Letter C
Graduate Assistant

New Appointment - Fall and Fall/Spring
Research Support Only

Dear ______:                                                                              

I am pleased to offer you an appointment as a [full-time/half-time] Graduate Assistant in the [Department] of [School or College]. As a support to our research endeavors, you will receive a stipend of $______ for the [Fall/Spring semester, academic year], payable in biweekly installments. [Additional support from this and/or other sources may be available for the summer period.]  This appointment requires that you devote to this assistantship [20/10] hours per week.  The research you will be doing is competitively funded and may become associated with your dissertation research, so it will be to your advantage to invest significant effort.  The degree to which you succeed on the research project will determine, at least in part, the time it will take you to complete your degree requirements.

You will receive the first of your biweekly stipend payments at the close of the pay period in which you are hired, contingent upon all required documentation being in place.  We advise that you plan with this state-regulated schedule in mind.  The continuation of your assistantship is conditional upon acceptance of an approved I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification Form). 

Your appointment will start on [DATE] and extend through [DATE] and is contingent upon your full time registration (6 credits or more).  Your supervising faculty member [NAME] will arrange your schedule with you. This appointment may be renewable in future years, subject to the continued availability of funds, departmental needs and satisfactory progress in your degree program. We see this appointment as a complement to your progress toward the [M.A. /Ph.D.] degree.

Your appointment carries a full tuition waiver. To receive the full value of this waiver, you must begin your assistantship duties within ten working days of the start of your appointment. If your arrival on campus is delayed beyond that date for some reason, it will result in a pro-rated decrease in the amount of the tuition waiver or your assistantship may be cancelled. In addition to your tuition waiver, the University provides an opportunity to purchase highly subsidized health insurance under the Graduate Assistant plans.  Your enrollment or waiver of this insurance must be completed within 30 days of your appointment date.  Materials and information are provided at http://www.hr.uconn.edu/infogrd2.html.    

[Insert specifics on the research the individual will be doing and other departmental expectations.]

Please indicate your acceptance of this offer by signing below and returning one copy of the letter with your original signature no later than [DATE].

Sincerely,

Department Head

I ACCEPT THIS GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIP APPOINTMENT UNDER THE TERMS DESCRIBED ABOVE.

_____________________________________                          ___________________________
Signature                                                                                               Date

cc:   Dean
        Payroll Department

Reviewed April 2008