Graduate Assistantships

What are Graduate Assistantships?

The University of West Georgia provides a selection of graduate and teaching assistantships to support our degree-seeking students. These assistantships offer exceptional professional development opportunities through structured, supervised work experiences in numerous academic programs and departments.

Assistantships play a key role in supporting the university's research, teaching, and service activities, while also helping students fund their graduate education. To remain eligible, graduate assistants must maintain satisfactory academic progress and performance, and successfully complete their assigned research, teaching, or other responsibilities. Since most assistantships are managed directly by individual departments or programs, students should contact the relevant department for specific information.

Assistantships are primarily available in academic departments and administrative offices across campus. To view currently available assistantship positions, visit the UWG Careers website.

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Types of Assistantships

Teaching Assistants, Level 1 (TA1)

Graduate students appointed to the position of TA1 may not have primary responsibility for a course or serve as the instructor of record, but they may assist in the instructional process by serving as discussion leaders in breakout sections, grading papers, proctoring exams, working in approved tutoring/instructional support programs, and/or assisting the primary instructor of record in other ways. The department chair and graduate program director shall determine that the credentials of a student assigned as TA1 qualify the individual to assist in instruction activities.

Teaching Assistants, Level 2 (TA2)

Graduate students appointed to the position of TA2 will have completed more than 18 hours of graduate course credit in the appropriate discipline and will have completed training facilitated by their College or program. TA2s may have primary instructional responsibility for a course and may have autonomy for teaching, assigning grades, and providing laboratory instruction/setup as part of a regularly scheduled course. TA2s must be under the supervision of a faculty member that teaches in the discipline. The department chair and graduate program director shall determine that the credentials of a student assigned as TA2 qualify the individual to undertake the assignment of instruction.

Research Assistantships

Research Assistantships (RAs) are research positions that allow graduate students to conduct research of a scholarly nature, normally under faculty supervision. While not a requirement, in many cases the source for RA salaries and tuition may be an external funding source (NSF, NIH, etc.) and thus not paid by a unit of the institution. The work of an RA can include, but is not limited to, the collection and analysis of data, the development of theoretical analyses and models, and/or the production or publication of scholarly research or creative work that supports his or her own professional agenda and may benefit of the university, faculty or academic staff supervisor, or granting agency. Other work, such as instructional support, may be included in the general job duties of a research assistant.

Pre-Professional Graduate Assistantships

Pre-Professional Graduate Assistantships (GAs) are assistantships that provide general administrative support to academic and administrative units within the university. Whenever possible, the duties assigned to graduate assistants should be relevant to the graduate program and the professional goals of the students.

Assistantship Guidelines

The following guidelines should be used when determining the work assignments and workload for assistantships:

  • Assistantships best serve the student, the hiring unit, and the student’s academic department when they are used as an integral component of the graduate education experience.
  • Assistantships should enhance the educational experience by exposing the student to the professional activities of their disciplines, involving them in university activities related to their academic and professional interests, and affording them the opportunity to work closely with faculty and professionals.
  • Assistantships should provide high quality support for the academic mission of the university.

Eligibility for Assistantships

Graduate assistantships, graduate research assistantships, teaching assistantships, and fellowships are available to full-time, degree-seeking students with some exceptions.

To be eligible for an assistantship, students must meet the following criteria: 

  • Have earned a bachelor’s degree.
  • Have applied for and been accepted into a graduate degree program of study at UWG.
  • Be enrolled as a full-time student in a graduate program.
  • Must maintain Good Academic Standing.
  • Have maintained a 3.0 GPA in previous and current graduate coursework.
  • Meet the requirements to be eligible for employment in the United States.

Note: Students admitted provisionally to a program or enrolled in the WebMBA program are not eligible for an assistantship.

Apply for Positions

Ready to apply for a graduate assistantship position? Click the button below to visit the careers website and begin applying. Check back often to see newly posted positions, as positions change often and fill quickly.

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