General Information

Fully admitted graduate students are eligible to be funded by a department in the Robert Stempel School of Public Health. In addition to a salary, each student will also receive a substantial amount of his/her tuition waived and is enrolled in a medical insurance provided by the University Graduate School (UGS). These positions are limited.

Please note a Graduate Research Assistant (RA), Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) and a Graduate Assistant (GA) are all considered and referred to as Graduate Assistants. However, a RA, TA and GA are different types of graduate assistants with different corresponding duties as mentioned below:

Graduate Research Assistant (RA): a Graduate Research Assistant shall be a degree seeking graduate student who performs research duties related to his or her academic program. The RA will perform general duties related to research, documentation, experimentation, interviews and other activities that support the academic endeavor of the supervising faculty. For some positions assigned to this class, special qualifications may be added to the minimum such as completion of specified number of graduate credit hours or a master’s degree or specialization in an appropriate area of research.

Graduate Teaching Assistant (TA): a Graduate Teaching Assistant shall be a degree seeking graduate student who assists a faculty member with a teaching assignment. The duties may include, but are not limited to preparing lectures, grading assignments, researching class topics and substituting for Faculty of Record on select class days.

A Graduate Teaching Assistant who is the instructor of Record must have completed 18 graduate credit hours in the subject area and perform teaching duties related to his or her academic program. This teacher assistant must be certified by UGS and as well attend a workshop in the Academy of the Art of Teaching. If an international student is assigned a teaching assistantship they must score a 50 in the Test of Spoken English (TSE).

A Graduate Assistant (GA): a Graduate Assistant shall be a degree seeking graduate student who assists in the teaching and/or research function, but do not have primary responsibility for teaching and/or research. The duties may include those outlined in either the teaching or research classifications as well as other duties assigned that relate to his or her academic program. A graduate assistant should be used only when neither a GTA nor GRA is appropriate.

All graduate assistant applicants that are eligible to apply for Federal Student Financial Aid (US residents) should complete the FAFSA, and indicate that they would accept all forms of financial aid, including work study. Often a financial aid award can be applied toward the student’s graduate assistant stipend.

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