Office of Graduate Studies: 863-874-8645
Email: zmrodriguez@floridapoly.edu
Web: https://floridapoly.edu/degree/graduate/index.php
The purpose of graduate assistantships is to provide graduate students with academic or professional development while at Florida Poly as assigned by Graduate Division Director in collaboration with the Provost and Department Chairs.
NOTE: Please see errata sheet at the bottom of this page regarding updated stipend and eligibility requirements, as of February 2023
Eligibility Requirements
Graduate assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis by the Office of Academic Affairs. Students interested in a graduate assistantship should apply to their graduate admissions counselor. Students working a full-time job should not apply for an assistantship.
The assistantship requires a commitment of ten (10) hours per week as assigned by the academic department. Graduate assistants are paid a stipend for each semester.
To be eligible to apply for a graduate assistantship, students must meet or maintain the following qualifications:
- Student must be admitted into a graduate degree program.
- Maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 while in the graduate degree program.
- Satisfactorily perform duties assigned that fall within the 10 hours per week of assistantship work assignment, typically conducted during normal business hours.
- Individuals that do not satisfactorily perform their work assignment will lose their assistantship support at the end of a semester.
- Graduate students are expected to spend significant time on their coursework, their thesis research, and their assistantship.
- Additional employment may produce a significant conflict of commitment and further employment that exceeds one’s total employment commitment beyond 20 hours per week is strongly discouraged. On-campus jobs may be held by graduate students and administrative jobs may be held by graduate students for up to an additional 10 hours per week beyond the commitment to their assistantship and education.
- Maintain full-time enrollment during the semester(s) while serving in an assistantship, unless otherwise stipulated by the department chair and approved by the Office of Academic Affairs. Full-time enrollment is considered 9 graduate credit hours in the Fall and Spring Semesters and 6 graduate credit hours during the Summer Semester. If a graduate assistant is enrolled in the last semester of his/her program of study, the number of registered semester hours may be less than the full-time requirement but will not be less than 3 credit hours.
If approved for an assistantship, applicants will receive an email with instructions on completing their Assistantship Agreement from the Office of Academic Affairs. This agreement solidifies the pact between the graduate assistant and her/his hiring department to perform duties for a specified time period. This agreement must be signed prior to starting the assigned assistantship.
- Keeping your assistantship is contingent upon your maintaining appropriate academic progress and is renewable on a semester-by-semester basis for up to four academic semesters.
- The assistantship includes two support elements: direct payment in support of your graduate educational experience and tuition support.
- The direct pay is paid as a stipend of $3,600 for the Fall and Spring semesters. The hours per week expected to work are 10 hours.
- Tuition support at the in-state graduate student level is available for up to 9 hours per semester, which allows a student to maintain full time status as a student. Employment as a graduate assistant allows a student to be considered as a Florida resident for the purposes of tuition.
- This is not a scholarship award, but rather support for a student’s graduate education. If a student fails to meet performance expectations, withdraws from Florida Polytechnic University, fails to remain enrolled as a full-time student, or fails to meet the minimum expectations including adequate progress on research or other deliverables as defined by the program or Graduate Division, the University may terminate this agreement.
- The University may terminate this agreement at any time.
Assistantships are awarded by the Office of the Graduate Division/Vice Provost of Academic Affairs on the recommendation of the Department Chairs and Office of Admissions.
Graduate Assistantships carry the following responsibility:
- 10 hours per week of instructional support assigned by the student’s Department Chair Supervisor (not necessarily program Department Chair) or Direct Faculty Supervisor. GAs must make themselves available for instructional support, noting that their course schedule takes precedence over their teaching support duties.
- Instructional support may include the following:
- Grading, in the form of checking answers (but not correcting); substantive feedback is not an expectation;
- Highly coordinated and supervised lab management assistance;
- For experience GAs (2nd-year with proven track-record), more responsibility in leading some level of laboratory course delivery and support may be assigned.
- Where appropriate and if demonstrated competency, academic support for the course.
- GAs are expected to coordinate with their supervisor to determine weekly work assignments and responsibilities, set deadlines and expectations, and carry out all duties in a timely manner.
- GAs are expected to put their coursework first and their Assistantship duties second. If they have work schedules outside of the University that conflict the University is under no obligation to make an accommodation for such purposes. Multiple instances of such conflicts risk loss of assistantship.
- Graduate Assistantships will not be extended past the 4th semester. Students may be placed on a different funding support structure and required to take Thesis 2 or Project again, but no stipends will be awarded.
The University does not support Graduate Assistantships during the summer through University funds; however, external funding may be used to support graduate students during the summer, regardless of their status as a GA. Faculty hiring graduate students on external funding must work with the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, the Office of Academic Affairs, and ensure the student enrolls in summer research hours, or a graduate class, if offered, as required for funding. In special circumstances, the University may support summer effort at its discretion.
Faculty may employ graduate students through external funds according to the following provisions:
- Students must be assigned to support an active grant;
- Support funds from contributing grant must be proportional to time/expense associated with the regular stipend.
- If a faculty member wishes to support a student for a full 20 hours and has the means within the terms of the grant, this may be negotiated with the Department Chair, Division Director, and Provost prior to the term in which the student’s employment in desired;
- Start and End Dates may be set as needed by the grant beginning and end dates.
To better support our graduate students, the university has approved an increase in the graduate assistantship stipend to $3,600 per semester as opposed to the previous $2400 per semester. Please see updates below for eligibility for this increase.
Eligibility Updates: To continue as a graduate assistant, we will need to ensure students are on track to complete the thesis pathway and graduate on time.
- For graduate assistants who are currently employed in spring semester, your stipend amount will be updated moving forward so long as you submit the following documentation by February 24th, 2023.
- Required Thesis Documentation:
- 100-200 words describing your thesis topic
- Full one page abstract (only required for students graduating in spring 2023, summer 2023, and fall 2023)
- Gantt chart describing your remaining tasks for thesis completion. Indicate when tasks are underway and will be completed. Provide to your advisor for approval to ensure that your planning is feasible (only required for students graduating in spring 2023, summer 2023, and fall 2023)
- Stipend support will not exceed four semesters (as discussed below, support is also available for the summer C period). Students receiving support are required to complete the program under the thesis pathway. If a student switches from thesis to another pathway, they will no longer receive the award.
- Students who are not funded externally are also required to complete 10 hours per week of instructional support assigned by their department chair. GAs must make themselves available for instructional support, noting that their course schedule takes precedence over their teaching support duties. Students are also welcome to seek employment elsewhere on or off-campus for up to an additional 10 hours per week.
Payment Updates: So long as the advisor approves and the student submits the required documentation by February 24th, the stipend amount will increase. The increase will be reflected in March 15th paychecks and forward. Students who fail to provide the required documentation, will not receive the increase until they do so.
This change is occurring mid-semester and is not retroactive. Students whose pay is updated by March 15th will be awarded a total semester stipend equivalent to $3,000 for spring 2023; this is because several pay periods have already passed in spring 2023 semester. Students should expect $3,600 in stipend for summer 2023 and future semesters, so long as they remain eligible and submit appropriate documentation to indicate thesis progress.
Summer Updates: Funding is now available for one summer semester. The summer semester at the end of a student’s first year is to be utilized as an intentionally high research period. This change should allow students to allot more time to their research, while making notable and consistent thesis progress throughout their time in the program. Students unable to commit to 30 hours per week minimum on their research during summer semesters on-campus are not eligible for the summer award.
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