7. Graduate Associates and Fellows

7.1. Graduate Associate Appointments

A graduate student’s principal objective is to earn a graduate degree. Appointment as a graduate associate (GA) contributes to this objective by providing an apprenticeship experience along with financial support. NGSP students are appointed as Graduate Research Associates (GRAs).

A Graduate Research Associate (GRA) is a currently enrolled, full-time graduate student who performs research services in addition to the student’s doctoral research. In the case of NGSP students the term “research services” refers to the research that they perform during their laboratory rotations and the thesis research that they perform in the laboratory of their advisor, and their job duties in this capacity are determined by their advisor.

7.2. Graduate Fellow Appointments

A Graduate School fellowship is a financial award made by the university directly to a graduate student to provide support during a portion of the graduate degree program. Fellows are selected on the basis of academic merit through a university-wide competition without respect to financial need. Graduate fellows cannot be required to perform a service in return for receiving a stipend.

7.3. Stipends

Graduate student stipends will be established according to policies adopted by the Graduate School and the NGSP. General practice has been to implement any raises on October 1 or when funds are available. Graduate faculty who are supporting graduate students are urged to follow the pay scales used by the NGSP to minimize stipend differentials between NGSP students.

For the first year, the stipend of each NGSP student is paid by the NGSP; starting from the first day of appointment on October 1. Beginning October 1 of the following year, stipends are paid by the student’s advisor. Graduate students receive stipends at the end of the month every month. Although students on Graduate Research Associate appointments are dependent on their advisor’s grant funding for their stipend after the first year, the NGSP will make every effort to find alternative sources or mechanisms of support should a student’s advisor lose that funding.

Each year the Graduate School establishes the stipend for first-year fellows. NGSP will supplement the stipend first-year fellows receive from the Graduate School in order to raise it to the program’s current pay level.

7.4. Fee Waivers

Students will be awarded full tuition and general fee waivers for the quarters during which they are supported as Graduate Research Associates or Fellows on school funds or on funds coming from research grants and contracts carrying full overhead, such as those awarded by the NIH and NSF. Students are responsible for the student activity fee, recreational fee and COTA bus fee each quarter. 

7.5. Term of Appointment and Vacation Days

Graduate Associates have one year appointments that are renewed annually until the student graduates. Appointments for new NGSP students begin on October 1.

First-year fellows are normally appointed for up to four consecutive quarters--autumn through summer quarter.

Students will receive all legal holidays as identified in the University calendar. Other arrangements can be made for special religious days not recognized by the Calendar by consulting with the student’s advisor. Additional vacation or rescheduling of workload is made by arrangement with the student's advisor.

7.6. Termination of Appointment

The appointment of a Graduate Associate may be terminated if:

• he/she is no longer enrolled as a graduate student or;
• he/she is carrying less than nine (9) credits in the Fall, Winter or Spring pre-candidacy (15 for graduate fellows), less than seven (7) credits in the Summer pre-candidacy (15 for graduate fellows), or less than three (3) credits in any quarter post-candidacy;
• he/she completes the graduate program before her/his appointment expires; or
• her/his performance is determined to be unsatisfactory.

The appointment of a Graduate Associate may also be terminated if neither the advisor nor the Program can obtain sufficient funds to fund the position. This could arise due to extreme fiscal constraints, but such a situation would be highly unusual.

Termination prior to the end of the current 1-year appointment period requires approval of the Graduate School.

A Graduate School fellowship may be terminated at the discretion of the Dean of the Graduate School prior to the end of the award period for any of the following reasons:

• the fellow is no longer enrolled in the Graduate School
• the fellow is registered for fewer than 15 hours of graduate credit or fewer than three graduate credits if the fellow is a post-candidacy doctoral student
• the fellow fails to maintain reasonable progress toward meeting graduate degree requirements or fails to maintain good standing
• the fellow receives a terminal degree
• the fellow changes enrollment status outside the limits of the original agreement, including entry into a graduate and/or professional combined program or transfers to another graduate and/or professional program, without obtaining prior written approval from the appropriate graduate programs and the Dean of the Graduate School to transfer the fellowship. Such a change could result in the loss of the fellowship and/or full fee authorization support. (The transfer of graduate program and the transfer of fellowship are two separate procedures.)
• the fellow accepts employment or any other type of financial support without the approval of the Graduate School
• the fellow has been found in violation of the professional codes of ethics and responsibilities of the university. These codes include, but are not limited to, the Graduate Student Code of Research and Scholarly Conduct and the Code of Student Conduct. Violations are determined through the formal disciplinary and/or grievance procedures established by recognized bodies of the university.

7.7. Rights and Privileges

Graduate Associates and Fellows are entitled to due process in the event of any grievance. The Director(s) of the Graduate Studies Committee is the initial point of contact for problem resolution and should be consulted for assistance with problems. Each student also has the right to consult with the NGSP committee and the Graduate School. Grievances should be resolved at the lowest administrative level possible.