2025-2026 CEHD Graduate Assistantship Application

Assistantships are awarded to graduate students with the expectation of appropriate professional service. Graduate assistants are apprentices in the profession, and while the service aspect is emphasized in the definition in order to make a distinction, Graduate Assistants, first and foremost, are students and valued members of the community of scholars. They are chosen for their scholarship and manifest interest in the discipline as well as their ability to perform the needed service. The service of a Graduate Teaching Assistant (T.A.) consists primarily of activities directly related to teaching, while the service of a Graduate Research Discovery Assistant (R.D.) consists primarily of research activity under the supervision of a faculty member or administrator. The service of a Graduate Research Application Assistant (R.A.) includes all other professional work in the unit accepted as appropriate and germane to the student’s educational goal.

The kinds of service required of graduate assistants may vary among departments, each of which determines its own range of appropriate possibilities subject to administrative review. 

Service requirement and tuition scholarships for graduate assistantships are:

• Full Appointment: 20 hrs of service per week | Enrolled in 9 credit hours per Fall and Spring
• 2/3 Appointment: 12 hrs of service per week | Enrolled in 6 credit hours per Fall and Spring
• 1/2 Appointment: 10 hrs of service per week | Enrolled in 4.5 credit hours per Fall and Spring

The tuition scholarship of the graduate assistantship is awarded only during the semester(s) or sessions(s) a graduate appointment is held. Students who are granted such partial or full tuition scholarships and subsequently withdraw from a class or from classes after the refund period will be required to repay the portion of the tuition scholarship that was granted as a benefit of the appointment. Any portion of a tuition scholarship that has not been used by the end of drops and adds will be forfeited by the student for that term. Unused tuition awards cannot be carried forward to subsequent terms.

Most GAs in CEHD are appointed for Fall and Spring semester only. There are a very limited number of GAs that are awarded in the summer semester. 

Other GA benefits include:

• Library:  Graduate appointees will be accorded the same privileges and responsibilities as faculty members in the use of library facilities. These are specified in the faculty handbook (Western Michigan University Policy Handbook).
• Parking:  Graduate appointees are exempt from paying the motor vehicle registration fee, but are required to register their motor vehicles. Application may be made to the Public Safety Annex for parking privileges in designated lots; the appointee will be required to present the student identification card and the letter of appointment.
• Campus bookstore: Graduate appointees will be accorded discount privileges on purchases at the WMU Bookstore in the same manner and degree as faculty and staff members. Discount will be given for current semester or session only; the appointee will be required to present the student identification card and the letter of appointment.
• University facilities: Graduate appointees will be accorded the use of University facilities (e.g., student offices, research facilities, etc.) authorized by the director of the facilities on the same basis that they are authorized for part-time faculty.

If you have any further questions about CEHD Graduate Assistantships, please contact Dr. Jessica Heybach, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies OR reach out to your advisor.