Return to Student EmploymentUniversity of Michigan
School of Education
GRADUATE STUDENT EMPLOYMENT POLICY
In 2001, the School of Education (SOE) adopted a policy that limits the employment of its graduate students. The essence of the policy is:
Student appointments in fall and winter terms may not exceed the equivalent of .50 (20 hrs/week) through assistantship (GSI, GSRA, GSSA) or hourly support from the School.
Rationale
This policy is intended to support the view that educationally relevant employment opportunities are valuable for student learning, while at the same time ensuring that work assignments do not interfere with students' timely progress toward completion of degree requirements. In addition, the policy is intended to promote a reasonable and equitable distribution of employment opportunities and resources. This policy applies to all sources of employment of SOE graduate students.
Waivers for Special Circumstances
When special circumstances exist, students may apply for a waiver of the 50% employment limit. Waiver requests should succinctly explain the special circumstances, and must be accompanied by a letter from the student's advisor indicating the likely impact of the additional employment on the student’s progress toward her or his degree. (See below for one case that does not require a waiver.) Foreign students who hold study visas should check the applicable rules for academic year employment before considering offers of additional employment beyond 20 hours per week. Waiver requests should be submitted prior to the term in which the additional work will occur; until the waiver is approved, additional work hours beyond 20 may not be paid.
Exceptional Case
In order to allow students to hold teaching appointments as well as research appointments during their graduate studies, the School of Education has adopted a routine exception to the above-stated policy: students holding a .35 Graduate Student Instructorship (GSI) may also hold in the same term a .25 Graduate Student Research Assistantship (GSRA) or Graduate Student Staff Assistantship (GSSA) or the equivalent in hourly employment (10 hours per week) in the same term. Although Rackham policy limits the amount of time that Rackham Merit Fellowship (RMF) recipients may work, the routine exception to the SOE student employment policy also applies to them. The SOE allows RMF recipients, who are normally supported by a .25 GSRA and .25 fellowship, to hold the equivalent of a .60 appointment in one term by accepting a .35 GSI appointment (in lieu of the .25 GSRA) and combining it with the .25 RMF Fellowship. No waiver is required in these cases.
Download
the waiver cover sheet (Adobe PDF)
