Assistantships

With UTSA’s newly acquired status as a Carnegie R1 institution with NRUF eligibility, graduate education has become even more vital to our mission and strategic vision. Graduate students play a critical role in faculty scholarship and the university’s research and teaching missions. Accordingly, assistantships are prioritized to attract, retain, and graduate a high caliber of diverse students that will be rigorously trained to meet the needs of the national and regional workforce.

Types 

Funding 

Eligibility 

Healthcare 

Resources 

Types of Assistantships

There are several types of assistantships available to graduate students at UTSA. Specific job descriptions are available from the hiring department, but the following information provides a general overview of the responsibilities for each type of assistantship. Assignment(s) cannot exceed a total of 19 hours per week. For Fall 2022, the university minimum for an assistantship stipend for funded, full-time doctoral students is $18,000 for a 12-month FY23 fiscal year appointment, which pertains to GSA/GTA/GRA assistantship appointments in units typically outside of the academic colleges. Students interested in assistantships need to contact and apply within a department or visit Handshake.

Graduate Research Assistants I & II

Job Description:

• The primary focus for all graduate research assistants is to assist the Principal Investigator/faculty in conducting research or other scholarly activities. Duties include assisting with research in laboratories and research facilities under the supervision of the Principal Investigator.

Job Duties:

• As research lab and projects vary, job duties and expectations must be finalized upon hire.
  • While graduate research assistants are committed to performing assigned tasks, their scholarly work is typically suitable for and may be used as part of their research report, thesis, or dissertation research to the extent approved by the faculty supervisor.
  • Graduate Research Assistant I – Master’s students and doctoral students pre-Qualifying Exam
  • Graduate Research Assistant II – Doctoral students post-Qualifying Exam

Pay Rate:

• All GRA within the same program MUST be appointed at the same salary level regardless of funding source, unless the student has earned an external individual fellowship or been appointed on an extramural training grant where the pay rate may be higher.

Graduate Teaching Assistants I & II

Job Description:

• The primary focus for the graduate teaching assistant is to support the faculty member or the department with the conduct and delivery of a course or courses. Teaching assistants are supervised by the course instructor and/or other designated faculty and are subject to departmental policies.

Job Duties and Expectations:

• All duties performed by teaching assistants shall be under the supervision and direction of a designated member of the faculty.
  • Such duties may include course development, lecturing, grading, monitoring, leading lab and/or discussion sessions, maintaining office hours, evaluating student work, performing administrative duties as it pertains to the class.
  • All students who serve as graduate teaching assistants and who have no prior teaching experience are required to participate in a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) training program.
  • Teaching Assistant I – minimum bachelor’s degree
  • Teaching Assistant II – minimum 18 hours of graduate level coursework

Pay Rate:

• All GTA within the same program MUST be appointed at the same salary level regardless of funding source, unless the student has earned an external individual fellowship or been appointed on an extramural training grant where the pay rate may be higher.

Graduate Service Assistants

Job description:

• The primary responsibility of a Graduate Service Assistant is to provide support within a specific unit to gain working knowledge and/or develop career-specific skills. Service assistants report to an administrator and/or professional member of the unit who will supervise and mentor the student.

Job duties:

• As the service assistant’s duties vary depending on the unit’s specialization, assigned duties should support the student’s academic career and future career-readiness and expectations must be finalized upon hire. Students are anticipated to have the knowledge and/or experience in the area they will be providing service in.

Graduate Administrative Assistants

Job description:

• The primary responsibility of a Graduate Administrative Assistant is to provide administrative support to a department. These positions are not eligible to support funded, full-time doctoral students; they are paid hourly and do not include tuition/fee and health insurance support.

Job duties:

• As administrative assistant duties vary, job duties and expectations must be finalized upon hire.

Research Affiliate Graduate Research Assistant

Criteria:

• A Research Affiliate GRA is a full-time doctoral student enrolled in the 9/9/3 SCH sequence and who has been awarded a competitive fellowship, per the criteria listed below. The Research Affiliate GRA is not an employee of the university, but may be eligible to enroll in certain insurance plans that are part of the university's group insurance program as a Research Affiliate (job code A013). Research Affiliates are not eligible to participate in any of the university's retirement programs. To be eligible for the Research Affiliate title, individuals must be directly involved in research activities for UTSA and awarded a competitive graduate student fellowship valued at a total of $18,000 (UTSA minimum) or more annually.

Eligibility criteria for competitive fellowships:

• The fellowship is awarded directly to an individual student by a national or international foundation, non-profit or similar institution (and it is not allowable to be administered by the university), with awards being determined through a competitive review process
• The competitive award provides a stipend, either singly or in combination, that is equal or greater than $18,000 (UTSA minimum) annually
• Eligible funding programs do not include those awarded from federal, state or industry grants and contracts awarded to the university with faculty investigators.
• More information on the healthcare coverage and appointment process is available at Graduate School SharePoint site.

Funding

Eligibility Requirements

Academic Eligibility Requirements

Graduate students must meet the following academic eligibility requirements to hold an assistantship:

• Must be in academic good standing.
• Making satisfactory progress toward a graduate degree and meeting all milestones.
• Maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0.
• Must be enrolled full-time, 9 hours in long semester (fall and spring) and 3 hours in summer to be appointed for full graduate assistantship of 19 hours per week.
• With prior approval, funded, full-time status doctoral students in their final semester in which they will be awarded their doctoral degree and graduate may be enrolled in one credit and stay eligible for Full Graduate Assistantship Appointment for that semester.
• Minimum enrollment of 6 hours in long semester (fall and spring) and 1 hour in a summer semester to be appointed for a partial graduate assistantship of between 10 and 15 hours per week.
• Graduate students enrolled for less than 6 hours in the long semesters and less than 1 hour in the summer are ineligible for any graduate assistantship appointment.

In-State Tuition Eligibility Requirements

Graduate students awarded a competitive scholarship of at least $1,000 will receive in-state tuition for the academic year.

Healthcare

• Graduate students are eligible to enroll in the UT System Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). Effective Fall 2022, all funded, full-time status doctoral students with full graduate assistantships will be enrolled as prepaid Single Subscriber in the UT System Student Health Insurance Plan (UTSHIP). Students can opt-out or add additional coverage or dependents at their own expense. All other graduate students can enroll themselves in this plan at their own expense. For information on eligibility guidelines, plan details and enrollment please see visit the Academic Healthcare Plans website.
• Student Enrollment FAQ's
• FAQ's for Colleges

Offer Letter and Guidance Resources

Offer Letter

• Please follow the Council of Graduate Schools resolution to which UTSA is a signatory (https://cgsnet.org/resources/for-current-prospective-graduate-students/April-15-resolution/) that states that students cannot be compelled to accept any offer prior to the April 15 deadline. This includes financial incentives or any other form of incentive. Any incentive provided after that must be standard for all admitted students unless prior permission, based on approved criteria, has been obtained from the Graduate School Dean and the Provost. Criteria must be aligned with program expectations and student accomplishments such as previous degree attainment, years of research and scholarship experience in the discipline, etc.. All criteria must be publicly posted on the program website.

Guidance document with funding tables regarding Graduate Student Assistantships, Student Position Guide, Funded Award Letter Templates, and FAQs are available on the Graduate School Sharepoint site.