The responsibilities of graduate assistantships and the performance evaluation method should be provided in writing to the student by the immediate supervisor at the beginning of the assistantship. An appeal process is available for students in graduate assistantships who assert they have not been fairly evaluated.
The faculty or staff member who supervises the work of the student holding the graduate assistantship must conduct a written evaluation of the student’s performance at least once a year and provide a copy to the student and to the chair/director of the program or department for placement in the student’s file. This evaluation is separate from the annual review of student academic progress and should take the following criteria into account:
Opportunities for improving performance should be outlined.
The University of Missouri is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution. Evaluation of student performance in a graduate assistantship must not be influenced by race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status. Discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions is also prohibited. In addition, evaluations must not be influenced by a student’s exercise of First Amendment freedoms of expression and association.
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 for each course. Supervisors should communicate the extent to which GTAs have discretion to introduce additional material, and GTAs should follow supervisors’ instructions. GTAs 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.
An assistantship without a fixed term specified in the initial letter of offer may, at the discretion of the academic program, be renewed if the following criteria are met:
If the renewal falls within number of years of funding specified in the initial letter of offer and the five criteria listed above have been met, the assistantship must be renewed.