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Assistantships

Types of Graduate Assistantships

Graduate assistantships are unlike any other student employment on campus. They provide graduate students with the opportunity to focus their work on their education, furthering both the student’s degree and the mission of their academic department.

Definitions and Job Codes: Below are brief definitions, job codes, and required dates of employment for graduate assistantships. More detailed information regarding definitions and responsibilities may be found in the Graduate Administrative Handbook, Section 4.1.

Graduate Teaching Assistants are appointed in an academic department or program and (a) directly participates in the teaching mission of the unit as instructor of record, lab instructor, recitation leader, lab or lecture assistant, or who has responsibilities in direct support of classroom instruction in the unit, such as setting up labs or working in an instructional computer lab; or (b) provides general support to the teaching mission of the department or program.

  • Job Code: A138, A178, A438, A478
    Employee Class: GRD
    Department ID: From 11#### – 20####
    Dates of Employment: Fall semester (8/16/20XX – 12/31/20XX), Spring semester (1/1/20XX – 5/15/20XX), or Fall and Spring semesters (8/16/20XX – 5/15/20XX); Summer term (5/16/20XX – 6/30/20XX, 7/1/20XX – 8/15/20XX or 5/16/20XX – 8/15/20XX).

Graduate Research Assistants are appointed in an academic department or program and (a) directly participates in the research mission of the unit, or an on-campus or off-campus organization that is affiliated with the unit, in the design of experiments, data collection, analysis, or reporting of research results in the student’s field of study, where research may, but is not required to, contribute directly to the student’s thesis or dissertation; or (b) provides general support to the research mission of the department or program.

  • Job Code: A148, A178, A448, A478
    Employee Class: GRD
    Department ID: From 11#### – 20####
    Dates of Employment: May begin or end at any time during the semester; however, we highly encourage departments to use semester dates instead of the dates on which classes begin and end.

Graduate Extension Assistants are appointed in an academic department or program and (a) directly participates in the extension, outreach and engagement mission of the unit, or an on-campus or off-campus organization that is affiliated with the unit, in the design of projects, data collection, analysis, application, or reporting of results in the student’s field of study, where these activities may, but are not required to, contribute directly to the student’s thesis or dissertation; or (b) supports the extension, outreach and engagement mission of the unit or discipline, including substantive interaction with individuals or groups beyond the university. Note: Use of this job code requires pre-approval BEFORE the appointment can be entered into the NextGen Graduate Appointment System. Please contact the Graduate School gradschool-assistantships@ncsu.edu for more information.

  • Job Code: A428, A438, A448, A478
    Employee Class: GRD
    Department ID: From 11#### – 20####
    Dates of Employment: May begin or end at any time during the semester; however, we highly encourage departments to use semester dates instead of the dates on which classes begin and end.

Graduate Services Assistants are appointed to a position that serves the university outside of an academic department or program’s teaching or research mission.

  • Job Code: A198
    Employee Class: GRD
    Department ID: Unrestricted
    Dates of Employment: May begin or end at any time during the semester; however, we highly encourage departments to use semester dates instead of the dates on which classes begin and end.

Graduate students who are paid on a temporary/hourly basis may not use the titles provided above. Temporary appointees may be referred to as student workers. Contact your Human Resources Information Management (HRIM) Specialist for more information.

Eligibility

  • Admitted into the Graduate School in full graduate standing.
  • Enrolled in the fall and spring semesters.
  • Must be in good academic standing (i.e. 3.000 grade point average or higher).
  • Reference: The Graduate Administrative Handbook, Section 4.1.

Graduate Assistantship Requirements

All graduate assistantship appointments are subject to the following limitations:

The minimum hourly wage for a graduate assistant is the minimum wage for North Carolina, currently at $7.25/hour. The maximum hourly wage for a graduate assistant is $60.00/hour.
Equations for calculating the hourly wage are listed below, sorted by the dollar figure with which you have been provided:
Annualized Rate: annual rate / 52 weeks per year / # hours per week
Biweekly Rate: biweekly rate / 2 weeks per biweekly pay period / # hours per week

International graduate students who are on F-1 and J-1 visas are limited to 20 hours of service per week. This service limit is for all combined appointments across campus. Working more than 20 hours per week may jeopardize the student’s visa status.
U.S. citizens and permanent residents are allowed to work up 29 hours per week, or 0.725 FTE, for all combined appointments across campus. If a student’s appointment(s) meet or exceed 30 hours per week, the student will lose their FICA tax exemption. In rare cases, departments may wish to appoint a student at or above 30 hours per week, or 0.75 FTE. This will require Dean approval which is achieved through the NextGen Graduate Appointment System.

Generally, summer is treated as a “vacation term” for on-campus employment purposes and international students may work more than 20 hours a week if it is not their first or final semester. If summer marks their first or final semester, however, the session is still considered an academic term and they are limited to 20 hours per week.

International graduate students who are graduating must separate from all on-campus employment as of the date of graduation for the respective semester. (Please note for summer graduates, that the graduation date is the last day of exams.) The only exception to this policy is if the student holds a Graduate Teaching Assistantship during the semester in which they are graduating. In this case, the student’s appointment should end as of December 31st for the Fall semester or May 15th for the Spring semester. International Graduate Teaching Assistants are expected to have completed all work by the date of graduation; therefore, they should not perform any work after the date of graduation but are compensated for the entire semester, like all other 9-month appointments.
Any F-1 international student who applies for post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) through OIS based on thesis/dissertation defense date, and whose I-20 is shortened to reflect that defense date, must end all service and payments for any and all campus appointments effective that defense date; the appointment will have to be shortened to reflect the I-20 end date in order to comply with visa and payment regulations. For more information, please contact OIS.
Effective Fall 2023: (U.S. citizens and permanent residents) are allowed to work through December 31st if they are graduating in the Fall semester. They are allowed to work through May 15th if they are graduating in Spring semester. The position of the Graduate School is that graduate assistantships are available only to graduate students who are in good academic standing and actively pursuing graduate degree programs. Once a student completes all degree requirements and paperwork, they are no longer eligible for assistantship support in the next term. This includes students who complete their degree requirements in the middle of a given term, then they are not eligible for assistantship support in the following term.

The IRS provides a special exemption for students that work on campus commonly known as the student exemption to FICA tax. It states that FICA (Social Security & Medicare) taxes do not apply to service performed by students employed by a school, college or university where the student is pursuing a course of study. NC State University interprets this regulation to mean that a student must work less than 30 hours per week and be enrolled at least half time (3 hours for graduate students during fall and spring semesters/1 hour during summer). If students do not meet BOTH criteria, Social Security and Medicare taxes will be withheld from their paycheck.

The position of the Graduate School is that any graduate student holding a graduate research, teaching, or extension assistantship requiring 20 hours of work per week or more (i.e. half-time or greater) must, as a condition of such assistantship, maintain his/her status as a full-time student, and therefore, should not be otherwise employed. The reason for this position is to encourage students to work on their degrees rather than part-time jobs and to ensure that additional employment is approved by the student’s department. (Ref: Graduate Handbook 4.1 Assistantships, Fellowships, Traineeships and Grants)

International Graduate Assistants

International graduate students who are appointed on a graduate assistantship must meet with the Foreign National Taxation Office to complete a tax assessment. For more information regarding payroll and taxation for foreign nationals, please see the New Foreign National Employment website. Students who are on a J-1 visa must also meet with OIS to gain written employment authorization from their J-1 program sponsor. More information may be found at the OIS On Campus Employment for Current Students website.

Miscellaneous

  • Processing Graduate Assistantships: All graduate assistantships are processed through the NextGen Graduate Appointment system. This is a completely paperless hiring process that can be customized for every college and department. Find detailed information and manuals on the NextGen tab on your left hand navigation.
  • Document Retention Policy for the Hiring Departments: The Graduate School houses each student’s official employment record; therefore, our office should have a copy of the necessary documentation for each employment action on file in our electronic filing system. Departments should follow the same retention policy for graduate appointments as the one set in place by NC State’s Human Resources Department for temporary appointments; records should be retained within the hiring department for 5 years after separation.
  • Calculating Annualized & Biweekly Pay Rates: There are several methods to calculate annualized and biweekly pay rates, depending on what salary figure you are provided with. The following equations show how to calculate the annualized pay rate. They are sorted by the figure with which you have been provided.
    • Monthly Salary: monthly salary X 12 months
    • Biweekly Salary: biweekly salary X 26 biweekly pay periods
    • Hourly Rate: hourly rate X # hours per week X 52 weeks per year
    • Fixed Rate: if you are provided with a fixed rate, use the GA Stipend Calculator. The following equations show how to calculate the biweekly pay rate. They are sorted by the figure with which you have been provided.
    • Annualized Rate: annualized rate / 26 biweekly pay periods
    • Fixed Rate: if you are provided with a fixed rate, use the Biweekly Calculator

Links

Visit the Graduate School Form page for more forms and documents related to student funding.

Useful Queries

  • HR>Reporting Tools>Query Manager>Reporting
  • GRAD_ACTIVE_ASSIGNMENTS – Pulls all currently active graduate appointments.
  • GRAD_ACTIVE_BASIC_DISTR_DEPT – Same as above but includes distribution by department.
  • GRAD_ACTIVE_BASIC_DISTR_COLL – Same as above but includes distribution by college.
  • GRAD_AUTO_TERM_DATE – Pulls all graduate appointments that have already auto-termed.

Employment Verification

  • To verify graduate assistantship, contact:
    • Email: gradschool-assistantships@ncsu.edu (for current or previous students only.)
    • Fax: 919-515-2873 (Fax request must come with a signed release)

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. The summer is treated as a “vacation term” for on-campus employment purposes and continuing students are permitted to be employed as graduate assistants without enrolling if it is not their first or final semester.

The hiring department should notify the graduate assistant in writing, describing the reasons for the termination, at least two (2) weeks before the date of termination. Graduate assistants who voluntarily resign from their position should provide their hiring department with the same advance notification when possible. Student have the right to discuss their concerns regarding the termination with the hiring department (director of graduate programs or department head if it’s an academic department).

Yes. Domestic students may hold multiple graduate assistantships of up to 29 hours per week, 0.725 FTE across all combined on-campus positions. International students may hold the equivalent of up to 20 hours per week, 0.50 FTE across all combined on-campus positions during the regular fall and spring semesters. If a student consistently works more than 0.725 FTE, they could be considered benefit-eligible and subject to FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes.

Students must have permission from the NC State Graduate School via an approved academic/assistantship reinstatement to hold a graduate assistantship while on either academic warning or probation. Reinstatement requests must be submitted by the academic program in a timely manner and approved prior to Census Date. If this does not happen, the graduate assistantship must be terminated.

Students must be enrolled for the semester in which the work will be performed before they can be successfully hired into the NextGen Graduate Appointment system. They can be hired up to ninety (90) days prior to the effective start date of the appointment.

To be eligible for a graduate assistantship, a student must be fully admitted into a graduate degree program at NC State University, in good academic standing. A graduate student is not eligible for appointment to an assistantship or fellowship while on provisional status.