2,902: Procedures for Issuing Contracts for Graduate Assistants

Last Revised: November 2025

  1. The standard application form for a graduate assistant must be filled out completely.

    An offer letter will be prepared by the department. Compensation for the graduate assistantship will be listed in the offer letter and consistent with the University’s Salary Schedule for Graduate Assistants. A moving allowance may also be granted to an incoming graduate student who moved from a location which is at least 50 miles from the new location and who is being employed as a graduate assistant at .50 FTE for at least 10 months. No state funds may be expended. This allowance cannot exceed the applicable minimum monthly graduate assistant stipend and will be paid within the first 90 days of graduate employment. Exceptions to this limit may be approved by the Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School. This allowance is taxable income.
  2. All graduate assistants who teach at the University of Nevada, Reno are required to satisfy the requirements of TA training (i.e. GRAD 701), attend the orientation and complete sexual harassment prevention and FERPA training during their first semester. Graduate assistants with substantial prior teaching experience who wish an exception to mandatory attendance at the orientation may file a request with the Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School. The following departments/programs conduct an approved TA orientation program and students teaching for these programs are exempt from the Grad 701 course requirement: English, Chemistry, Core Humanities, World Languages and Literatures.
  3. Students on probationary status, prescribed programs, and graduate special are not eligible for graduate assistantships.
  4. A graduate assistant may be provided with grant-in-aid (GIA) and GIA is customary except in those cases where grant funding does not permit payment of tuition. The GIA is proportional to the semester FTE of the graduate assistant’s contract.
  5. At the beginning of each semester, Human Resources will run reports of students who are below the 6-credit minimum enrollment level. Departments will be notified of students below the minimum. If the enrollment level is not resolved prior to the last drop/add date, the students will be released from their assistantship including their tuition, insurance and non-resident tuition benefits.
  6. Graduate assistants taking more than 12 credits or working more than 50% during the semester require an overload memo approved by the Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School.
  7. Strict criteria must be observed in the selection and appointment of graduate assistants. They should be selected on the basis of both their scholarly records and promise of achieving success in graduate study.
  8. International students serving as Graduate Teaching Assistants must have been admitted based on the minimum English language proficiency requirement for international graduate admission. In addition, international Graduate Teaching Assistants must have completed the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK test) and received at least a score of 50. International students are exempted from this SPEAK test requirement if they scored at least:
    1. 24 or higher on the TOEFL Speaking test,
    2. 5 or higher on the IELTS Speaking test, or
    3. 120 on Duolingo.
  9. This testing policy is not required for international students who have received an undergraduate degree from a U.S. institution or when the student is originating from the following English-speaking countries: Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Guyana, Canada (except Quebec), Dominica, Ghana, Grenada, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, New Zealand, Nigeria, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Virgin Islands (British, U.S.) and U.S. Territories.
  10. Assistantships that start prior to the eighth week of the semester are eligible for full registration fee support for that semester. Registration fee support for assistantships starting after the eighth week will be prorated based on the number of weeks left in the semester.