An assistantship is a financial award to a graduate student for part-time work in teaching or research while pursuing study toward an advanced degree. The primary goal of an assistantship is to assist students in strengthening and successfully completing their academic program.

Graduate Assistant (GA)/Graduate Assistant Special (GASpec): one whose duties are related to instruction, but who is not directly involved in producing student credit hours.

Teaching Associate (TAssoc): an advanced teaching assistant who holds the master’s degree (or equivalent) and who directly produces student credit hours. Students who have been advanced to doctoral candidacy may be approved, as Teaching Associates, to teach courses offered for graduate credit through submission by the graduate unit of an Approval for Graduate Instruction form to the OGS.

Research Assistant (RA): assists in research work that is relevant to the assistant’s thesis, dissertation or other requirement for a graduate degree.

Project Assistant (PA): performs work required by a research grant, contract or special project that is not necessarily directly related to degree requirements. Employment associated with administrative/office support should not be classified as a project assistantship.

1. Have been formally admitted to a graduate program at the University of New Mexico.
2. Be currently enrolled at the University of New Mexico for a minimum of 6 hours of course work, thesis or dissertation hours which count towards the graduate degree. Courses taken for AUDIT are not accepted as part of the minimum hours.
3. Maintain a 3.0 grade point average in graduate course work each semester.
4. Students on Type 1 or Type 2 probation are ineligible to hold an assistantship. Students on Type 3 probation may provisionally hold an assistantship for one semester (see Academic Probation and Consequences).
5. Be within the time limit for completion of the degree sought.

• Master’s Students: All work used to meet degree requirements for a master’s degree, including transfer credit, must be completed within a seven-year period immediately preceding the granting of the degree.
• Doctoral Students: Doctoral candidates have five (5) calendar years from the semester in which they pass their doctoral comprehensive examination to complete the degree requirements.

A student who desires to hold an assistantship appointment under conditions different from those described above should address a petition to the Dean of Graduate Studies. The petition should include a detailed explanation of what is requested, what the exceptional circumstances are, and why a waiver of policy is desirable from the point of view of progress toward his or her degree. The petition will be reviewed by the chairperson/administrator or principal investigator as well as the graduate director who may either deny the petition or recommend approval to the Dean of Graduate Studies. The Dean of Graduate Studies shall make the final decision.

Assistantship salaries are based on minimum salary guidelines. Teaching Assistants (TA) and Graduate Assistants (GA) are funded under the basic allocation made to the department, those classified as “Special” are funded from other sources (i.e., temporary part-time or non-Instruction & General Budget {I&G}).

• TAs/TA Spec and GAs/TA Spec: Typically, differential stipends are received by pre-master’s and postmaster’s assistants. Stipends are paid in equal monthly installments. Any work performed outside of the approved assignments, i.e., extra compensation, must have prior approval from the OGS. TAs/Spec and GAs/Spec are required to work within their contract dates, which begins one week before the start date of each semester and ends on the last day of the semester. Pay may be adjusted if assistants do not meet their contractual obligations.
• TAssoc: Salary is based upon stipend ranges established for temporary part-time faculty. Stipends are paid in equal monthly installments.
• RAs: Salary is determined by the principal investigator based upon a graduate unit’s RA salary guidelines or upon the funding agency’s guidelines; these guidelines are on file in the OGS. Stipends are paid on a monthly basis for actual number of days worked.
• PAs: Salary is determined by the principal investigator based upon a graduate unit’s PA salary guidelines; these guidelines are on file in the OGS. The rate is at least equal to the federal minimum wage and is paid via the bi-weekly student payroll on an hourly basis.

Out-of-state students awarded TAs, TAssocs, GAs, RAs and PAs are eligible for the resident tuition rate provided the FTE is 25% or higher and they hold the assistantship for at least one-half of the semester. Normally assistantships are held for the full semester and the waiver of the non-resident portion of tuition is available only if the start date of the assistantship is before October 15 for Fall, or March 15 for Spring. The tuition waiver may only be used for courses approved by the graduate program in which the student is currently enrolled.

TAs and GAs classified as “Regular” are eligible for a non-transferable tuition waiver of up to 12 hours per semester and 3 hours during the summer session when the FTE is 50% (prorated for other FTEs). The University of New Mexico considers this tuition waiver as a scholarship and not as payment for services rendered. Unused hours of waived tuition do not automatically carry over to future semesters. Students should consult their academic advisors to determine the relevant policies.

TAs and GAs classified as “Special” are not funded under the basic allocation made to the department and may or may not carry a tuition waiver. If a tuition waiver is granted, the same tuition waiver policy for TAs and GAs classified as “Regular” applies.

TAssocs may, at the discretion of the hiring unit, receive a tuition waiver. If a tuition waiver is granted the same tuition waiver policy for TAs and GAs classified as “Regular” applies.

The University of New Mexico provides full payment of the assistantship recipient’s insurance coverage premium through the Student Health Center, on a semester-by-semester basis, provided the FTE is 25% or higher and all other eligibility criteria to hold the assistantship is met. The start date of the assistantship must be on or before October 15 for Fall, March 15 for Spring or June 15 for Summer, in order to receive health insurance for that semester.

NOTE: If more than one contract is issued and the student accepts coverage on one and declines on the other the system defaults to “yes” on all coverage.

For more detailed information on the graduate insurance policy click here.
 

During the Fall and Spring semesters the typical workload for assistantships is 20 hours per week (.50 FTE). A student may not be appointed for more than 30 hours per week or 75% FTE as a TA/TA Spec, GA/GA Spec, TAssoc, RA or PA alone or in any combination.

• NOTE: The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) regulations limit international students on J-1 and F-1 visas to appointments of no more than 20 hours per week or 50% FTE. The rule that allows graduate students to work 30 hours per week does not relieve international students or the University of the responsibility for complying with BCIS regulations.

During the summer session continuing assistantship recipients (including international students) may be employed up to 40 hours per week or 100% FTE provided they are not enrolled. However, entering graduate students awarded an assistantship during the summer session must be enrolled in a minimum of 3 hours of course work which applies to their graduate degree and may not exceed 75% FTE or 30 hours per week. Assistantship recipients who are not enrolled for both summer sessions are required to pay Federal FICA tax (Social Security and Medicare) for that summer session in which they were not enrolled.

Assistantship recipients may concurrently hold a student employment or work-study position provided the combined FTE does not exceed 75% FTE (50% FTE for international students) during the Fall and Spring semester and 100% FTE during the Summer session.

By definition, assistantships are term appointments. Students should not assume that they will be reappointed merely because notification of termination at the end of the appointment period has not been received. Reappointments are contingent upon the continuing availability of funds, satisfactory performance of the assistantship recipient, relevant departmental policies and academic eligibility.