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GA/TA and Fellowship Appointment Procedure Information
Appointment Procedures
Terms of Appointment
Training
Appointment Procedures
• Upon receiving written acceptance of an assistantship or fellowship award,
the appointing department should complete a Student Appointment Request
(HRM-4), available at the Human Resources Management Office (Suite 300 of the University Administration Building). All new assistantship appointments require the complete HRM-4
packet. Continuing assistantship appointments require only the HRM-4, not
the attachments. Fellowship appointments require only the HRM-4 form (not
the whole packet). Since taxes are not withheld from fellowship stipends,
withholding forms are not needed (Please refer to the section on
Fellowships for additional information regarding the taxability of fellowship
stipends).
All graduate assistant and fellowship appointment forms should be
forwarded through the appropriate Dean’s office to Human Resources
Management. All tuition scholarship award forms should be processed
by the appropriate Dean’s office.
- for State-funded assistants: call Office of Human Resources
Management at 437-4700 or visit http://hr.albany.edu.
- for Research Foundation assistants: contact Gail Redick (437-4500).
- for State-funded fellows and tuition scholarships: contact appropriate
College or School’s Dean’s Office.
• If an assistant or fellow resigns the award, withdraws from the academic
program, or ceases to satisfactorily perform the assigned assistantship duties,
the assistantship or fellowship should be immediately terminated. Units
should telephone the appropriate office at once (see above listing) to
request that all future checks be held and then follow-up this action with
the appropriate paperwork.
A Change of Status Request (HRM-3) must be completed and forwarded
through the appropriate dean's office to Office of Human Resources
Management for State-funded assistants and fellows. For Research
Foundation assistants and fellows, a Change Form should be completed and
forwarded to Sponsored Funds Personnel and a copy of this form sent to the
Office of Graduate Studies.
Terms of Appointment
• A student must enter the University in good academic standing to be
considered for appointment during the initial term. Likewise, a student must
remain in good academic standing and must have satisfactorily performed the
assigned assistantship duties to be eligible for renewal in this appointment.
• A student may receive a maximum of two years of support from State-funding
while pursuing the Master’s degree and no more than an additional two years
of support beyond the Master’s for those continuing in doctoral study.
Doctoral students who enter the University without advanced standing are
limited to a total of four years of State-funded support. Doctoral students who
enter the University with a Master’s or beyond are limited to three years of
State-funded support.Requests for
exceptions to this policy should be directed to the Dean of the College or
School.
• Assistants and fellows cannot hold more than one full assistantship or
fellowship, and should not engage in additional work beyond the assistantship
or fellowship, including part-time lectureships and outside employment, during
the term of their appointment. Exceptions based on educational (not
financial need) may be authorized by the student's department chairperson,
college/school dean, and the Dean of Graduate Studies. Approval should be
received prior to the commencement of the additional responsibilities.
• Graduate assistants appointed for the 2006-2007 academic year are
appointed from August 24, 2006, through May 30, 2007. Stipend checks are
divided into twenty equal payments and are subject to the lag payroll. If the
appointment papers are submitted to the Office of Human Resources
Management by June 1, 2006, the first check will be issued on September 20,
2006, and the final check on June 13, 2007. Graduate assistants appointed
for the Fall 2006 term will work from August 24, 2006 through January 10,
2007. Their last paycheck date is January 24, 2007. Graduate assistants
appointed for the Spring 2007 term will work from January 11, 2007 through
May 30, 2007. First paychecks for those appointed for the Spring will be
issued for February 7, 2007.
• In general, assistants are expected to provide their usual services following
the academic calendar and, in addition, to be available to assist during the
examination period when needed. However, assistants in certain
administrative offices or departments may be expected to provide services
over the entire period including the intercession recess, provided this
arrangement is stated in the notification letter at the time of appointment.
• Fellowship appointments are generally for the period of September 1, 2006,
through May 31, 2007. Stipend checks are divided into ten equal payments
and are issued once a month except in March. There are two checks issued
in March.
Training
• Each department should organize a program for the training and orienting of
teaching assistants. In addition, there is a University-wide orientation
program conducted through the Center for Excellence in Teaching and
Learning (CETL) prior to the start of the academic year (usually held during
the last week in August).
• Ordinarily, assistants assigned to teach undergraduate courses should be
doctoral students studying beyond the Master’s degree. Assistants studying
at the Master’s level may assist in the teaching of a regular course and may
teach laboratory sessions, but should not assume full responsibility for a
regular course.
• International graduate students must have a TOEFL score of 600 or above on
the paper version; 250 or above on the computer version; or 100 or above on
the IBT Internet based test and also be certified by the department
chairperson as competent to conduct classroom discussion before they can
be authorized to teach classes or laboratories where the language of
instruction is English. If their TOEFL score does not meet this standard, they
must pass the Test of Spoken English with a score of 50 and be certified by
the department chairperson as competent to conduct classroom or laboratory
discussion.
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