Gain Invaluable Professional Experience

Graduate assistantships at 最色导航 offer students an exceptional way to deepen their academic experience while gaining valuable professional skills. As a graduate assistant, you鈥檒l have the opportunity to work alongside faculty on meaningful projects, contribute to your field, and build your resume through hands-on experience. These roles not only help with financial support but also provide networking opportunities that can propel your career forward. Whether your interests lie in research, teaching, or administrative work, KSU鈥檚 assistantships cater to a wide array of disciplines and aspirations. Consider a graduate assistantship to enhance your education, earn while you learn, and make a lasting impact in your field.

Find a Graduate Assistantship Position

There are several options for finding a Graduate Assistantship position.  
You may use any or all of these options.

    • Your Graduate Program Director may be able to match you with faculty within the program that are seeking a graduate student for their research project.

    • Faculty and Program Directors may not know which faculty have an approved research project until late in the Spring semester for the upcoming academic year.

    • Individual faculty members are responsible for selecting their GA. They determine the skills and knowledge needed by a graduate student to best fit the research they will be conducting.

    • The vast majority of graduate programs at KSU do NOT have guaranteed funded positions. Only the MS in Integrative Biology, MS in Chemical Sciences, and the Ph.D. in Data Science and Analytics fund their accepted students. The Ph.D. in International Conflict Management funds a selected number of students.
    • Faculty members that have not identified a graduate student may post their position to the .

    • Not all positions are posted to the Graduate Job Board, only position in which the faculty member has not been able to identify a student through the route in item #1 will post their positions.

    • On average, about 10% of positions get posted to the Graduate Job Board.

    • If you see a position for which you feel you meet the faculty members expectations, you may submit the required documents to the faculty member listed on the posting. The faculty member will review the materials and select a few for an interview.

    • You use your KSU NetID and password to login to the Graduate Job Board. Once logged in you select the semester and then review the postings.
    • Submitted applications are kept in a secure folder. Faculty members may opt in to review student applications on a semester by semester basis.

    • Faculty members may select applications to review. The faculty member will contact any students they choose to interview.

    • Submitting an application does not guarantee selection for an interview or placement in a graduate assistantship position.

    • Application for a Graduate Assistantship

Types of Assistantships

最色导航 has three main categories of graduate assistantships: Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA), Graduate Research Assistant (GRA), and Graduate Professional Assistant (GPA).  
Below are descriptions of each.

 

  • Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) refers to graduate assistantships with a primary job duty of instruction. KSU has two categories of GTAs - Teacher of Record and Teaching Assistant.

    • Teacher of Record (TOR) are the primary instructors for an undergraduate course. They may teach a maximum of 6 credits each semester. Teacher of Record GTAs are responsible for instruction and management of their courses.  Graduate student TORs will have a faculty mentor in the discipline.

    • Teaching Assistant (TA) TAs assist faculty members with teaching. GTA Teaching Assistant responsibilities vary greatly and may include, but are not limited to:

      • Teaching a small section of a course
      • Holding office hours and meeting with students
      • Assisting with the grading of homework, exams, and/ or written assignments
      • Administering tests or exams
      • Assisting a faculty instructor with large lecture classes by teaching students in laboratory or discussion sessions

  • Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) refers to graduate assistantships that work on campus in research-related positions. These research positions primarily exist in academic departments as well as some research centers and institutes. GRAs gain the experience of working alongside faculty members on cutting edge research. GRAs are generally funded through competitive faculty grants and contracts.

    GRA responsibilities vary greatly and may include, but are not limited to: 

    • Collecting, coding, and/or analyzing data
    • Conducting literature reviews or library research
    • Preparing materials for submission to funding agencies and foundations
    • Writing reports
    • Preparing materials for IRB review

    Research assistants work under the supervision of an individual faculty member or center director. Research assistants should not be engaged in work unrelated to their academic program or that does not further their educational experience and objectives. 

  • Graduate Professional Assistants (GPA) provide an opportunity for graduate students to be assigned work that is relevant to their graduate program and the professional and scholarly goals of the student.  The graduate professional assistantship should provide the opportunity for the student to use knowledge of their academic field while enhancing skills relevant to the student's professional goals. The ideal graduate professional assistantship will provide the student with a broader and deeper understanding of work in their assigned site, under the supervision of a mentor.

    The following guidelines should be used when determining the work assignments and workload for assistantships:

    1. Assistantships best serve the student, the hiring unit, and the student鈥檚 academic department when they are used as an integral component of the graduate education experience.
       
    2. Assistantships should enhance the educational experience by exposing the student to the professional activities of their disciplines, involving them in university activities related to their academic and professional interests, and affording them the opportunity to work closely with faculty and professionals.
       
    3. Assistantships should provide high quality support for the academic mission of the University.

Benefits of an Assistantship

There are two main benefits to a Graduate Assistantship (GA):  a stipend paid in exchange for the work performed and a tuition waiver benefit.
These are each described below.

  • Graduate Assistants will receive a stipend. All Graduate Assistantship appointments must meet the minimum stipend amount set by The Graduate College.

    Graduate Assistantship stipend amounts may vary by department, work expectations, and/or funding source. View the current standard stipend rates    .

    Stipends are paid on the last business day of each month that the student serves as a GA. Stipends are taxed.

  • Graduate Assistants pay a special tuition rate of $25 per semester as mandated by BOR policy. The maximum number of hours of tuition to be waived each semester is included on the contract that the student and hiring faculty member sign.

    Cost of Attendance
    • Graduate Assistants must carry a minimum of 3 graduate credit hours for each semester they serve as a graduate asssistant. Audited or undergraduate courses will not be counted toward the 3 credit minimum requirement.

    • Failure to remain in 3 graduate credit hours will result in the termination of the Graduate Assistantship contract. An overload petition must be approved by the department chair and Graduate Dean for credit loads in excess of 12 credit hours.

  • Out-of-state graduate students who become Graduate Assistants will have the out-of-state tuition waived while under GA contract. It should be noted, however, that out-of-state tuition is waived only during the time you hold your assistantship. Hence, if you are no longer a GA, you will be considered an out-of-state student (and pay out-of-state tuition), unless you have applied for and received Georgia residency from the  officer. 

    For more information on tuition, please view .

  • Please note that GAs in graduate programs that are subject to differential tuition will only receive a reduction in their tuition equal to the in-state standard state tuition rate for the number of credit hours indicated on the contract.
    • GAs cannot exceed 24 waived course credits in an academic year (Fall, Spring, Summer in that order).

    • GAs can have a maximum number of hours waived as are required for the degree as stated in the Graduate Catalog. For example, if the degree program requires 36 hours to complete, the student may not have more than 36 hours of graduate tuition waived while in that degree program at KSU. Prerequisite and foundational courses that are not part of the degree will not be covered. Only graduate courses that meet the stated requirements for the degree will be covered by the tuition waiver.
    • Tuition for graduate credit hours in excess of the number of credits indicated on the contract for each semester.

    • The cost of any undergraduate credits taken by the GA.

    • The cost of health insurance and any/all other fees.

    • Graduate student study abroad: If a graduate student chooses a study abroad course, the tuition waiver will cover only the usual KSU graduate tuition for courses in the student鈥檚 graduate program and will not cover other fees or costs, such as travel and lodging, related to study abroad.

    • Tuition and fees for audited courses: Courses taken on an audit basis do not count toward meeting the minimum course load. If a graduate student chooses to audit a course or to change registration from credit to audit on a course, then the costs of that course is the student鈥檚 responsibility. If the change is not caught until the end of the semester, the tuition waiver will be adjusted and the balance for the audited course will be the student鈥檚 responsibility.

    • Courses not required by the student鈥檚 degree/plan of study, with the exception of the GRAD 9001 course at the graduate program directors request.

Graduate Assistantship Eligibility

Eligibility to Apply

In order to be eligible to apply for a Graduate Assistantship (GA), the following requirements must be met:

  • The student must have a baccalaureate degree.
  • The student must have been fully admitted as a degree-seeking student into a master鈥檚 or doctoral degree program.  Conditional, probationary, or pending acceptance statuses are not eligible.  Students admitted to a certificate program are not eligible.
  • New students may not begin their GA before their first semester of matriculation.
  • The student must have a minimum KSU institutional graduate GPA of 3.00.  If the student has not yet established a KSU graduate GPA, the student鈥檚 GPA from their most recently earned degree will be used and must meet the minimum 3.00. 
  • The student must be lawfully present and eligible to work in the United States.
  • The student cannot exceed 24 waived course credits in an academic year.
  • Returning GAs must have received a satisfactory faculty evaluation in previous assignments and must have completed the student evaluation of all of their previous assignments.
  • The student must be enrolled in the semester in which they are serving as a Graduate Assistant. 

Graduate Teaching Assistant

If the GA will be a Graduate Teaching Assistant - Teacher of Record (GTA-TOR), the following additional requirements must be met:

  1. Have a Master鈥檚 in the teaching discipline or 18 graduate semesters hours in their graduate program.

  2. Submit both a CV and transcript to the Graduate College along with the hiring paperwork.

  3. Completed GRAD 9001 (dates/times to be determined - see schedule of credit courses) or approved alternative.

  4. Complete the Buckley Form and submit it to the Registrar separately.

Assistantship Hiring Process

Once the student has been selected for hiring by the supervising faculty member, the graduate student's responsibilities in the hiring process are in the follow steps:

  • Discuss the Contract with the hiring faculty member before signing. The student should make sure they understand:

    1. what the project entails;
    2. what are the expectations, tasks, and duties;
    3. what are the learning objectives;
    4. how often they will meet with the faculty member; and
    5. how they will be assessed/evaluated.
  • Confirm the start and end dates on the Contract as well as the number of hours required.
  • Once you have signed the Contract, the faculty member will also sign and then submit the paperwork to The Graduate College. It is the faculty member's responsibility to submit the hiring paperwork, not the student.

  • Sam Garbe, Human Resources鈥� Program Manager for Student Employment, will reach out to you with further instructions about the onboarding process when he receives your hiring paperwork from the Graduate College.

    If you have worked for KSU previously and are unsure if you need to complete this process again, he can be reached at sgarbe@kennesaw.edu or 470-578-3948. Please note that Graduate Assistants are required to attend HR onboarding, and cannot be paid until this final step has been completed. 

  • Make sure your tuition waiver is applied before the payment deadline for the semester by checking your student account.

  • All GAs are charged for the mandatory Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). You will receive information about how to request a waiver of the SHIP if you have your own qualifying health insurance.

    You must follow up with the waiver process to ensure that the charge is waived from your student account.  The waiver process occurs every semester regardless if your contract is for the semester or for the academic year.

  • For steps 4, 5, and 6 above, you will receive an email once your contract has been processed that indicates the timing on these steps.

PLEASE NOTE: The graduate student is NOT responsible for completing the hiring paperwork.  This is the responsibility of the hiring faculty member, and there are no paid benefits (sick time, vacation days, medical/dental, etc.) for Graduate Assistants.