Section Two: General Information

Marquette University is committed to the safety of its students, faculty, staff and visitors. Resources and regularly updated information on the COVID-19 pandemic and the university’s response are available at Coronavirus (COVID-19).

If you have accommodation concerns regarding COVID-19 (for example, you are concerned that serving your TA assignment might lead to significant risks to an immunocompromised individual that you live with), please contact the Office of Disability Services Director, Jack Bartelt, at jonathan.bartelt@marquette.edu, who will work to connect you with resources on campus.

Teaching assistants must review this information and are expected to be responsive to changes in their duties as new protocols are established. They will be directed by their program offices as required.

Mission Statement

Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university dedicated to serving God by serving our students and contributing to the advancement of knowledge. Our mission, therefore, is the search for truth, the discovery and sharing of knowledge, the fostering of personal and professional excellence, the promotion of a life of faith, and the development of leadership expressed in service to others.

Excellence

Our students, whether traditional or non-traditional, undergraduate, graduate or professional, come to Marquette University to share our commitment to the pursuit of excellence in all things as a lifelong endeavor. They come to join a community whose members — faculty, staff, students, trustees, alumni and friends alike — believe that education must encompass the whole person: spiritual and moral as well as intellectual, the heart as well as the mind. And they come seeking the educational, professional and cultural advantages of a university located in the heart of the city. We, in turn, take seriously our responsibility to foster and support excellence in teaching and research, to keep a Marquette education accessible to a diverse population of students, and to offer personal attention and care to each member of the Marquette community.

Faith

As a Catholic university, we are committed to the unfettered pursuit of truth under the mutually illuminating powers of human intelligence and Christian faith. Our Catholic identity is expressed in our choices of curricula, our sponsorship of programs and activities devoted to the cultivation of our religious character, our ecumenical outlook, and our support of Catholic beliefs and values. Precisely because Catholicism at its best seeks to be inclusive, we are open to all who share our mission and seek the truth about God and the world, and we are firmly committed to academic freedom as the necessary precondition for that search. We welcome and benefit enormously from the diversity of seekers within our ranks, even as we freely choose and celebrate our own Catholic identity.

Leadership

As a Jesuit university, Marquette embodies the intellectual and religious traditions of the Society of Jesus. Through an academically-rigorous, values-centered curriculum, our students receive a firm grounding in the liberal arts, preparation for work in a world of increasing complexity and diversity, and formation for life as ethical and informed leaders in their religious, cultural, professional and civic communities. They work with and learn from faculty who are true teacher scholars, whose research not only advances the sum of human knowledge, but also informs their teaching, and whose commitment to students is fundamental to their intellectual and professional lives.

Service

Through both our academic and co-curricular programs, Marquette strives to develop men and women who will dedicate their lives to the service of others, actively entering into the struggle for a more just society. We expect all members of the Marquette community, whatever their faith tradition, to give concrete expression to their beliefs by giving of themselves in service to those in need. All this we pursue for the greater glory of God and the common benefit of the human community.

Statement on Human Dignity and Diversity

As a Catholic, Jesuit University, Marquette recognizes and cherishes the dignity of each individual regardless of age, culture, faith, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, language, disability or social class. Precisely because Catholicism at its best seeks to be inclusive, we are open to all who share our mission and seek the truth about God and the world. Through our admissions and employment policies and practices, our curricular and co-curricular offerings, and our welcoming and caring campus environment, Marquette seeks to become a more diverse and inclusive academic community dedicated to the promotion of justice. Our commitment to a diverse community helps us to achieve excellence by promoting a culture of learning, appreciation and understanding. Each member of the Marquette community is charged to treat everyone with care and respect, and to value and treasure our differences. This call to action is integral to the tradition, which we share.

Purpose of an Assistantship

Graduate assistantships are a form of financial aid.

An assistantship enhances students’ graduate educational experiences in a number of ways. Graduate assistants work closely with the faculty and staff in their departments. They receive knowledge and skills to teach undergraduates or more junior graduate students, help faculty with their research, and learn administrative procedures that may be applied to their academic disciplines and future professions. In addition to receiving supervised practical experience, some of the benefits of a graduate assistantship include networking and mentorship opportunities and financial support for tuition and living expenses.

Graduate assistantships are not fellowships or university employment. Assistantships are a form of financial aid, rather than positions managed through Student Employment Services. Distinguished fellowships are also a form of financial aid, they may or may not include required responsibilities, but usually those responsibilities are not connected to a specific department/unit. Student employment, such as tour guides, food service, clerical support, is not a form of financial aid. It is administered through Student Employment Services.

Distinguished fellowships and assistantships may not be held concurrently with graduate assistantships. More information about distinguished fellowships and assistantships is available at https://www.marquette.edu/grad/financial-aid-distinguished-fellowships.php

Full-time graduate assistants may only pursue student employment or off-campus employment of 10 hours per week or less without notifying the Graduate School. See Section 4 for more information regarding outside employment.

Types of Assistantships

Assistantships can be full (20-hours per week) or partial (prorated). Partial awards are usually framed as a percentage of a full award (i.e., a half award). The benefits and expectations of partial awards are usually prorated according to that percentage. The specifications of partial awards are delineated in the award letter.

1. Graduate Teaching Assistantships
   Graduate teaching assistants may serve as instructors of record, or assist faculty in teaching courses including functioning as discussion/laboratory section leaders or in providing other appropriate professional assistance including grading examinations, problem sets, and/or lab assignments, setting up displays for lectures and laboratory sections, and preparing or maintaining equipment used in laboratory sections.
2. Graduate Research Assistantships
   Graduate research assistants are graduate students conducting academically significant research under the direction of a faculty member. Graduate research assistantships are awarded by departments with faculty members engaged in research projects.
3. Graduate Assistantships
   Graduate assistants are appointed for the primary purpose of assisting in classroom or laboratory instruction or in the conduct of research. Graduate assistants are included in this category when differentiating between instruction and research duties is difficult.
4. Graduate Service Assistantships
   Graduate service assistants meet the definition of a graduate assistant except students are not appointed for the primary purpose of assisting in classroom or laboratory instruction or in the conduct of research. Graduate service assistant positions are awarded for the primary purpose of gaining experience, practice or guidance that is significantly connected to the students' fields of study and career preparation. Graduate service assistants typically serve the university outside of an academic department and may provide service to off-campus organizations affiliated with the university. Trinity Fellows are included in this classification.

Funding Sources for Assistantships

The primary sources of funding for graduate assistantships are:

1. The University. These are regular university-funded assistantships (typically from the Graduate School or an academic department). They are typically part of a department’s regular allocation of financial aid. Graduate students on university-funded assistantships will receive award letters, on Graduate School letterhead, signed by a representative of the Graduate School. A link to this handbook is included in the letter. The letter will include the title of the assistantship, and information about the stipend and/or tuition scholarship being offered. Regular university-funded assistantships are administered by the Graduate School.
2. Faculty Grants. These are assistantships funded by sources outside of the university (typically from grants or gifts awarded to faculty). Each of these graduate assistants receives an award letter from their academic department, their academic department’s college, or the principal investigator of the outside grant/gift. A link to this handbook is included in the letter. The letter will include the title of the assistantship, and information about the stipend and/or tuition scholarship being offered.
3. Other Sources. On occasion, a college, administrative, or non-academic department on campus may fund and offer a graduate assistantship from their own funds. These graduate assistants will be notified of the terms of their awards in the manner that is set by those individual departments. These assistantships are subject to this handbook. However, it should be noted that assistantships provided by these funding sources may not receive the same perquisites as assistantships in the first two categories.