Your scholarship will be disbursed to your Bursar account, or show up as an anticipated payment on your account, after we receive your formal acceptance of the offer, and after you register as a full-time student (see rule #5 for rules on full-time status).
If you drop a course after late registration you will not recover all of your scholarship money to reuse. Your refund is based on the Bursar’s tuition refund adjustment schedule for that particular semester.
Note: If you drop a course after late registration and add another course at the same time, the course you add may not be paid for in full by your scholarship, since you may not have received a 100% refund on the dropped course. You may then have to pay for a portion of the course you add.
All assistants are required to complete:
- An I-9 form (attached to new, not renewed, offers)
- MU’s Employment Data Form (obtained from your department)
- W-4 Withholding form (obtained from your department).
Federal law and the Department of Homeland Security require verification of employment eligibility for all employees within 72 hours of employment. Before you may legally start working, you must submit a completed I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification form to the Graduate School. You are required to present specific documentation IN PERSON to the Graduate School to fulfill this obligation. Refer to the reverse side of the I-9 for a listing of acceptable documentation. In addition to submitting an I-9 form, international students must also submit a letter of employment eligibility from Marquette’s Office of Campus International Programs. International students may not begin working until both documents are on file in the Graduate School. MU’s Employment Data Form must also be completed before you can be paid. New assistants should also fill out a W-4 withholding form. The Employment Data and W-4 forms are available from Payroll, Human Resources, and your department. In addition, all assistants must have, or must have applied for, a social security number.
All teaching assistants with native languages other than American English are required to attend the International Teaching Assistant Orientation Program and take an English proficiency test on campus during the first or second weeks before their first semester. Based on the test results, teaching assistants may be required to take one or more English Language course beginning in their first semester. Students may use their regular tuition scholarships to pay for ESLP203 if required.
Assistants must be registered full-time during the fall and spring semesters of their awards. They may not register for more than 10 credit hours without approval from the Graduate School. Full-time status is defined as enrollment in at least 7 credit hours of courses or the equivalent through continuous enrollment.
Graduate assistants are issued Marquette ID cards that can be used to obtain 20% discounts on purchases from the Golden Eagle, 10% discounts on purchases from the Haggerty Museum of Art, and additional printing privileges. If an assistant resigns or is terminated, they must return their keys and their assistantship ID cards to their departments. If the student is continuing his/her program, a new ID card will be issued at no charge.
Assistants are retained only if they are doing acceptable work, maintaining a 3.0 GPA (each semester and cumulatively), making progress towards their degree, and are meeting their obligations to their departments and to the university in an acceptable manner. Before recommending a termination, the department chair shall, in most cases, inform the student in writing that there is danger of termination as soon as it becomes evident that his/her performance is unsatisfactory. The warning letter should:
- Outline the assistant's deficiencies
- Suggest required remedies
- Set a date when the matter will be reviewed to recognize improvement or recommend dismissal to the Graduate School
In serious cases, a department may recommend to the Graduate School that an assistantship be terminated effective immediately. In these cases, the department is not obligated to use the above warning procedure. After making such a recommendation to the Graduate School, the department chair may immediately suspend any/all duties of the assistant pending the Graduate School’s decision regarding termination. Serious cases include, but are not limited to, violations of university policy/procedures and violations of ethical or professional codes or standards. Termination appeals should first be made to the department then to the Graduate School. All stipends end on the date of termination.
Students with full assistantships are not allowed to accept additional employment for pay during their award terms. The Graduate School, under the following conditions, may give special permission:
- The employment is required by serious financial need
- The request is accompanied by evidence that the assistant's academic work and quality of service will not be affected adversely
- The request is approved by the assistant's department chair
Requests to allow additional employment must be in writing and must include written endorsement by both the department chair and the student's adviser. Failure to do so may result in an automatic denial without appeal. Students with partial assistantships generally are granted permission for outside employment, but they too must follow the above request procedure.
You must register no later than the last date of CheckMarq registration of the first semester of your award term. If you fail to do so your award may be rescinded.
From time to time the Graduate School receives requests for employment verifications of its assistants. Unless you ask us in writing not to release this information, we will comply with such requests by providing confirmation of employment, starting and ending employment dates, position title, and department of employment.
Departments count on the services of their assistants for the entire academic year. If it becomes necessary to resign, the assistant must:
- Discuss the resignation with his/her department chair well in advance of the resignation
- Submit a signed letter explaining the reason(s) for and exact date of the resignation to the Graduate School
- Return their assistantship ID card and all issued keys to their department
Stipends will be ended and final checks will be prorated to the date of resignation.
All assistants are required to pass MU’s sexual harassment training online and submit their results to the Department of Human Resources.
Unless a department has requested alternate payment arrangements, stipends are typically disbursed in 10 monthly payments, 5 payments each semester, over the academic year (August-May). Advances cannot be made. Checks are delivered to department offices on the last working day of each month. Direct deposit arrangements may be made through the departments.
The stipend portion of your assistantship is taxable income and is reported to the Internal Revenue Service by Marquette University. You will receive an earnings statement from Payroll in January to submit with your income taxes. FICA taxes (social security) are not deducted from fall and spring stipends. FICA is charged to stipends for summer assistants unless assistants are registered in summer and provide proof of registration to Payroll.
Most full assistantships include tuition scholarships to pay for 9 credits in fall and 9 credits in spring. Note that the dollar amount of your award is stated on your offer letter. Your award will not pay for more than this amount. Be mindful of this in case you withdraw from a course after the 100% refund date passes (see rule #2). You must pay for all charges taken that exceed the dollar amount of your scholarship and for tuition/fees related to courses that are not covered by your scholarships.
Your award letter shows the amounts of your scholarship allotted to fall, spring, and summer terms. Unused scholarship money from one term is not automatically carried forward to following terms. Contact the Graduate School to request transfer of scholarship money from one term to another. Award money cannot be transferred from one aid year to another. Scholarships will not pay for more than 6 thesis or 12 dissertation credits.
Scholarships may only be used to pay for valid courses that are directly related to your degree.
Valid Courses Are:
- 200- and 300-level graduate courses that count towards your degree.
- 100-level courses available for graduate credit that count towards your degree
Invalid Courses Are:
- Audited courses (if you register for audit courses or change from credit to audit during the semester you are responsible for the tuition fees for those courses).
- Undergraduate-level prerequisites or deficiency courses.
- Undergraduate courses taken for undergraduate credit (000-level or 100- level courses not available for graduate credit).
- Personal preference courses within or outside of your discipline that will not count toward your degree and that have not been approved for scholarship coverage by both your department and the Graduate School in writing.
Assistants work 9 months during the academic year. They are required to work approximately 20 hours per week performing duties assigned by their departments. Duties, distribution of hours over the semester, and assignments to faculty are arranged in consultation with each department chair. Some departments may also require that their assistants participate in orientation programs or work during regular university recesses. F-1 visa students may not work more than 20 hours per week while school is in session.
