Resources

• Graduate School's page on Student Employment: categories, eligibility, duties, and other requirements

Hiring a Student Employee

Faculty who have received a notification email from the EDP Executive Assistant regarding permission to hire a student employee must submit the name and EID of the student, as well as the details of their assignment (e.g. which course or research project the student will be working on) to the EA by the deadline requested. The student and faculty should carefully review the UT graduate student employment criteria to ensure student meets all UT and Graduate School hiring criteria.

The signed TA or GRA Agreement form must also be submitted prior to start of employment:

• TA Agreement Form
• GRA Agreement Form

Performance Evaluations

University policy requires that graduate student employees work under the supervision of a regular faculty member, who must file a written evaluation of the student's work performance with the Department Chair at the close of each semester. EDP Executive Assistant will send evaluation links to faculty supervisors near the end of each semester. Completed evaluations are kept on file digitally in UT Box.

GRA Salary Rates

The starting GRA salary will be increased by the same percentage as the TA rate increase annually. Principal Investigators are welcome to offer salaries above these rates, when their budget allows. The chart below assumes a 3% raise each year, however, the TA merit raises have varied between 2-5% in recent years. DO NOT share this with students as there is no guarantee these rates will be accurate or approved by the sponsor.

TA Assignment Policy

TA allotments must fit within the annual budget determined by the COE Finance Office. In appointing TAs, every effort will be made to honor the preferences of faculty with the following considerations:

1. Students to whom TA commitments have been made as part of recruitment packages must first be assigned.
2. No student may be assigned to more than 20 hours of TA/AI within EDP per semester.
3. No student may be employed for more than 30 hours total per semester. 
4. The student meets all UT and EDP criteria for Student Employment >

EDP Executive Assistant will notify faculty of their TA allocation via email according to the following timeline. The Department asks program areas to work together to prioritize their most deserving students when assigning Teaching Assistants, and will copy Area Chairs on TA allocations to help facilitate this coordination. Note: Department Chair review and approval is required before TA offers may be made to students.

• May 1: Summer/Fall allotment decision
• Mid-November: Spring allotment decision

Full-Time (100% Appointment) Faculty

1. All Full-Time faculty will be assigned 10 hours of TA support each long semester that they teach.
2. Faculty teaching high-enrollment courses (>60) may be assigned 10 additional TA hours per section at Chair discretion.
3. Faculty with Administrative assignments (Area Chairs, Department Chair, and Graduate Adviser) may choose EITHER a 1-course release OR an additional 10 hours of TA support. 

Part-Time and Phased Retired Faculty

1. TA assignments for Part-Time faculty are based on budget/enrollment and are made at Chair discretion.

Summer Semesters

Only 20 hour/week TA assignments are made in the Summer, and those hours may only be assigned to one student (vs. split between two students). Summer EDP courses generally do not receive TA support, with the following exception:

1. Faculty teaching high-enrollment courses (>60) may be assigned TA hours at Chair discretion.