Best Practices: Graduate Research Assistant-Supervisor Agreements

Many graduate students serving as GRAs received a commitment of employment through a letter of financial support when they were admitted to the graduate program. These letters generally establish the eligibility and conditions of employment for these students.

Human Resources has guidelines for hiring student employees, including a template for an employment offer letter.

New student employees will need to complete onboarding tasks, outlined in the New Student Employee Checklist.

Programs must also inform students of the university’s Title IX policy and how it applies to their role. Student employees are required to complete Title IX training every two years.

The Graduate School maintains a webpage with conditions of employment that can be provided to students and appointing staff. These conditions require that students:

• Make satisfactory progress toward a graduate degree without existing conditional admission requirements;
• Remain registered for at least nine semester hours of coursework in long semesters. (Enrollment in three semester hours of coursework is required for students holding summer appointments);
• Maintain at least a 3.0 grade-point average; and
• Must not have more than two grades of X, I, NC, D or F in any combination.

Graduate programs may also stipulate additional eligibility requirements for students serving as GRAs, such as a degree in a particular field or pre-requisite coursework. Examples of these requirements are as follows:

• Good academic standing at the time of application and during the semester employed
• Proficiency in specific skills as identified by the supervisor (e.g., software proficiency or laboratory skills)
• Consent of faculty report/thesis/dissertation supervisor (if not the GRA supervisor)
• Safety training for GRAs working in research laboratories.

Students seeking GRA employment and programs recruiting GRAs should join the graduate student campus jobs listserv, which links graduate student employees directly with university employers. Opt-in to UT Lists and search for graduatestudentcampusjobs@utlists.utexas.edu to subscribe.

The Handbook of Operating Procedures (HOP) provides the general job description for graduate and undergraduate research assistants (HOP 9-2030).

GRAs are defined as “students who, in the course of their academic training, are employed in part-time or temporary research positions, where the student's academic training is based in part on the research performed or where the research duties being performed will assist the student in fulfilling his or her degree requirements. All duties and services of graduate and undergraduate research assistants are to be carried out under the supervision and direction of faculty or administration.” GRAs are allowed to use research performed as part of their employment toward the completion of a graduate report, thesis or dissertation in consultation with their academic supervisor. It is expected that the GRA research work is related to the student’s field of study and contributes toward their academic training.  

GRA-supervisor agreements should clearly specify the expected duties of the GRA, and these duties must be acknowledged and agreed to by both the supervisor and the student. Examples of duties include, but are not limited to:

• Attendance at regularly-scheduled research meetings
• Design and conduction of experiments
• Data processing
• Survey development, dissemination, and analysis
• Research proposal preparation and communication with research sponsors
• Written and oral presentation of research results
• Maintenance of laboratory equipment and space
• Supervision of laboratory safety
• Supervision of undergraduate researchers and/or hourly employees

It is also good practice to specify in the agreements activities that may be prohibited, such as performing personal tasks for the supervisor or assisting with courses taught by the supervisor. GRAs and supervisors should also agree upon the frequency of meetings and methods for communicating research progress and results during the term of employment. International students may have communication, guidance and feedback needs different from domestic students, so it is important that these expectations are discussed and agreed upon by the GRA and the supervisor.

GRAs are typically appointed in positions with scheduled weekly hours ranging from 5 to 20 hours. GRAs do not submit time sheets, so there is not a formal means of documenting the actual time spent per week. Therefore, it is important to establish the expectations for time management prior to the beginning of the semester, and it is important to have both the GRA and the supervisor agree to these expectations.

Since the research for which a GRA is employed may also be used to complete academic degree requirements including credit hours for research, thesis, and dissertation, the time a student spends in research may exceed the scheduled weekly hours of their employment position. The scheduled weekly employment hours can be regarded, in these cases, as the minimum weekly hours of research work. Therefore, it is important for the GRA and supervisor to come to an agreement on expectations regarding time spent on research. This may be done by setting expectations for completions of tasks rather than tracking weekly hours.

GRAs do not accrue vacation time or sick leave. Therefore, the GRA-supervisor agreement should outline expectations regarding planned or unplanned absences. Similarly, the GRA-supervisor agreement should address expectations for working during exam periods and breaks (excluding official university holidays) in line with school, college, or departmental policies.

While the job description sets the duties to be performed by a GRA, the GRA-supervisor agreement should also address performance standards for those duties. Examples of performance expectations include:

GRAs should be given feedback on their performance by the research supervisor on a regular basis. Graduate programs should specify a frequency of performance evaluation. Mid-semester feedback is advisable in order to identify performance concerns early and provide opportunities for improvement. When problems are identified, performance improvement plans should be developed and agreed upon by the GRA and the supervisor. The frequency and form of performance assessments should be specified in the GRA-supervisor agreement.

There are several methods that can be used by the supervisor to report GRA assessments to the department or program, including submission of a letter, Qualtrics survey or Docusign survey. The results of the assessment should be communicated to the GRA within a specified timeline outlined in the agreement. When appropriate and relevant, the assessment can be used as a means to recommend GRAs for reward and advancement opportunities.

GRAs should be informed of dispute resolution and grievance processes when problems arise. The Graduate School provides a summary of grievance procedures for graduate students. Some schools, colleges, departments, and programs have additional grievance procedures and guidance for dispute resolution. These policies and procedures should be made clear to the GRA and the supervisor through the GRA-supervisor agreements.

If the GRA’s grievance is specifically related to employment, the procedure is outlined in the HOP 9-2030.

Human Resources provides guidelines for student employment separations when performance problems cannot be resolved. Information on grounds for dismissal should be included in GRA-supervisor agreements so that both parties are aware of the policies and procedures.