Give Students Real World Opportunities

Take advantage of the chance to provide mentorship and experience to the next generation of student scholars through our Graduate Assistantship program! Get a better sense of the expectations for faculty members and the process for hiring your next graduate assistant.

Requesting a GRA or GTA

All requests for a Graduate Assistant will be handled within the colleges. The Graduate College will allocate funding to the colleges, and college leadership will then use their own processes to determine which faculty will be allowed to hire a Graduate Assistant within their college. 

College deans received their Fiscal Year 2025 (Jul 1, 2024 - Jun 30, 2025) allocations in March 2024.

  • The philosophy used in determining how to distribute funds to support graduate assistantships starts with KSU's "R2" Carnegie classification.  In order to keep our R2 status, we must produce at least 20 research doctorates per year.

    We must also establish a minimum of research expenditures. Therefore, our first priority is to support doctoral education. We computed the ratio for the allocation of the remaining pool by using the last 3 years of research and development (R&D) expenditures, as well as enrollment growth (both percentage growth and headcount growth). Those metrics determined the percentage of the pool each dean received.

    The Graduate College and the deans will review this process as we move into future years to determine if the ratio needs to be updated.

  • You will not need to have your graduate assistantship project "pre-screened" by The Graduate College. However, your department/college may have a process for you to follow.

    You may select and hire the student that best fits your needs, and please keep the following in mind:

    1. The person supervising the graduate student must hold graduate faculty status and that status must remain current throughout the assistantship. 

    2. Students can work up to 20 hours a week (on average) on the assistantship in Fall and Spring, and up to 40 hours a week in Summer.

    3. The student's tasks/duties should not be administrative in nature. These are graduate students and their tasks/duties should reflect that they hold a bachelors degree and are in an advanced academic program.  We would also ask that their tasks/duties be associated with their academic program and/or their future career path.

    4. Supervising a graduate assistantship is similar to a course assignment. There should be planned activities, frequent evaluation check points, and deliverables. 

    5. The faculty supervising the graduate student should have an open line of communication with the student, including an initial meeting to lay out expectations, and frequent opportunities to discuss progress.

  • You should consider the Graduate Professional Assistantship (GPA) category.

    In a Graduate Professional Assistantship (GPA) position:

    1. The supervisor should be someone in the department that has supervisory responsibilities as part of their duties. 

    2. The position and duties for the student should relate to the student's academic program and their professional goals.

    3. Graduate students, serving as a GPA, may work up to 20 hours a week on the assistantship and may not be employed in another campus position simultaneously. 

    4. The assistantship should be structured to include: planned activities, frequent evaluation check points, and deliverables.

    5. Graduate assistantships run concurrent with the academic calendar with start and end dates matching the first day of classes and day grades are due. 

    6. GPA positions are paid hourly and require the student to clock in and out each work day. This means the supervisor is charged with verifying and approving time for the student.

    7. Funding for the students stipend pay should come from the department hiring the student.

Faculty Expectations

Please be sure you understand the differences between the roles of a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) and a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA).

Expectations for supervising a Graduate Assistant are as follows:

  • The Graduate College considers mentoring and instruction an indispensable element of the assistantship experience. Consequently, for faculty to qualify to hire and supervise a GA they must hold full (for GRA or GTA) or associate (for GTA) graduate faculty status.

    Apply for or renew graduate faculty.
  • The person requesting to hire and supervise a GA must agree to submit an evaluation at the end of each semester.
  • To ensure clear communication and to protect all parties involved, the GA supervisor must provide his/her GA with pertinent objective and subjective work standards prior to signing the contract with the student.

  • Supervisors should be mindful of the expectation that GA duties should average the number of hours listed on the contract per week.

    It is expected that some weeks may entail additional time, but if this is the case other weeks should entail lighter workloads. If a GA鈥檚 duties significantly exceed (or fall short of) the expected time commitment, then assignments should be adjusted by mutual agreement between the GA and the supervisor.

    It is the supervisor鈥檚 responsibility to adjust the various demands on GA time to keep total effort within expectations.

    • To communicate the specific job description to the graduate assistant by reviewing the contract with the student before each party signs
    • To make expectations clear to the student, including how frequently they should meet and how best to set up meetings
    • To make him/herself available to provide advice and guidance to the student
    • To endeavor to make the work of the graduate assistant a worthwhile learning experience that is connected
    • To the student鈥檚 discipline
    • To monitor the effectiveness of the assistantship
    • To keep in regular contact and communication with the graduate assistant as the semester moves forward
    • To complete the required end of semester evaluation
  • When there is research collaboration between student and advisor, frank and open discussion of the division of credit and criteria for authorship should occur as early as possible.

Selecting Your Student

Once you have been awarded a graduate assistantship, as the supervisor, you are responsible for selecting your graduate student. 
There are several ways you can do this, review the options below.

  • The main route to finding an appropriate student for your research project should be by networking with graduate students and faculty within the graduate program for which you are affiliated. If the needed skill set for your research project crosses disciplines you should reach out to the Graduate Program Director for the graduate program that "fits" with the skill set you are seeking.

    Graduate Program Directors should have a sense of their student's abilities and can assist in matching student's with faculty. 

  • The Graduate College maintains a file of Graduate Assistantship Applications received from students. You may contact The Graduate College to request access (opt-in) to the secure file to browse through the submitted applications.

    Email James Kohlmiller to request access.

  • The Graduate College also maintains the  

    The Graduate Research Assistant Job Board allows a faculty member to post their position. Students can then show interest by sending required documents (resume, CV, transcripts, statement, etc) to the faculty member.

    Faculty that desire to post to the Graduate Research Assistant Job Board can download and submit the Graduate Assistant Job Posting form. 

Supervisors should identify and interview 2-3 students, talking with them about the specific duties and expectations, discussing availability and schedules, and looking for commitment, skill sets, and work ethic traits.

PLEASE NOTE: Students must meet eligibility criteria to serve as a GA. View the student eligibility information.