The Graduate School
Montclair State University Graduate Students

Current Assistants

Newly Appointed Assistants

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Orientation

Newly appointed assistants are required to attend an Orientation. Dates for Graduate/Doctoral Assistant Orientation webinar for newly appointed and continuing assistants will be posted below.

Monday August 21 – Friday August 25

New assistants will be contacted via email with more information about registering for orientation.

Terms and Policy

Terms and Policies of the Assistantship

Forms for Assistants

International Students

The GA process for International students: If you are an International student and do not have a social security number, please review the International Graduate Assistant F-1 process document. There are step by step instructions for getting your social security card.  It will be necessary to obtain a social security number to work in the United States.

Graduating International GAs are not permitted to work past the last day of classes. The semester that you graduate will result in your Assistantship Agreement term ending early. Your stipend will terminate as of the last day of classes. There will be no change in your tuition remission.

Please reach out to your supervisor to let them know that you are graduating and will not be available to work up until June 30.

Since you will be ending your assistantship early, please check your NEST account to be sure that is is clear. If you feel that there is an amount due that should be covered by your tuition remission please contact The Graduate School at gradstudentservices@montclair.edu. There is a deadline to have your account cleared. Not clearing your account could result in a hold which will prevent you from receiving your diploma and transcripts.

Assistantship Payment

Students holding assistantships are not considered hourly employees. Stipend payment is broken up within the Pay Dates that fall within your assistantship appointment and is not based on the hours worked during specific Pay Periods. Assistants do not need to enter anything into Workday in order to be paid.

If you experience an issue with your payment, please contact the Graduate School at gradstudentservices@montclair.edu.

Frequently Asked Questions for Current Assistants


I graduate this semester and I only have one class left to take — can I still hold an assistantship?

Yes! You should know that there are many different offers for graduate assistants. The amount of credits that you are required to register for each semester is listed on the Details of Your Offer sheet. If you can’t meet this requirement, there are several situations that will allow you to be enrolled in fewer than your required credits for a given semester. These include:

  • It is your final semester and you do not have additional program requirements (you must be on the current graduation list
  • There are no classes in your program of study that are available this semester
  • The need for pre-requisites prohibits you from enrolling in additional program requirements. In order to be approved for underenrollment, you must submit the Assistantship Underenrollment Request Form, linked above in the Forms section, during the prescribed Add/Drop period.

Can I hold another on-campus position while I hold an assistantship?

It depends. Those students whose Weekly Service Hours (WSH) are less than 15, may hold another position on campus. Any student may not work more than a total of 20 hours per week during the academic year. If your WSH are 15 hours or more, generally you may not have another position. Any student who is considering another on campus job should check with Caren Ferrante to be sure that it is an acceptable arrangement. WorkDay will not permit an additional position if they do not have an approval from The Graduate School.

Do I have to submit a time sheet to be paid?

No. Students who are receiving a stipend as a part of their assistantship package will automatically be paid on a bi-weekly basis. The total stipend will be broken up evenly throughout the term of the assistantship. However, please note that you should defer to your Assistantship Supervisor regarding the appropriate procedure for tracking or logging your hours within your department.  You will find the schedule of paydates under the Assistantship Payment link on this page.

If I don’t use all of the credits of tuition remission that were available to me this year, can I use them in the next academic year?

No. Tuition remission does not carry over from year to year. You cannot bank credits and you cannot borrow credits. If you do not use all of the credits that were included in your assistantship package for the current academic year you will lose them.  However, if you have credits remaining, you may use them during the summer following your term of appointment.

Important Resources for Assistants