Appointments

Graduate Assistants’ workloads are measured in percentages of a full-time appointment. For example, if a full-time appointment is 40 hours per week, a 50 percent appointment will require 20 hours per week. Most assistants are appointed at 50 percent, but some are appointed at 33 percent or even 25 percent, depending on the nature and scope of the work required.

In addition, assistantships can be made for the academic year, or roughly nine months (referred to as C-basis by Human Resources), or for the entire calendar year, or twelve months (referred to as A-basis). Teaching assistantships are usually nine-month appointments, or less. Project assistantships and research assistantships are sometimes twelve-month appointments. However, any assistant also can be appointed for a period as short as a single semester.

Approximate hours expectations for 9-month (C-basis) or 12-month (A-basis) Teaching Assistants: 

Hours	Percentage Appointments
	33%	50%	75%
Approximate weekly hours	~14	~20	~30
Maximum hours per semester	~240-254	~350-370	~525-555

Letters of Offer

The Graduate Assistant should expect to receive a Letter of Offer using the appropriate templates provided by UWM’s Office of Human Resources. The Graduate Assistant must sign and return the letter to the appointing unit indicating acceptance of the offer. Whenever possible, offer letters of appointment or reappointment should be returned by the prospective Graduate Assistant no later than April 15 for the upcoming academic year.

Accepted Offers

The Graduate Assistant should expect to receive a follow-up letter for accepted offers using the appropriate templates provided by UWM’s Office of Human Resources. These letters contain information about actions that the Graduate Assistant needs to take to be paid on time, receive benefits for which they are eligible, and comply with UWM, state and federal regulations.

Appointment of International Students/Non-U.S. Citizens

Appointments of international students or non-U.S. citizens as Graduate Assistants involve additional requirements and are subject to federal immigration law. For more information, please see the Appointments of international students as Graduate Assistants section.

---