We are delighted that you plan to hire and supervise graduate assistants. The academically relevant experiences you give them contributes significantly to St. Cloud State's quality of education.
Departments and supervisors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with this hiring and supervision information to create a mutually beneficial assistantship.
We store position descriptions, create graduate assistant appointments and complete the employment request and approval process in our online hiring system.
Login with your StarID and password.
If you would like system training, have questions or difficulties using the system, visit the School of Graduate Studies or call 320-308-2113.
The instruction guide (PDF) will walk you through use of the GA online hiring system.
Graduate assistant employment dates generally reflect employment dates for University faculty.
2023-2024 Employment Dates (FY 2024 Budget)
Fall 2023: Aug. 15–Dec. 15
Spring 2024: Jan. 3–May 3
Summer 2024: May 6-June 30
The dates are guidelines for assistants and employers. Departments and supervisors may choose other dates based on responsibilities.
Single term appointment dates may not overlap. For example, a summer appointment must end before the start of a fall appointment.
The last day to make/accept an assistantship offer for Fall 2023 is Friday, Sept. 1.
Late offers will be processed after Sept. 1 at the discretion of the School of Graduate Studies. If permitted, stipends will be pro-rated and the tuition remission will be reduced.
All graduate assistants are required to be enrolled full-time (a minimum of 8 graduate or 6 doctoral credits) to be eligible for an assistantship. Assistantships are intended to support full-time enrollment and aid timely completion.
Graduate assistantships open to graduate students from a variety of majors can be posted on Handshake (formerly Jobs for Huskies) Once you have entered your position description into the GA Online system, you can create and save a Word version that will allow you to copy and paste information into Handshake. For assistance with entering a PD into the GA Hiring system and generating the word document, see the GA System instruction guide.
To Post a Position using Handshake
Returning Users: Login
New Users: Click on “Sign Up For an Account” and select Employer. When doing a company search, enter in your department or SCSU. If you need assistance creating your account, contact Simon Bauer or Karen Hommerding
Hiring Graduate Assistants for Program Only positions
Consider posting positions in Handshake so they are visible to prospective and admitted students browsing our website and considering St. Cloud State. You can set position requirements such as major within Handshake using these directions and use Handshake to manage GA applications.
Positions available within a graduate program to program students only do not need to be posted broadly. If graduate assistant positions are awarded to students, departments should have a clear set of criteria used to award a position (e.g. new admitted graduate students with an undergraduate GPA of 3.7 or higher will be considered). If assistantships are available to any student in the program, the assistantship information should be posted clearly in the department or sent to all students via a program listserv or other communication.
New graduate assistants (GAs) are expected to attend orientation as a condition of employment.
Graduate assistants who complete orientation will:
For departments and supervisors, graduate assistants provide the opportunity to enhance our work whether it is doing more research or offering more classes, more services or more learning opportunities.
Developing a positive and productive supervisory relationship with your graduate assistant is one way to ensure this balance flows both ways.
Each supervisor brings unique style and skills to the supervisory relationship and each student brings unique skills, abilities and needs. The working relationship between the two will take time to build.
We offer these suggestions:
On occasion a graduate assistantship will not work out. The School of Graduate Studies will address complaints or assist with mediation.
Supervisors can terminate graduate assistants for cause as described in the handbook; or elect not to renew a contract.
Graduate assistants also may resign from positions. Graduate assistants must provide two weeks’ notice to the department.
Payroll https://www.stcloudstate.edu/businessservices/accounting/payroll/default.aspx
St. Cloud State employees can create position descriptions, make assistantship appointments and complete employment requests and approvals. Students can only accept an assistantship.
New students can activate their Star ID and get help, if needed.
No. You will automatically be considered an approver. After selecting New Employment Request and identifying the student to be requested, you will be able to select the approval tab (see the instruction guide) and your name will appear on the "Request Created by" line and you can select the box to approve and move the appointment forward to the chairperson/director (if applicable) or directly to the dean or vice president responsible for your units budget.
Our instruction guide (PDF) explains how approvers, including a chairperson or person responsible for the unit budget (if not the request initiator), and a dean or vice president, must be established for each department or unit hiring a graduate assistant, including grant and revenue accounts. If your area does not have an approver between the initiator and the dean/vice president, notify Melanie Guentzel and we can remove that step.
The designated person responsible for the budget (whoever you entered as the approver) and the dean/vice president will receive email notification at 8 a.m. each Monday/Wednesday/Friday if approvals are pending. If the approval is time sensitive, you may wish to provide access to the system to the Responsible Person for the Budget or the dean or vice president. Our guide (PDF) offers instructions. Approvals can be completed anywhere with web access.
Please verify that you are searching for requests in the correct fiscal year. Positions beginning after July 1 are pending for FY 2023. The system defaults to the current fiscal year. Try updating the fiscal year and searching. If this does not work, contact the School of Graduate Studies, 320-308-2113.
Deans, vice presidents and chairpersons can designate a proxy to review and approve GA employment requests. The proxy can be an associate dean or vice president, an office manager with access to the unit budget, or other employee designated by the dean/vice president or chairperson. If your dean/vice president or chairperson has not communicated a proxy to you, you should list the dean/vice president or chairperson as the approver.
Contact the School of Graduate Studies, 308-2113, or Melanie Guentzel with the six-digit account number to be added to the system. We will notify you when your account is available.
GA Type | Stipend | Tuition** | Total Cost |
Full-time (9 credits) | $9,253 | $9300 | $18,553 |
Part-time (6 credits) | $4,627 | $6,200 | $10,827 |
**Based on 2023-24 in-state tuition rate, not including taxes and fees. It is recommended that you add 4% to the tuition costs to estimate costs for 2024-25.
Note: Master's and doctoral students receive tuition remission of 6 or 9 credits at the regular master's level rate (in-state at 500/600). Doctoral students will have the same cost and receive 6 credits of tuition remission at the master's standard campus rate.
Graduate assistantships support graduate student academic progress at St. Cloud State University and further the University's educational mission. Assistantships should provide professional and academic learning opportunities as well as space to apply knowledge gained through the academic program.
Minnesota State’s Student Payroll system can only comply with income tax withholding rules for student employees working in Minnesota.
The system is based on the fiscal year. If you did not save and attach a position description for the next fiscal year or if you forgot to change the year in the position description search box to the next fiscal year, you will have a discrepancy in fiscal years.
Hiring
Verification of F-1 Student's Employment on Campus
Information regarding the employment of international students.
Required Payroll documents for hiring: I-9, W-4, and MN W-4 These documents must contain wet signatures, not digital signatures.
Supervision
Exceptions to Graduate Studies requirements
Complete the Graduate Assistants Petition found on the Forms page.