Preamble

Graduate Assistants and Tuition Scholars are governed by a policy of the Graduate Studies Office. Assistants and Scholars are required to work 15 weeks through the semester. Graduate Assistants work 20 hours per week for the department, tuition scholars 7 hours per week.

The hours Assistants and Scholars are assigned to work for the department or for faculty members are weekly hours. Hours not requested by the department or the faculty do not accumulate over the course of the semester.

The preferred way of communication between Assistants and Scholars and faculty members is e-mail.

Related Policies

●    Graduate Studies Office Policy for Assistants and Scholars

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Duties of the Graduate Program Director

The departmental Graduate Program Director determines the distribution of work hours throughout the semester, informs Assistants and Scholars about their specific weekly assignments at the beginning of each semester, and supervises their service to the department and its faculty.

The Director attempts to distribute work evenly among Assistants and Scholars; however, responsibilities may vary. Only the Director assigns work to the departmental Assistants and Scholars.

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Duties of Faculty Members and Office Staff

Faculty members and staff members

    1.    inform Assistants and Scholars in advance about specific assignments;
    2.    give students adequate time to complete assigned tasks;
supervise the assigned work;
    3.    are mindful of the students' personal time and study plans and their primary goal of attending Villanova University: studying and earning a Master's degree; and
    4.    notify the Program Director if their requirements for assistance change significantly during the semester or if any difficulties arise.

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Duties of Graduate Assistants and Tuition Scholars

Departmental Duties

Departmental duties of Graduate Assistants and Tuition Scholars include

    1.    attending all departmental colloquia;
    2.    participating and assisting in departmental lectures, seminars, forums, and conferences;
proctoring final examinations;
    3.    classroom proctoring (for example, reading announcements, delivering assignments);
    4.    assisting in recruiting efforts (for example, Graduate Open House);
    5.    assisting the Department Chair, Program Director, and main office staff with administrative tasks;
    6.    community building;
    7.    special tasks assigned by the Program Director.

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Assistants to Faculty

Assistants and Scholars also work for individual faculty members, in which case they work under the supervision of the faculty member to whom they are assigned. Duties of Assistants and Scholars who assist faculty include

    8.    working with individual professors in the areas of research and administration (for example, preparing of classroom material; photocopying; developing and maintaining web content).

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Other

Graduate Assistants and Tuition Scholars

    1.    contact the faculty member to whom they are assigned immediately after receiving their assignments from the Program Director;
    2.    carry out their assigned duties and responsibilities in a thorough, timely, and professional manner; and
    3.    notify the Program Director if the work expectations of assigned professors vary significantly from that assigned or if any difficulties arise.

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Exclusions

Duties of Assistants and Scholars currently do not include

    1.    grading examinations;
    2.    grading papers;
    3.    teaching or facilitating discussions in a faculty member’s class;
    4.    working on weekends and during breaks;
    5.    performing activities that are the responsibility of VU faculty or staff members (for example, deliveries or transports of goods or persons by personal or University owned car).

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