GSA Waiver Processing

All Chairs should work with their College to plan for their departmental GSA appointments in their fiscal year Axiom budget submission to Academic Affairs. This plan serves as the college/department’s formal request for the upcoming 2026-2027 Academic Year.

The Budget Plan submission must include the following information for all anticipated GSA positions the college intends to fund using EWU state-funded or self-support accounts (Index 1 or Index 2):

• Hourly Rate: Budget hourly rate amount per fiscal-year, including summer and academic-year breaks, in accordance with Student Employment Job Descriptions and classification Salary Ranges as an expenditure within Account Code 62400.
• Waiver Type/Commitment: Specify the type of institutional waiver requested in the comments sections;
  • Operating Fee Waiver – see definition below
  • Qualified Tuition Reduction – see definition below.

Review and Allocation

1. Provost/Director of Planning & Budgeting Approval: Final approval of the total GSA OFW budget and the allocation to colleges/departments rests with the Provost and the Director of Planning & Budgeting.
2. Colleges will be notified of their approved budget submission by no later than March 15th. Departments may not offer institutional tuition waivers that exceed their finalized allocation.
3. The Office of Graduate Studies will review all individual GSA requests for completeness and alignment with current GSA policies and institutional priorities.

While all Graduate Student Assistantship (GSA) appointments are awarded for one academic year at a time, the university prioritizes the renewal and continuity of satisfactory GSA appointments, particularly Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs). This expedited internal process must be completed before new GSA recruitment efforts begin for the upcoming academic year.

Note: The GSO will use the confirmed number of continuing GSA renewals when reviewing and finalizing the college/department’s overall Waiver Budged Plan (See Waiver Planning and Budget Submission).

Graduate Assistantships are provided to top-tier graduate students looking to advance their graduate education and experience at Eastern Washington University. The GSA Request process is designed to streamline communication between the support units: Grants, Graduate Studies, Student Employment, Student Financial Services, Financial Aid, each program, and college.

1. In accordance with the waiver plan, and beginning in February, programs file a GSA Request Form for their top-tier candidates.
2. Once submitted, an approval workflow notification is sent to the Dean’s Financial Officer, who will review the funding for the request.
3. If approved, the Graduate Office reviews the waiver plan, hourly wage, and submission package.
4. If approved, the prospective student receives a GSA Offer Letter. Offer contingency and eligibility language are included. This includes training, attestation, and satisfactory academic progress requirements. (A GSA Offer Letter template is in Appendix A.)

If the tuition is waived, the student will receive waiver information.
If the tuition is remitted by an external grant, the letter will contain grant information.

5.  Departments should provide any offer letters to prospective students no later than April 1^st, 2026, to ensure students are considering EWU graduate assistantship offers.

Graduate assistantships are limited to those pursuing programs of study leading to advanced degrees at Eastern Washington University. Eligibility for admission to a graduate program, as well as eligibility for graduate assistantships, are determined by the Graduate Programs Office.

1. For Initial Graduate Assistantship Appointments: 

• Admission by the Graduate Programs Office to a specific graduate program, with graduate (GR) status, is required. Banner form “SAAADMS” can be used to verify admissions status.
  • Non-matriculated, undergraduate, and post-baccalaureate students are not eligible for assistantships.
• Students admitted with support of an assistantship are required to successfully clear two different background checks.
  • Sexual misconduct as required by RCW Chapter 28B.112
  • Criminal misconduct
• Candidates must have received a bachelor’s degree before the beginning of the graduate service assistantship.
• Training for Title IX, Hazing, and DEI is required.

2. All Graduate Assistantship Appointments:

• Must meet satisfactory academic progress and adhere to the requirements of the EWU Graduate Student Policy 303-22.
• GSAs may not be employed by the university in any other position per the Temporary Employment Policy 407-01, section 5-3.
• Must register for and complete 2 to 8 graduate-level credits per academic term.
• Students with Research Assistantships must complete the Responsible Conduct of Research training with the Office of Grant and Research Development (OGRD) within their first academic term.

1. Refer to the following graduate assistantship classifications and compensation effective January 1, 2026.

2. Assistantship General Description Overview of Roles

a. Graduate Teaching Assistant (TA) is an assistantship appointment in which a graduate student’s primary duty is teaching or serving as a teaching assistant. The TA may assist faculty in teaching undergraduate courses and labs, grading examinations, problem sets, or lab assignments, setting up displays for lectures and labs, or preparing or maintaining laboratory equipment. TAs are available to qualified graduate students in academic departments. Students should contact their department/program to inquire about TA opportunities. All TA appointments must note the course(s) assignments on the Payroll Action Form.

b. Graduate Research Assistant (RA) research assistantship (RA) is an appointment in which a graduate student is engaged in research under a faculty member’s supervision. The faculty member is generally a principal investigator on a grant or contract.

c. Graduate Staff Assistant (SA) is an assistantship appointment in which a graduate student engages in service that enhances the educational pursuits at EWU. The SA provides academic and administrative program support for units such as student services offices. These appointments require approval from the student’s faculty advisor.

3. Graduate Assistantship appointments are typically half-time positions (requiring an average of 20 hours of work per week) during the term of the appointment. Graduate Assistantship appointments that are quarter-time service (requiring an average of 10 hours of work per week) during the term of appointment receive a pro-rated operating fee waiver or qualified tuition waiver.

4. Once the Department Chair has determined that a position is available and that a prospective graduate student is eligible for admission with regular graduate student status, the Chair or Graduate Program Director may make an unofficial offer of a graduate appointment to the student, subject ultimately to administrative approval by the College.

5. Department Chairs are responsible for monitoring their graduate appointments, assistantships and availability of funds. Exercise care to stipulate accurately the salary and terms of the appointment when making unofficial offers. When making an assistantship offer, the template letters provided by the Graduate Programs Office should be used. Copies of the offer letters should be sent to the Graduate Programs Office or made available in Etrieve and retained in accordance with the EWU Records and Retention schedule.

6. The Graduate Programs Office and Grants Office must receive all accepted offer letters no later than August 15th. The Graduate Programs Office submits all employee documents to Human Resources on or before August 20th. Employee documents and processes include the following.

• • Accepted Offer Letter
  • Criminal Background Check
  • Sexual Misconduct Form and Background Check
  • Payroll Action Form
  • W-4 Federal Withholding Form
  • I-9 Employment Eligibility Form
  • Employee Demographics Form
  • Proof of Vaccination or Immunity to Measles, Mumps, or Rubella or Approved Exemption
  • Social Security Declaration Form
  • Proof of COVID-19 Full Vaccination or Approved Exemption

7. Graduate Teaching Assistants are not authorized to teach a course that carries graduate-level credit. They may assist with a graduate course, but they cannot bear the major responsibility for the course delivery or participate in evaluating other graduate students or assigning grades.

1. External Grant Tuition (Qualified Tuition Reduction (QTR))

To ensure financial stability, all external grant proposals that include GSA funding must budget for the corresponding GSA tuition. Institutional tuition waivers (OFW) will not be routinely provided for externally funded GSAs.

• Core Rule (QTR): Grant budgets must cover the full associated tuition costs (Qualified Tuition Reduction – QTR) for the GSA’s appointment duration.
• Waiver Use: Institutional waivers (OFW) are strictly reserved for appointments funded by internal university sources (Index 1 or Index 2), unless a formal exemption is approved.
• QTR Payroll Processing: If the grant is funded, the department must track and charge the QTR value against the grant budget/index. Indicate the QTR index in the comments field of the Payroll Action Form. Contact OGRD immediately if the QTR source changes mid-term.

Mandatory Review: Exemptions are rare and require review by the Principal Investigator (PI), Director of Grants & Research (OGRD), Director of Graduate Studies (OGS), and final approval by the Dean of Graduate Studies & Research.

2. Institutional Waiver Details (OFW & NR)

Institutional waivers support GSA appointments funded by EWU’s internal budgets (Index 1 or Index 2). Waivers are not available for summer terms or self-support programs.

3. Financial Responsibility and Termination

• Student Responsibility: Waivers do not cover mandatory student fees or the small portion of tuition that cannot be waived by State law. GSAs must pay all mandatory student fees each term.
• Appointment Changes: Decreasing duration or FTE to below 25% may result in immediate termination or prorating of the OFW/NR waiver. The student is responsible for any resulting tuition balance.
• Termination Impact: If the GSA is terminated for poor academic performance, the student retains the OFW/NR waivers for the term, but a QTR (grant funding) terminates immediately upon employment termination.

Graduate students on >50% assistantships (enrolled for a minimum of 8 credits) are entitled to the Graduate Student Health Insurance Medical Plan. Contact the Graduate Programs Office for further details.

1. During the term of their appointments, all graduate student appointees are expected to be at work during their scheduled workdays, with the exception of official university holidays.
2. Students appointed to Assistantships earn sick leave at a rate of 1.0 hour for every 40 hours worked.
3. Graduate students on appointment do not earn annual leave (vacation leave).
4. All University holidays are designated by the Board of Trustees and are posted on the Human Resource website.

Fall 2025 – Spring 2026 Fees

*Only applies to international students.