Faculty Mentor with the mentor's active line of scholarship or a collaborative line of research between the Faculty Mentor and GRA.

Teaching Procedures

GTAs assigned teaching duties will be expected to hold class during all assigned periods. Should a GTA be absent due to illness or professional development and need to miss class, the GTA should notify the appropriate program coordinator as far in advance of the absence as possible so that a substitute may be arranged if necessary. In the event a substitute will not be arranged and the class will be canceled, the GTA should post an announcement through the course's CANVAS site as far in advance as possible. Additionally, the GTA should email the Department Chair with a notice that the class will not be held.

GTAs assigned to teach courses will be expected to follow all University and College teaching policies in their courses. GTAs must receive approval of their course syllabus from their Department Chair prior to the beginning of each course.

Evaluation Procedures

SCOEHS faculty, department chairs, or program directors who mentor a graduate assistant will conduct a semi-annual evaluation, assessing the student's communication, professionalism, time management, ability to take feedback and quality of work relevant to their assignment. These evaluations shall occur at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters and use the approved SCOEHS semi-annual evaluation form. Copies of this evaluation should be signed by the student and the faculty mentor/program director/department chair, and given to each GA as well as a copy to the ADR.

GAs who disagree with their evaluation may appeal it to his or her supervisor/evaluator. The appeal process is as follows:

1. Student delivers a written appeal to his or her evaluator;
2. The evaluator may decide whether or not to change the evaluation;
3. The student may then appeal to the ADR who shall make the final determination regarding the evaluation by either:
   1. Uphold original evaluation, or
   2. Not support the original or modified evaluation

GA Student Policies

Course Enrollment Requirements

All GAs must register for a minimum of 12 credits per year, including 6 credits each in the Fall and Spring semesters, unless a waiver is obtained per Graduate School policy. Student GPA Requirements In order to maintain their assistantship, all SCOEHS Graduate Assistants must maintain a minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA throughout their appointment. Should the student's GPA fall below a 3.0 at the end of a semester, the student may not be renewed in the GA position for the following semester.

GA Recruitment Processes

Identification of Positions and Applicants

The ADR will be responsible for allocation of GAs between the GAA, GRA, and GTA categories depending on availability. Returning students with acceptable evaluations will be renewed unless there is a compelling reason not to or if the student wishes not to be renewed. Per University policy, no employee of the University is eligible for a GA position. Further, GAs in SCOEHS may not hold another student GA position for more than 9.5 hours in another unit.

GAA Applications

GAA candidates will apply through a Qualtrics link on the main SCOEHS GA webpage. Program Directors assigned a GAA will be responsible for reviewing applications and selecting a GAA. Upon selecting the GAA they will notify the ADR and Assoc Director of Operations. GAAs and program directors will develop a list of goals and outcomes from the experience prior to the beginning of the semester and communicate this to the ADR. These goals will be used for evaluation.

GTA Applications and Requirements

GTA candidates will apply through a Qualtrics link on the main SCOEHS GA webpage. Only doctoral students in their second year of the program or further on are eligible to serve as GTAs. Department Chairs (or delegate) will be responsible for reviewing applications and selecting GTAs for appropriate courses. Upon selecting the GTA they will notify the ADR and Associate Director of Operations. GTAs and Department Chairs (or their delegates) will develop a list of goals and outcomes commensurate to their teaching assignment. These goals and outcomes will be used for evaluation.

GRA Applications

GRA candidates will apply through a Qualtrics link on the main SCOEHS GA webpage. As part of this application GRAs will describe their research interests and identify potential faculty mentors or projects they would like to work on.

The ADR reviews the applicant pool and selects applicants for a second-round interview with a faculty mentor as determined from their initial application. Faculty mentors may accept or decline the interview, and if an interview is declined, the ADR will identify a different mentor for that candidate to interview with. As part of the interview, the faculty mentor and candidate will develop a GRA collaboration plan which consists of:

1. GRA tasks proposed for the project
2. Outcomes of the proposed project for the GRA and faculty (e.g., conferences, manuscripts)
3. Faculty mentoring plan for the GRA The ADR will make final decisions on hiring based on the strength of the GRA collaboration plan and the number of hours requested. The ADR may also take into account the total GRA portfolio in terms of program representation for GRA selection.