Criteria for Appointment of Graduate Assistants

  1. The student must be admitted to the Graduate School.
  2. The student must be in good academic standing at TWU. A student who is on academic probation may not hold a graduate assistantship.
  3. A student is not permitted to hold a graduate assistantship at TWU concurrently with an assistantship at any other college or university.
  4. Graduate Assistants may not be appointed concurrently as adjunct faculty.
  5. Graduate Assistants may not be appointed concurrently as student assistants. In rare cases, the Dean of the Graduate School may approve an exception, when the request comes from the program unit head.
  6. A student is not permitted to work more than .50 FTE (20 hours per week) at TWU in any combination of graduate assistantship (wages or salary), graduate teaching assistantship, or graduate research assistantship.
  7. In-state Tuition waiver: An out-of-state student holding a graduate assistantship is entitled to register by paying the tuition and other fees or charges required for Texas residents without regard to the length of time the assistant has resided in Texas if
    1. The assistant is employed at least one-half time (.50 FTE),
    2. The assistant has enrolled in the minimum required graduate course load (5 SCH of graduate coursework), and
    3. The assistant is working in a position that relates to her/his degree program.
      The student must complete the Request for In-State Tuition form, have it signed by the Chair of the department, and send it to the Graduate School each semester (Fall, Spring, Summer), by the census date deadline. If approved, Graduate School personnel will forward it to the Registrar. Once approved and processed by the Registrar, the Request for In-State Tuition form will be forwarded to the Bursar who will be responsible for applying the In-State Tuition rate.
  8. Special criteria for Graduate Teaching Assistantships assigned primary responsibility for teaching a course for credit and assigning final grades to include the following:
    1. The student should have earned at least 18 semester credit hours of graduate credit in the teaching field. (The hiring department must submit a Certification of Graduate Teaching Assistant Academic Preparation listing the University, Course Prefix & No., Course Title, Semester Credit Hours, Date & Grade. The hiring department must submit the completed Certification of Graduate Teaching Assistant Academic Preparation to the Graduate School before the student's PTF as a GTA can be approved and processed.)
    2. Preferably the student will have had teaching experience in the specialty area. 
    3. The student whose primary language is not English should have demonstrated proficiency in English as described below and as mandated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
  9. International students must demonstrate English speaking proficiency through one of the following in order to hold a graduate teaching assistantship
    1. A score of 26 or higher on the TOEFL iBT speaking section
    2. A score of 7.5 or higher on the IELTS Speaking Test
    3. A score of 53 or above on the Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic
    4. A score of 4 or higher on the MELAB Speaking Test
  10. International students must also follow the guidelines of International Student and Scholar Services.