PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW BEFORE APPLYING

The Graduate Research Assistantship Program at Kennesaw State University is designed to support the research and teaching responsibilities of the university and to provide students with professional development opportunities while enrolled in a degree program.  The Graduate Research Assistantships involve maintaining a satisfactory academic performance while also successfully performing the assigned responsibilities.  The duties assigned must be relevant to the student’s major field of study, area of interest or expertise, and must be of academic value.

An applicant for a Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) must have been approved for regular admission in a graduate degree program of the university.  Graduate Research Assistantship appointments are made for a term of one semester and are renewable at the discretion of the Graduate Program Director and the Dean of The Graduate College. To continue the assistantship, the student must maintain good academic standing, an acceptable job performance and must update their on-line employment application.  However, should a student’s grade point average fall below 3.0 (academic warning), the student will have one semester to improve and return to academic good standing before the assistantship is terminated.  Should a student fail to return to good standing after one semester, or should a student receive academic exclusion and be dismissed from the degree program, the assistantship would be terminated at once.

Graduate Program Directors will notify the Dean of the Graduate College of hiring recommendations.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
To be eligible for a Graduate Research Assistantship, a student must have:

1. completed the requirements for an undergraduate degree,
2. applied for and been fully accepted to a graduate degree program of study,
3. maintained a 3.0 grade point average in any previous graduate course work.

ASSISTANTSHIP APPOINTMENTS:Graduate Research Assistant appointments are for one semester and will be awarded to qualified full-time students.  GRAs will work with the assigned faculty member for 10-13 hours per week for 17 weeks or a maximum of 195 hours per term.  GRAs must be assigned to work with a faculty member holding provisional or full graduate faculty status and must register for a minimum of six (6) and a maximum of nine (9) semester hours of graduate credit each semester.  Coursework overloads (over 9 hours) are rarely granted and only after approval by the Graduate Program Director and the Dean of the Graduate College.  Tuition costs above 9 hours will be the responsibility of the GRA.  In addition, a GRA may not be employed in another position on the KSU campus.

FEES: Each Graduate Research Assistant pays a special tuition rate of $25 per semester, as well as all student fees, and the cost of mandatory health insurance if the GRA is not eligible for a waiver.  GRAs who are enrolled in one of KSU’s premium-priced programs will be required to pay all tuition/other costs of these programs in excess of standard graduate program tuition.

All GRAs are required to have health insurance.  Students will be billed for the mandatory health insurance fee at the time of registration.   A waiver of the health insurance fee may be applied for directly with the insurer.  Please see this link for information and rates:  https://www.pearceandpearce.com/PearceSite/Schools/GA/ksu/       

STIPEND, PAY SCHEDULES, AND BENEFITS: The stipend for a Graduate Research Assistant is stated in the contract, which is executed when the student is appointed as a Graduate Research Assistant.  Stipends will be paid monthly.

TERMINATION: Students, who do not meet the academic requirements or the requirements of the job, may be terminated.  Compensation will cease upon termination of the contract, and the student may be required to reimburse the University for tuition on a prorated basis.

If you have questions, please contact the Graduate Dean's office, 770-423-6738 or one of the Graduate Program Directors listed below.