Each year, the Graduate Studies Office allocates funds to each college for Graduate Service Appointments (GSAs). These are a vital source of financial aid for many EWU graduate students and are intended for your use as a recruitment tool. GSA funds are available to your department through your college dean’s office.
The links below provide detailed information about requirements and conditions of these awards:
All students with a GSA position are expected to work an average of 20 hours per week and may not accept any other type of employment or compensation from EWU. If faculty need GSAs to work during a break, they must request this exception from the Graduate Studies Office who will extend their GSA contract dates. The department must cover the additional expense of wages during the extended time. GSAs working during a break cannot engage in any type of work outside their GSA responsibilities. They may work no more than 29 hours per week during the break.
Contractual terms vary, but they usually include discounted tuition, an hourly wage, sick leave, and discounted premium for optional health insurance. The discounted tuition waiver is funded through Graduate Studies and the wage is funded by the college. The discounted tuition waiver does not cover fees.
Because non-resident tuition is significantly higher than resident tuition, fewer waivers are allocated to cover nonresident tuition. It is possible to offer a non-resident student a resident-level waiver. In such cases, the student is responsible for paying the difference between the totals for non-resident tuition and fees and the resident-level tuition waiver.
A portion of the total funding for GSA waivers is allocated for outstanding students who demonstrate financial need. Only Washington residents are eligible for this subset of overall GSA funds. To be considered for a need-based GSA waiver, applicants must have completed the FAFSA (Free Application Federal Student Aid). Washington resident students who have completed the FAFSA and applied for a GSA need not take any other steps to be considered for a need-based GSA.
GSAs may start working before the first day of classes, if required for training purposes. They may begin fall employment anytime after the 16th of the month. GSAs may work after the end of the term, if required for grading purposes.
Please work with your college financial officer to ensure the correct start and end dates are submitted to Human Resources prior to the start of each term. If specific dates are not specified, then the GSA start and end dates will coincide with the term start and end dates.
GSAs are not available in self-support programs.
Grant-funded GSAs must be secured through the department and the Grants office. The Graduate Studies office does not provide grant-funded GSAs.
GSAs working out of state must contact the Payroll office. Special payroll taxes may be required.
Helpful downloadable checklists:
Hiring is the responsibility of the department. All GSA applicants must complete the GSA application. The GSA Application Form is available online. Applications should be submitted directly to the department or office in which the applicant seeks an appointment.
You must document the selection process and follow it equitably for all students. You must have a written job description for each GSA position. For units who require interviews, it is helpful to have set interview questions and a scoring rubric. GSA processes are subject to audit by the state of Washington. You must retain all documents and time-sheets and be prepared to verify you have selected the most qualified candidates.
All responsibilities and job duties of the GSA must be documented, signed, and agreed upon by the program director, the supervisor, and the GSA. You must keep copies on file of your job descriptions and selection processes.
Eastern Washington University requires background checks for all GSAs. Background checks must be completed prior to the first day of employment.
More information may be found in the University’s policy on Background Screening. Questions should be directed to Human Resources, which administers the background check process, or to the Graduate Studies Administrative Assistant.
The background check consists of two parts:
- Applicant certification (sexual misconduct disclosure)
- Pre-employment criminal and/or credit background check.
- APPLICANT CERTIFICATION (SEXUAL MISCONDUCT DISCLOSURE)
- Beginning July 1, 2021, prior to making an official offer of employment, the required Applicant Certification (sexual misconduct disclosure) must be submitted and fully processed by Human Resources.
- All applicants are required to submit the sexual misconduct disclosure as part of their job application.
- Applicants submit the sexual misconduct disclosure to the department.
- Sexual misconduct disclosure forms are uploaded with the online waiver eligibility request when waiver eligibility is requested.
- The deadline for offering waivers and submitting sexual misconduct disclosures is June 1, 2021.
- The sexual misconduct disclosure review process could take 2-4 weeks, or longer.
- Departments are encouraged to establish a pool of applicants, even those not selected for the position. This allows for backup applicants who have been vetted. Consider vetting a few more applicants than you plan to hire. Plan ahead.
- Forms submitted late summer may not be processed by the start of the Fall term, thus causing your GSA to delay their start date possibly to the next term.
- If a candidate declines an offer, please notify Leslie Swannack as soon as possible so Human Resources may be notified. This will prevent unnecessary follow-up for an applicant who has declined an offer of employment.
- PRE-EMPLOYMENT CRIMINAL AND/OR CREDIT BACKGROUND CHECK
- You are responsible for requesting the background check from Human Resources. You can do this by sending a request to Nicki Marston at nmarston@ewu.edu. Include student’s name, email and ID number.
Upon accepting the award, recipients should bring required identification (as required by the I-9 form) to the office of the academic dean who signed the offer letter or to the department in order to complete the following forms:
- W-4: Federal withholding
- Employee demographics: Used only for affirmative-action aggregate reporting purposes
- Statement of Personal Ineligibility (Retirement Declaration) Form: Enables the University to comply with Washington Administrative Code
- SSA-1945 (Social Security Declaration) Form: Allows EWU to comply with the Social Security Protection Act of 2004. Recipients of a GSA are not eligible for retirement or other employee benefits. Recipients must bring their Social Security card to verify the identity on the W-4 form matches the identity on the Social Security
- I-9 (employment eligibility) Form: The I-9 must be accompanied by the required form(s) of identification and must be completed in person. After recipients arrive on campus, they must fill out the top section of the form and bring it along with the necessary
Each college will have their own process for filing this documentation. Your students will need to know where to submit their forms. Please coordinate with your dean’s office to ensure that you are following the appropriate college procedure. Copies of these forms can be found at Human Resources – Forms and Documents.
It is your responsibility to ensure GSAs work an average of 20 hours per week. This is state law. GSAs will be required to complete weekly time-sheets in EagleNet. Check with Administration in the Graduate Studies Office for the current payroll process.
Hourly compensation is paid twice monthly during each academic quarter. Dates can be found on the Paydays & Web Timesheet Schedules on the Payroll webpage https://sites.ewu.edu/financialservices/office-of-controller/payroll/ . Recipients are strongly encouraged to arrange for direct deposit of hourly compensation.
Supervisors are responsible for approving timesheets. No approval, no paycheck.
Recipients of a GSA waiver have their own specific benefits which differ from general university employment benefits. GSAs are eligible for the following:
- Health insurance at a discount. The plan covers unlimited medical expenses, with deductibles. This is a comprehensive insurance plan that satisfies insurance requirements mandated by the Affordable Care Act. It is a more robust plan than that provided by the mandatory comprehensive health and wellness (CHW) fee that all EWU students pay as part of their fees. Please direct your students who wish to enroll to the Graduate Studies Administrative Assistant or to the following benefits webpage.
- Sick leave is accrued at a rate of 1 hour sick leave for every 40 hours worked. Sick leave must be reported via EagleNET timesheets.
- Waivers do not cover all fees. Other fees not paid are course/program fees. Fees not covered could total $600+ per term. These are the responsibility of the student.
