Allocation of Tuition Waivers for Non-sponsored Assistantships

Type of Policy

Administrative

Effective Date

January 2015

Last Revised

May 2015

Review Date

May 2025

Policy Owner

Graduate Education

Contact Name

Bonnie Ferri

Contact Title

Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Education

Contact Email

Bonnie.ferri@gatech.edu

Reason for Policy

To establish how non-sponsored tuition waivers are allocated in the Georgia Tech budget and budget process.

Policy Statement

The Institute maintains a budget to account for tuition revenue foregone when tuition waivers are used for non-sponsored GTA (graduate teaching assistant) and GRA (graduate research assistant) positions. These are positions in which state funds are used to pay the stipends. As with GRA or GTA work on sponsored projects, the Institute covers all tuition for these students beyond the $25 required by the Board of Regents.

In the tuition waiver budget, each college is permitted to use an established number of non-sponsored waivers. The permitted number is affirmed or expanded each year in the Institute budget process, through a request from each Dean and decision by the Executive Leadership Team.

Scope

All colleges and non-college units.

Definitions:

Non-sponsored assistantship	An assistantship in which the stipend is paid from state funds.
Tuition waiver	Part of tuition not charged to the student.
Academic faculty member	As defined in the Faculty Handbook. A faculty member who supervises a GRA or GTA assignment must be appointed in an instructional unit and cleared as instructor of record by the Office of Faculty Affairs.

Procedures

Using the Waivers
In the colleges	Under this system, non-sponsored tuition waivers are approved and controlled by the academic units. The home department or school and the hiring unit (if different from the home unit) must certify that the assignment contributes to the student’s graduate education, and an academic faculty member must provide supervision for the educational aspect of the work, through registration for GRA or GTA credit with that faculty member.
Outside the colleges	Non-academic units, while they are not allocated non-sponsored tuition waivers, are permitted to employ graduate research or teaching assistants, if the work is directly related to the student’s graduate program. If non-academic units want to employ a GRA or GTA, they must request the waiver to accompany the position from the home unit (department or school) of the student who will be hired. A faculty member from the home unit should oversee the academic aspects of the work of the GRA or GTA student in the non-academic unit to ensure the quality and relevance of the work to the student’s academic work. All graduate research or teaching assistant hires in non-academic departments must be approved by the Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Faculty Development (VPGEFD).

Using the Waivers

In the colleges

Under this system, non-sponsored tuition waivers are approved and controlled by the academic units. The home department or school and the hiring unit (if different from the home unit) must certify that the assignment contributes to the student’s graduate education, and an academic faculty member must provide supervision for the educational aspect of the work, through registration for GRA or GTA credit with that faculty member.

Outside the colleges

Non-academic units, while they are not allocated non-sponsored tuition waivers, are permitted to employ graduate research or teaching assistants, if the work is directly related to the student’s graduate program. If non-academic units want to employ a GRA or GTA, they must request the waiver to accompany the position from the home unit (department or school) of the student who will be hired. A faculty member from the home unit should oversee the academic aspects of the work of the GRA or GTA student in the non-academic unit to ensure the quality and relevance of the work to the student’s academic work. All graduate research or teaching assistant hires in non-academic departments must be approved by the Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Faculty Development (VPGEFD).

Forms:

Title	Link
Request for GRA or GTA outside an academic unit	Send email to vpgefd@gateh.edu, giving the name and GTID of the student, the nature of the assignment, and the faculty member supervisor.

Responsibilities

Deans request tuition waivers in the budget process and monitor their use.

Executive Leadership Team determines the allocation of waivers in the Institute budget process.

Home schools enter the waivers for students with GRA or GTA positions that meet the Institute requirements (see Graduate Assistantship Enrollment and Employment policy).

Non-academic units request tuition waivers from the home schools of students they want to hire there and locate academic faculty members willing to supervise the academic aspects of the work.

Enforcement

Use of waivers beyond the established number will create a budget deficit in the College and thus trigger a discussion with the Provost’s office. Students given GRA or GTA positions that do not meet the policy are subject to cancellation of tuition waiver.

To report suspected instances of noncompliance with this policy, please visit Georgia Tech’s EthicsPoint, a secure and confidential reporting system, at: https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/en/report_custom.asp?clientid=7508

Related Information

Policy History

Revision Date	Author	Description
May 2015	Graduate Studies	Language Clarification
April 2006	Lisa Godfrey, Budget Office	Last revision of the procedure