May 6, 2002

TO: Deans, Department Chairs, and Graduate Program Directors

FROM: Ronald Rogers

SUBJECT: GRADUATE ASSISTANT TUITION AWARDS - FALL 2002 AND SPRING 2003

1.0 General - Both In- and Out-of-State

There have been no changes since last year in any aspect of the tuition awards for graduate students. However, please make note of the following important matters which continue to apply to graduate students and assistantships.

(1) Students with conditional admission to a graduate degree program continue to be eligible to hold any type of graduate assistantship. Thus, departments may award a teaching, research, or administrative assistantship to a student with regular or conditional admission without seeking special permission from the Graduate Dean.

(2) A conditionally admitted student whose graduate GPA falls below 3.0 at any time during his or her conditional status will not be allowed to hold a teaching assistantship; however, he or she may hold a research assistantship.

(3) Conditionally and unconditionally (regularly) admitted students will not be placed on academic warning (formerly called probation) until after at least 12 semester hours have been completed with an overall graduate GPA of less than 3.0. (Under the previous policy, unconditionally admitted students could go on academic warning as early as after completing the first 6 hours.)

(4) The Council reaffirmed the policy that the following may not hold graduate assistantships: (a) students in nondegree status; and (b) students on academic warning. Only graduate students are allowed to hold graduate assistantships. Students who have not yet earned a baccalaureate, even if they are participating in programs such as the University Scholars Program, are not allowed to hold graduate assistantships.

(5) Students who have provisional language admission are eligible to hold externally funded research assistantships, but may not take graduate classes and may not hold any type of teaching assistantship or internally funded research assistantship until the language provision has been removed.

1.1 The award of an assistantship of 0.50 FTE or greater that is funded by Academic Affairs as a permanently budgeted Graduate Teaching, Research, or Administrative Assistantship entitles the student to an award equal to the cost of in- and out-of-state tuition for the semester appointed. In order to qualify, each student must be (1) admitted as a degree candidate, (2) enrolled in Graduate or Law School, and (3) have a signed memorandum of appointment on file.

1.2 In order to receive a full tuition award for the semester, the appointment must be made before the last day of the drop period.

1.3 If the assistantship is less than 0.50 FTE, the award is reduced proportionately. For example, a student with 0.25 FTE is entitled to an award equal to half of the student’s total tuition cost. Schedule 2 summarizes the amount of in-state tuition payable by the university for different levels of FTE and residency. The maximum award available for the fall 2002 and spring 2003 semesters will be $1,778 for in-state students and $4,812 for out-of-state students.

1.4 Out-of-state tuition support will only be awarded to students where the assistantship is for 0.25 FTE or greater.

1.5 The budget officer in each college has the information concerning authorized permanently budgeted assistantships, the total number of 0.50 FTE appointments, and the maximum dollar value of the semester tuition grants. These are Permanently budgeted funds allocated by Academic affairs and are held on “2” account budget lines. The Graduate School will not approve any requests in excess of these limits unless separate authorization has been obtained from Academic Affairs.

1.6 Where an assistantship of 0.25 FTE or greater is supported from externally sponsored research funds, and the agency will pay the in-state tuition only, then the student will be entitled to an award from Graduate School funds for the out-of-state portion of the tuition. The amount of the award will be prorated in the same way as regular awards based upon the FTE of the appointment. The “Special Request for Out-of-State Tuition Award” form should be used to claim this award and should be forwarded to the Office of the Contract Accounting for certification.

1.7 No award is available if the assistantship is connected with auxiliary or self-supporting activities or is paid from state line items or any other permanently budgeted funds that are NOT allocated by Academic Affairs.

1.8 Students paid on an hourly basis cannot be supported under these arrangements.

1.9 All non-native speakers of English must successfully complete the University’s International Teaching Assistant Program (ITAP) before they can hold any teaching assistantship (category 4005 and 4401 occupation codes).

2.1 For graduate assistants to have their fall tuition accounts cleared by the Office of Student Receivables before the initial bills are mailed, all tuition award forms must be forwarded to reach the Graduate School by June 28, 2002. All forms not requiring Graduate School approval must be forwarded to Student Receivables by July 5, 2002. For spring semester 2003 the dates are provisionally set for October 28, 2002 (Graduate School) and November 4, 2002 (Student Receivables).

3.1 Please use the new forms to request tuition awards under these arrangements. Electronic versions of these forms can be copied from the Graduate School website at http://www.graduate.ua.edu/assistantship.html. The older forms will no longer be accepted for the new academic year.

3.2 The “Teaching Assistants” form (Schedule 3) is used for all assistants who will be teaching classes in any form or fashion during the fall semester. Please ensure that each student who is included on this form is entitled to teach according to the SACS’ requirements, in particular the academic qualifications. For each student, you must ensure that the SACS rules are satisfied. You may use the flow charts on Schedules 5 and 6 to assist in determining which form to use.

3.3 When completing these forms, please ensure that you note whether or not the student satisfied the 18-hour rule by recording the fact in the last column. If the student does not satisfy the rule, then the student CANNOT have primary responsibility for teaching and may only assist an instructor of record.

3.4 Both the Dean and the Dept. Head or Program Director must sign the Teaching Assistants form.

3.5 The “Research, Administrative, & Other Assistants” form (Schedule 6) is used for all other assistants who are not teaching.

3.6 Either the Dean or the Department/Program Head may sign the Research, Administrative, & Other Assistantships form.

3.7 Where the student is approved under a permanently budgeted assistantship only these forms are required; you do not have to complete a separate out-of-state tuition form as the student receivable system will automatically calculate the appropriate tuition award based upon the student’s residency. You need only include the amount of the in-state tuition award on these forms.

3.8 The “Contract and Grant Tuition and Fees” form (Schedule 7) is used for graduate assistants, both teaching and research, who are appointed under any funds paid from “5” or “2-81” accounts. The same SACS rules apply for teaching assistants. These forms are prepared by departments and approved initially by Contracts and Grants Accounting office. This authorizes payment of tuition awards from the relevant budget code. Please contact the Contracts and Grants Accounting office for further information.

3.9 The “Special Request for Out-of-State Tuition Award” form (Schedule 8). As indicated above, for students approved under a permanently budgeted assistantship, these forms are no longer required. They are however still required for the following:

A student who is being supported by a department from a non-permanent budget line for in-state tuition.

A student who qualifies for Academic Common Market support.

Students sponsored under the Capstone International Program Center and whom the Office approves for Academic Affairs.

Law School sponsored students.

National Student Exchange Program students approved by the NSE Coordinator

4.1 Departmental awards may be made where budget is available. The appropriate tuition awards forms must be completed and forwarded to the Graduate School including the account code for charging the in-state tuition award.

4.2 Graduate students paid from restricted funds, self-supporting budgets, or budgets of auxiliary activities are not eligible for out-of-state tuition awards under this program.

4.3 Graduate assistants whose appointments are terminated before the end of the academic semester are eligible for reduced tuition awards as shown in Schedule 9.

If you have any questions concerning tuition awards for the fall and spring semesters, please contact Mr. John Chambers at the Graduate School office on 8-8282. This memo and its contents are displayed on the Graduate School’s website under Administrative Updates at: http://www.graduate.ua.edu/admin_updates/index.html

The attachments with this memo are:

1. The University of Alabama Graduate Assistant Tuition Policy

2. Teaching and Research Assistants’ Tuition Payments

3. Teaching Assistants In State Tuition Form (.PDF Format)

4. Determination of Graduate Assistantship Type

5. SACS 18-Hour Rule

6. Research, Administrative, & Other Assistants (.PDF Format)

7. Contract and Grant Tuition & Fees

8. Special Request for Out Of State Tuition Award for Graduate Assistants (.PDF Format)

9. Graduate Assistantships - Effect of Early Withdrawal/Resignation

RR/JEC/jc