Sage Graduate Assistantships
Sage Graduate School is committed to an equitable, supportive and professional environment for graduate education. Graduate assistantships and fellowships provide financial support while helping students develop independent judgment, intellectual breadth, professional and personal accountability, and the ability to communicate effectively.
Graduate Assistantships provide tuition waivers and a stipend for working in an academic or administrative office, assisting faculty in research, or, in limited instances, teaching undergraduate classes. For each six-credit tuition waiver plus $2000 stipend, a student works 300 hours over the Fall and Spring semester or teaches two three-credit course equivalents. Assistantships are awarded on the basis of financial need and academic ability.
- To be eligible for assistantships, students must follow the financial aid application procedures described above, including submission of the FAFSA after January 1.
- Students also must complete by an Application for Graduate Assistantship form available on-line from the Sage Graduate School web page (Academics, Forms) or in the Graduate School office.
- Preference will be given to students who complete this process prior to March 1 of the year preceding the assistantship award.
- Upon receipt of FAFSA information, which identifies the level of federal and state aid for which the student is eligible, the Office of Financial Aid Services determines whether or not the student is also eligible for a graduate assistantship and provides that information to the Dean of the Graduate School.
- The Dean and Program Director conduct an academic review of eligible applicants and select those to receive the assistantships available. Beginning on March 15th of each year students will be notified of their eligibility for an assistantship award. Students eligible for a graduate assistantship are encouraged to contact the department supervisor in the position the desire.
Students enrolled for six hours per semester, including the summer term, may receive no more than one graduate assistantship per year; students enrolled for nine or more hours may receive two graduate assistantships per year.
An assistantship award means that the student is eligible to apply for the open assistantship positions posted on the Sage Graduate School website or available in the Graduate School office. Job descriptions allow students to match their skills and experience to the openings available. These may be in academic departments or administrative offices; selection is made by the individual supervising the graduate assistant. When a selection has been made, the student assistant receives a contract of employment which must be returned within two weeks of the issue date; if the contract is not returned, the assistantship is released for award to another student.
Student assistants may be asked to perform only duties that are contained in the job description for the position they occupy; they may not be asked or required to perform inappropriate services (e.g., child care, pet care, or other personal services) as part of their responsibilities. Student assistants are expected to be accountable and professional in carrying out the duties of the position; less than satisfactory performance may result in the termination of an assistantship award.
Graduate stipends are paid twice each month, on the regular pay dates for salaried employees. A form I-90 or other proof of eligibility to work in the U.S. must be provided to the Office of Human Resources before compensation may begin.
Teaching assistantships may be available to a limited number of students in post-masters programs who have already earned master’s degrees and who are otherwise qualified to deliver undergraduate instruction. Such awards are contingent on departmental need for such instruction. Teaching assistants are assigned to a departmental faculty mentor who provides supervision and feedback during the teaching assignment. Teaching assistants, as with other instructional faculty, receive course evaluations from students and a final written evaluation from the faculty mentor.
Graduate assistantships are renewable each year for up to four years of study, contingent upon the maintenance of academic good standing in the student’s program of study and satisfactory performance in the assistantship position.
To renew an assistantship each year, the student must once again file the FAFSA between January 1 and March 1 and complete the Application for Graduate Assistantship form. In addition, the supervisor must complete the Assistantship Renewal Request Form. Both are available on the Sage Graduate School web page (Academics, Forms) or in the Graduate School office
