Faculty Forms and Information for Supporting Graduate Students
Graduate Stipends and Contract Forms
Overview
Graduate assistantships in the form of RA/TA/GA are contracts created to compensate
graduate students for their efforts within the department on academic activities or
on tasks related to research projects. Student involvement in these research and academic
activities provide an invaluable educational experience towards their professional
careers. Students will gain research, teaching, and/or administrative skills under
the direct supervision or mentoring of an NMT Faculty or Staff.
The student efforts on these contracts are allocated based on a full time equivalent
(FTE) of a 40 hour work week. Student involvement in these activities can be at 0.25
FTE (10hrs), 0.33 FTE (14hrs) or 0.5 FTE (20hrs) level per week during the academic
year. There are minimums that must be met and are prorated based on the fraction of
an FTE. A maximum of 0.5 FTE (20 hours per week) is allowed during the academic year.
Compensable component, i.e. hours listed on the contract represent the average level
of effort spent on the contract and should be representative of the amount work expected
to complete specific tasks required by the funding source. Students are not required
to work during Academic holidays and hours may be averaged over several weeks to allow
flexibility to take extra time off around the holidays with approval of their supervisor.
In the case of research assistantships the contracted work may be related to the student’s
thesis or dissertation, it is expected that the completion of the work for the thesis
or dissertation will consume far more time than is allocated in the graduate assistantship
contract. This additional time is considered as part of their education. The research
assistantship covers the compensable component of the project to be performed by the
student. The non-compensable components of the student’s research which are required
for the successful completion of thesis or dissertation will require additional time on the part of the student.
Graduate assistantships are awarded at a minimum of 0.25 FTE (10 hours/week).
2025-2026 Suggested Contract Start and End Dates [PDF]
Domestic students must complete their I-9 before they can begin working. Their start date cannot
be earlier than the I-9 completion date. Confirm with the student that the I-9 is
complete before entering a start date.
All students on contracts must be registered for at least 12 credit hours during the
fall and spring semesters, and at least 3 credit hours during the summer.
Graduate Contract Form
To initiate a contract, please follow the steps outlined below. Initiators can only be NMT staff or faculty.
Access the link and provide the student’s first name, last name, and email address.
Once redirected to the contract page, enter your initials and click 'Submit' to complete
this step (you will enter the contract information once the student fills their section).
The student will receive the contract and will be able to complete the rest of the
required information in the student section.
Following this, the initiator will get the contract back to enter the final details,
including account numbers, start and end dates, job hours, and contact information
for supervisors, department chairs, and/or program directors.
If you have grants that don't start at the beginning of the semester or will end mid
semester, or the grant doesn't allow tuition remission, please contact Sponsored Research
and the Office of Graduate Studies to initiate a manual contract below.
For more information about tuition remission please refer to our FAQ page. If you can't find the answers you are looking for please contact the graduate office.
All graduate students and advisors should read the graduate student guide in the Student
Handbook and refer to this for processes to support degree progress and completion.
