Graduate Assistantships
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Graduate Student Assistantships
A Graduate Student Assistantship is a financial award to a full-time graduate student for the period of 10-12 months. Students must be admitted to a graduate degree program and/or be a continuing graduate student in good standing with a GPA of at least 3.0. The award includes health insurance and a stipend of $22,000 for a 12-month appointment and $18,000 for a 10-month appointment. Assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis. PhD students will be prioritized.
Assistantship Job Descriptions
Graduate research assistants will spend 20 hours per week from August 1st through July 31st working in the Research Office. Their primary goal is to assist in the support of faculty research.
Primary duties may consist of:
- performing literature searches and reviews
- retrieving articles from the library
- transcribing interview tapes
- data collection, entry, and analysis
- making copies
- teaching and grading research courses
- drafting, formatting, and editing proposals
- Institutional Review Board submissions
- research poster and presentation development
- manuscript preparation
- specific assignment to a faculty member
- other research-related duties as required
Graduate teaching assistants will spend 20 hours per week from August 1 through July 31 working to achieve two primary goals:
- Assisting with implementation of the undergraduate nursing curriculum.
- May also be asked to support a graduate course
- Developing personal classroom and/or clinical teaching skills.
Example of assignments to assist the undergraduate curriculum include attending course team meetings, assisting with exam proctoring and scoring; assisting with health assessment and skills lab sessions, assisting with grading course quizzes and written assignments, assisting with special projects from the Office of Student Services; and providing tutoring for math, pathophysiology, and pharmacology.
Example of assignments to develop personal teaching skills include teaching a clinical group, a freshman campus culture course, and/or individual course content; and attending monthly faculty development sessions.
Eligibility Criteria
- Accepted as a graduate student in the Master's, DNP, or PhD program.
- Graduate student in good standing with a GPA of at least 3.0.
- Enroll in full-time study during the assistantship period.
- Work 20 hours per week in the School of Nursing as a Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant.
- Completion of the online UofL School of Nursing Graduate Assistantship Application.
Selection Process
- Applications will be reviewed by the appropriate associate dean.
- Interviews will be requested with selected candidates.
- Assistantship recipients will be notified by email of the award.
- Priority is given to PhD and DNP students.
For more information about program requirements, expectations, and policies, reference the handbook below.
Deadline to apply
Applications due by 5pm.
Applications due by 5pm.
Positions
Currently open positions
Currently filled positions
Anticipated positions to open by Fall 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
You can only work 9 hours per week outside your assistantship, but only with written approval from the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies.
Yes, but not with an assistantship.
PhD students must enroll in 9 credit hours for the Fall and Spring semesters, and 6 credit hours during the Summer semester to be eligible for an assistantship.
Positions open up as students graduate. You can apply at any time but new assistants are only hired at the start of the Fall semester. Students can expect to hear back about a decision by July 1st. See above for the number of open positions.
No. However, PhD student applications will be prioritized.
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