California State University, Long Beach
Policy Statement
96-21
November 1, 1996
Employment of Graduate Students as Student Assistants,
Graduate Assistants, and Teaching Associates
This Policy Statement was approved by the Academic Senate on May 16,
1996
and approved by the President on October 24, 1996.
(This policy supersedes Policy Statement 95-03.)
California
State University, Long Beach offers employment as Student Assistants,
Graduate Assistants and Teaching Associates to a limited number
of graduate students. The primary purpose of each type of employment
is to help graduate students pay for the cost of their graduate
studies. Therefore, employment of graduate students by the University
must never be allowed to impede those students in the pursuit of
their own primary objective, which is the expeditious completion
of their graduate programs. Further, the employment of graduate
students by the University must never be allowed to reduce the quality
of education received by undergraduate students at the University.
1.000 To be employed as a Student Assistant, Graduate Assistant,
or Teaching Associate, a graduate student must be qualified in terms
of adequate course work and other training appropriate for the duties
and must be enrolled at CSULB in course(s) applicable to the student's
graduate program or prerequisites courses, which are approved by
the department in which the degree is to be awarded, and must be
making nommal progress toward the degree. Current IRS regulations
specify that to qualify for tax-exempt status, a graduate student
employed as a student assistant must be primarily a student and
only incidentally an employee. The University interprets this requirement
to mean that a graduate student employed as a student assistant
must be enrolled in at least 6 units, unless that graduate student
has iess than 6 units remaining to be completed on the graduate
program or fewer than 6 units on the graduate program are being
offered. A graduate student who does not meet this requirement may
not be employed in the student assistant classification. If a graduate
student fails to maintain enrollment in course work as specified
in this section, the student's appointment will be terminated immediately
in the case of a Student Assistant or a Graduate Assistant, or not
renewed at the end of the semester in the case of a Teaching Associate.
A Teaching Associate whose appointment is not renewed because of
a failure to maintain enrollment will not be eligible for further
employment as a Teaching Associate until one full semester has passed.
2.000 Empioyment of a graduate student as a Student Assistant is
limited to 20 hours per week during the Spring and Fall semesters.
At all other times, such employment is limited to 40 hours per week.
3.000 Employment of a graduate student as a Graduate Assistant is
for 10 hours (a half-time appointment) or 20 hours (a full-time
appointment) per week.
4.000 A limited number of outstanding graduate students may be employed
as Teaching Associates. Teaching Associates are normally employed
to teach lower-division laboratory or discussion sections under
the direct supervision of the faculty member assigned to deliver
the lectures in the same course. Employment of Teaching Associates
to teach upper-division laboratory or upper-division discussion
sections is rare on this campus and is discouraged. A Teaching Associate
may also be employed to teach a lecture or lecture-discussion course
where the following conditions are met: (1 ) the course is at the
lower-division level; (2) the graduate student has adequate training
and demonstrated competence in the subject matter of the course
to be taught; (3) the teaching experience is designed specifically
to help graduate students improve their command of pedagogical techniques;
and (4) the graduate students are supervised directly by a faculty
member and are provided evaluative feedback on a regular basis.
Graduate students may not be employed simply as a less expensive
replacement for temporary faculty. The Graduate Council and the
Planning and Educational Policies Council shall monitor compliance
with paragraph 4.000 through the program review process.
5.000 Employment of a graduate student as a Teaching Associate may
not be for more than 20 hours per week, normally equivalent to a
maximum of six weighted teaching units of lecture or discussion
sections or a maximum of eight weighted teaching units of laboratory
sections. The teaching performance of Teaching Associates shall
be subject to evaluation by students on the same basis as part-time
faculty.
6.000 A graduate student may be employed simultaneously in two of
the categories enumerated in this policy, provided that the total
hours of employment do not exceed 20 per week during the Spring
and Fall semesters. A graduate student employed as a Teaching Associate
in one department, however, may not be employed as a Lecturer in
another department.
7.000 A graduate student may not be employed as a Student Assistant,
Graduate Assistant, Teaching Associate, or any combination of these
positions for more than six semesters.
8.000 Prior to offering employment as a Student Assistant, Graduate
Assistant, Teaching Associate, or Lecturer to a graduate student
pursuing a degree in another department, the employing department
shall notify the graduate student's home department to assure that
(1) the student is enrolled in the required number of units and
(2) the student's total employment does not exceed the maximum allowed
by this policy.
9.000 If a graduate student employed by a department begins to pursue
a different degree, either in another department at CSULB or at
another university, the department chair of the student's original
home department has the right to terminate the student's employment
immediately or at the earliest convenience of the original home
department. It is the responsibility of the graduate student to
inform the graduate advisor of the original home department of a
decision to seek a different degree.
Evidence of this decision would include, but is not limited to,
formal acceptance into the new degree program, enrolling in courses
for the new degree, or taking oral or written examinations for the
new
degree.
10.000 Each department or unit which employs Teaching Associates
shall develop policies covering, but not limited to, the following:
(a) the specific eligibility requirements for Teaching Associates
(b) the application procedure for Teaching Associates
(c) the criteria for the selection of new Teaching Associates
(d) the criteria for renewing and/or continuing Teaching Associates
(e) the training and supervision of Teaching Associates
(f) the duties and responsibilities of Teaching Associates
(g) the procedures and criteria for the evaluation of Teaching Associates
(h) the procedures for resolution should disputes or grievances
arise between the Teaching Associate and a student, the supervising
instructor, or the home department. These procedures must be in
accordance with governing University policies.
The policies shall be on file in the department or unit office,
and a copy shall be filed with the Associate Vice President for
Academic Affairs and Dean of Graduate Studies. These policies shall
be available upon request and shall be given to each Teaching Associate
in that department or unit upon being hired.
EFFECTIVE: Immediately |