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The Graduate School at the University of Missouri–Columbia (Mizzou)

Types of Graduate Assistantships

Official Graduate Catalog Entry: To the Index

Teaching assistantships and research assistantships are the most common, but other types are available. See below for details.

Teaching Assistantships

A teaching assistantship in an academic program provides a stipend to a student who is typically required to spend 10-20 hours per week (.25 to .50 FTE) during the academic year assisting in the teaching program of an academic program.

Duties and Responsibilities

  • The teaching assistant is expected to continue working toward the advanced degree while being a teaching assistant.
  • The University requires all graduate teaching assistants who do not speak English as their native language to participate in the Orientation for New International Teaching Assistants, be evaluated by the International Teaching Assistant Program and be recommended as ready for teaching at the level of instruction required for the teaching assignment.
  • The Graduate Faculty Senate recommends that all academic programs require graduate teaching assistants to participate in the Graduate Assistant Teaching Orientation.
  • Graduate assistants may be expected to provide their academic adviser with a written report of their academic progress at the conclusion of the period for which the teaching assistantship is awarded.

Academic Freedom of Graduate Teaching Assistants

The academic freedom of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) is not necessarily coextensive with that of faculty. GTAs are engaged in supervised teaching or instruction activities. Supervisors are responsible for defining the nature, scope and manner of instruction to be used for each course.

Supervisors should communicate the extent to which GTAs have discretion to introduce additional material. Graduate teaching assistants should follow the instructions of the supervisor. Graduate teaching assistants may not be penalized for expressing their own views on matters within the scope of the course, provided they adequately represent these views as their own.

In interpreting teaching evaluations, supervisors shall make every effort to distinguish legitimate critiques of the course from negative evaluations due to

  • prejudice against the GTA on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin or other protected status
  • disagreement with viewpoints expressed by the GTA or by students in the class.

Compensation

Because of the potential for the exploitation of graduate students, any assignment of responsibilities, such as teaching a course, must be associated with fair and reasonable compensation. This precludes a graduate student from "volunteering" for any extensive service commitments to the academic programs without an appropriate stipend.

Academic programs may differentiate graduate teaching assistantship stipends by graduate student status (master's-level, doctoral-level, first-year or experienced) or by number of hours of work required by the assistantship. Within academic programs and within each level of differentiation, stipends should generally be equivalent. Guidelines used to determine stipend levels should be available to students through the academic program or graduate committee chair.

Research Assistantships

A research assistantship in an academic program is provided to a student from an external grant or academic program or University funds to enable a student to work toward the advanced degree while performing grant-related or University-funded tasks.

Students receiving research assistantships may be expected to provide their academic adviser with a written report of their academic progress at the conclusion of the period for which the research assistantship is awarded.

Academic programs shall decide whether the work required by the graduate research assistantship is directly related or not related to the student's own program, and it shall not exceed 10-20 hours per week (.25 to .50 FTE).

Other Graduate Assistantships

Other graduate assistantships provide a stipend to a student who is typically required to spend 10-20 hours per week (.25 to .50 FTE) assisting in either academic or nonacademic program activities. These graduate assistantships occur across campus and may involve diverse duties covering a wide variety of functions.

Students receiving such assistantships in non-academic programs may be expected to provide their academic adviser with a written report of their academic progress at the conclusion of the period for which the graduate assistantship is awarded.