Academic Achievement Graduate Assistantships | The Graduate School

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Academic Achievement Graduate Assistantships

Academic Achievement Graduate Assistantships help graduate programs recruit and then retain graduate students whose enrollment will support our commitment to inclusive excellence and contribute to the academic strength of their program.

Because this is a recruitment assistantship, departments can decide to offer the AAGA recipient a teaching or research assistantship with a reduced time commitment during his/her first Graduate School-funded year in the program. The Graduate School recognizes the different opportunities and responsibilities of assistantships across graduate programs.

Units are encouraged to offer AAGAs to admitted applicants whom they expect to receive offers of financial assistance from other universities or who have externally funded fellowships.

Please Note: AAGA funding is for recruiting new students. It is not meant to be a funding mechanism for returning students.

Application Process

The completed nomination forms must be submitted by graduate program directors and nominating faculty to the graduate associate deans of their colleges who will then evaluate these applications before submitting them to the Graduate School.

The Graduate School will then notify the graduate program directors and college graduate associate deans of the decisions within two weeks of the receipt of the application package. The target for the 2024-2025 academic year will be approximately 75 students.

Please note: In accordance with state law, the selection process “shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin”.

Additional Application Materials

In addition to the nomination form, the following must be included in the application:

Departmental Funding Statement
- A letter of nomination (500 words minimum) from the graduate program director, or a faculty member who will advise or work closely with the student, that precisely explains how the nominee meets the criteria for the assistantship.
Letter of Nomination
- A letter of nomination (500 words minimum) from the graduate program director, or a faculty member who will advise or work closely with the student, that precisely explains how the nominee meets the criteria for the assistantship.
Statement of Commitment
- An explicit statement of commitment to mentoring and supporting the student that includes adjustments that might be made due to differences in culture, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic and educational background, etc.
Access, Opportunity, and Excellence Statement
- A Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Statement (500 words minimum) that includes the following:
  1. A demographic description of the department’s graduate student body according to the categories identified by the MSU Office of Planning and Budgets (i.e., gender and racial/ethnic federal category).
  2. A brief overview of the issues and/or challenges related to diversity and inclusion in the graduate program.
  3. A discussion of recent efforts to diversify the graduate student population.
  4. Any plans for future diversity and inclusion recruitment activities and initiatives.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the AAGA, the nominee must:

hold a bachelor’s degree at the time that the assistantship is awarded and demonstrate a record of excellent academic achievement.
be a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident of the United States, or a DACA Recipient
have an offer of admission into a graduate program and have the academic credentials normally required for a graduate assistantship in the discipline.

A nominee can meet the additional criteria in multiple ways, hence we encourage a holistic review of the nominee to determine eligibility. AAGA nominees should meet one, preferably more, of the following criteria:

ability to enhance the educational diversity of the student body of the program into which they are admitted.
personal history and experience of overcoming obstacles (such as economic/financial hardships and social, and/or educational disadvantages).
come from an educational, cultural, or geographic background that is underrepresented in graduate study in the discipline.
have demonstrated a commitment to diversity in the academic, professional, or civic realm through their work experience and volunteer efforts.
are the first generation in their families to graduate from a 4‐year college or university.
leadership potential for diverse communities and demonstrated promotion of understanding among persons of different backgrounds and ideas.
attendance at small liberal arts colleges, HBCUs, HSIs, or MSIs.
participation in programs for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds like the Federal TRIO Programs (such as the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program) and, in particular, the Summer Research Opportunities Program at MSU and throughout the Big Ten Academic Alliance.

Funding

Funds are provided directly to the colleges to offer these assistantships as part of the overall financial aid package needed to attract these students to MSU and as an overall part of the total graduate assistant budget available in the college for general support of all graduate students.

The Graduate School provides the first year (two semesters) of funding for the AAGA recipient, and the department/college is obligated to provide the remaining years of funding (in the form of a teaching assistantship or a research assistantship) if the student continues to maintain “good standing” in the program.

For a M.A. student in “good standing,” this would usually amount to one year of support beyond the AAGA and for a Ph.D. student in “good standing” this would usually amount to at least between three and four years of support beyond the AAGA-funded year.

Forms & Documentation

The academic unit will be responsible for initiating the appointment forms and obtaining I-9 documents. Ensure that the stipend amount chosen plus SI charges do not go over the amount approved by the Graduate School on the selection form.

Any changes to a student’s assistantship (cancellation, deferral, etc.) must be communicated as soon as possible to the Graduate School.

Please note: Please allow for an increase in SI charges when determining funding. An appropriate increased amount would be 5% more than the current year’s (2023-24) SI charges.

When filling out the nomination forms for 2024-2025, please use $8055 for Fall and Spring SI charges and $2697 for Summer SI charges for all colleges except Engineering. For Engineering, please use $8261 for Fall and Spring SI charges and $2697 for Summer SI charges.

If you are requesting funding for the ½ of the Summer, then use $1348.50 for SI charges.

See current academic year Graduate Assistant Specific Identification (SI) Charge information to learn more.

Nomination Deadline

The AAGA Nomination Forms are due to the Graduate School by February 26, 2024 for Fall 2024 admits.

We strongly recommend that applications be submitted as soon as possible so that these assistantships can be effectively used as recruitment tools. If those who are offered AAGAs do not accept the offers before or after April 15, 2024, additional nominations will be solicited.

For questions or additional information pertaining to the AAGA program, contact Dr. Terah Chambers or Deanne Hubbell.