Processing Manual 2023-2024

Processing Manual

Graduate Assistantships & Tuition Waivers

2023-2024

NAU prohibits discrimination against or harassment of any individual on the basis of age, race,

color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, physical or mental disability, or status as a

Vietnam-era or special disabled veteran in our admissions, employment, and educational programs

and activities. NAU’s nondiscrimination policy complies with Arizona Board of Regents and NAU

policy and with state and federal laws including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, the Age

Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Sections

503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance

Act of 1974, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. NAU’s

Safe Working and Learning Environment Policy addresses all types of discrimination and

harassment prohibited by university policy.

NAU undertakes affirmative action for minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and special

disabled and Vietnam-era veterans as required by Executive Order 11246 as amended, the

Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 as amended, and Section 503 of the

Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Inquiries about the application of these regulations or NAU’s Safe Working and Learning

Environment Policy can be directed to the Office of Equity and Access, NAU, PO Box 4083,

Flagstaff, AZ 86011-4083 (928-523-3312, TTY 928-523-1006).

Table of Contents

Introduction/purpose ....................................................................................................................... 4

Timeline and Deadlines................................................................................................................... 4

Hiring Graduate Assistants ............................................................................................................. 4

The Process .................................................................................................................................... 4

Types of Positions ......................................................................................................................... 10

Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA- 110) .............................................................................. 10

Graduate Research Assistants (GRA- 210) ............................................................................. 10

Graduate Service Assistants (GSA-310) .................................................................................. 10

Grant-Funded Assistantships ........................................................................................................ 12

Is This Position Safety/Security Sensitive? ................................................................................... 12

Conditions of Appointment ............................................................................................................ 12

Changes to the Terms of the Graduate Assistantship ................................................................... 12

Changes to a Signed Letter of Appointment ................................................................................. 12

Termination & how benefits are repaid or charged to departments ............................................... 13

Benefits for Graduate Assistants ................................................................................................... 13

Eligibility ........................................................................................................................................ 13

Department Tuition Payment Request (DTPR) ............................................................................. 14

Exceptions .................................................................................................................................... 15

Exception to Allow Additional Work or One-Time Pay for Graduate Assistants ....................... 15

Exception to the Nine Credit Hour Registration Requirement .................................................. 15

Summer Graduate Assistants ....................................................................................................... 16

Checklist for Resolving Graduate Assistantship Problems............................................................ 16

Why didn’t the graduate student receive a paycheck? ............................................................. 16

Why doesn’t the health insurance benefit appear on the student’s account? ........................... 17

Why doesn’t the tuition/waiver remission appear on the student’s account? ............................ 17

Graduate Tuition Waiver Scholarships .......................................................................................... 18

Eligibility ................................................................................................................................... 18

Residency Changes and Tuition Waiver Scholarships ............................................................. 19

Processing Graduate Tuition Waiver Scholarships .................................................................. 19

Student Issues .............................................................................................................................. 19

Residency Classification Information ............................................................................................ 19

Taxable Income ............................................................................................................................ 20

Student Group Reports ................................................................................................................. 20

Service Teams .............................................................................................................................. 20

Introduction/purpose

This document provides information about how to process graduate assistantships and graduate

tuition waiver scholarships. For information about policies that apply to graduate assistants and

fellowship

Timeline and Deadlines

The Important Dates and Deadlines for Graduate Assistants and Coordinators can be found on the

Graduate College’s forms website. This PDF will be updated semesterly and is a consistent resource

for GAs and Coordinators.

Hiring Graduate Assistants

Please keep the following parameters in mind:

• All new hires, including those who have not worked for NAU in the last six months, must complete

a new hire packet, including an I-9 verification. The new hire packet is initiated by the HR Service

Team upon receiving a New Employee Onboarding ticket from the department.

• The Appointment Letter Template is the official notice of employment. Note, we will only accept

the OnBase offer letter. Email GAT[email protected]du if you need to request an exception.

• Before a graduate assistant can receive a paycheck, the signed Letter of Appointment attached to

the ePAR must be processed, routing through the Graduate College and the Office of Sponsored

Projects if applicable (see process below).

• The average processing time (from receipt of e PAR with attached letter in the Graduate College

to arrival in payroll) is 7-15 business days if the June 15 and November 15 processing deadlines

are met.

• The Graduate College cannot request emergency paychecks so please process hiring paperwork

well in advance to avoid causing undue financial hardship on students.

• 2 weeks after the Fall and Spring semester begin, open enrollment for Student Health Insurance

closes, and no GAs are to be hired after that date, except in the case of administrative error.

Students should be hired as student employees instead; more information about student positions

can be found on the Student Employment website.

The Process

Note: Master’s students are not granted assistantships for more than two years, regardless of the

source of the funding. Exceptions to this two-year limit may be made if students are progressing

toward completing their degrees in a timely fashion but have been delayed through no fault of their

own.

Advertise your graduate assistantships. Send open position announcements to GATW@nau.edu as

e-mail attachments if you would like them to be posted on the Graduate College website. GSA

positions should be advertised through the Graduate College in order to better highlight opportunities

available that may not be program-specific.

1. Select your candidate from the applicant pool. The candidate must have a 3.0 GPA, be

admitted to a degree program and not have any incomplete, D or F grades.

2. After selecting your candidate, submit the Appointment Letter Template via OnBase. –

student is emailed the Offer Letter. Advise them to accept it via a desktop or laptop as this

offer letter is not optimized for phone. Optional: Email the student Conditions of

Appointment issued from your department (if using,) ask them to initial, return, and house

internally within your unit. The OnBase offer letter contains Conditions of Appointment

within the acceptance form.

Note: You may not require any GA to sign an acceptance letter prior to April 15.

3. Student returns the Letter of Appointment and optional Conditions of Appointment to your

department. Please ensure you are in receipt of them as quickly as possible once an offer

is made.

4. Once the student has signed the offer letter via OnBase, download a PDF copy of the email

you receive and initiate a New Employee Onboarding ticket. Be sure to include the PDF

showing the student signed the offer letter. We encourage you to have as many letters

signed and tickets submitted through your service team as possible prior to the end of the

semester. Remember, the signed Letter of Appointment attached to the ePAR must be

received before a student can receive a paycheck.

5. The HR Service Team will take care of any necessary pre-boarding work (new hire packet,

background check, etc.) and will initiate an ePAR. The ePAR will be routed for a

department level approval before being routed to the Graduate College. Note: before the

department approver approves the ePAR, any comments requested in the steps below

should be included.

6. The Assistantship Coordinator in the Graduate College reviews the E-Par and attached

letter. Admission, residency, and academic status are verified and each appointment is

reviewed for compliance. Letters which raise policy questions are referred to the Dean of

the Graduate College for review. The Graduate College GA Coordinator changes residency

for GAs to in-state for tuition purposes for the term of the offer if the student is a non-

resident. Incomplete or incorrect information will be recycled back to the originator for

corrections before it is forwarded again through the E-PAR process. If the student is 20-

hour benefit eligible, whether they are accepting or decline health insurance will be

recycled, as will 10-hour GAs who accept benefits. (10 hour GAs can purchase student

health insurance as they are not eligible for the benefit.) If the GA will accept two 10-hour

GAships in a semester they are considered benefit eligible; if this is the case, please

include this in the ePAR comments.

7. If the assistantship is grant-funded, the ePAR is forwarded to Sponsored Projects to verify

there is funding in the grant available for the stipend. Sponsored Projects requires a written

explanation if the end date of the appointment exceeds the ending date of the grant and if

there are not sufficient funds to cover the award. The principal investigator should include

an explanation the grant is being extended or additional funds are anticipated if there are

insufficient funds to cover the award. Any explanations related to grant funding should be

added as a comment in the ePAR.

8. Once the Letter of Appointment has been reviewed, The Graduate College sends the

benefit information (tuition waiver/GA tuition remission and insurance) to Financial Aid. The

ePAR is routed to Payroll. The average processing time (from receipt of letter in the

Graduate College to arrival in payroll) is 7-10 business days.

Additional time may be

necessary if graduate assistant position is grant funded. See Important Dates and

Deadlines for specific dates. Letters and waiver requests received after this date will result

in processing delays for our students.

9. Instructions for Completing the Graduate Assistant Letter of Appointment

The Letter of Appointment is an official employment document. It is used to activate the

following GA benefits:

Please note: the 7-10 day timeline does not mean that an ePAR will be approved and executed within that time frame

(or that a paycheck will be issued within that time frame). Please refer to the payroll processing calendar

for details about

ePAR approvals and paycheck issuance.

 Student health insurance (See Health Insurance Section for further details) Students

should be advised to enroll or confirm enrollment in health insurance or they may have

their insurance cancelled. Please note the Graduate College does not enroll students in

the health insurance, we ensure it is paid for if requested. 20-hr appointment only

 Tuition remission

 Waiver of non-resident tuition for non-resident students.

 Click the Letter of Appointment Template directly from the Graduate College website

 Because it is an OnBase form and authenticates to the user, we are unable to send

the hyperlink to you in a separate email. https://nau.edu/graduate-college/forms/

 Appointment Letter Template

If the Appointment Letter does not have the Letterhead and is all white instead of the NAU colors as

shown below, leave and try again or try a different browser. It will not send and complete unless it has

the logo and color bars shown below. Other options are to clear cache or contact NAU ITS for

assistance. Students must log into their LOUIE account when admitted to the university in order for a

GA processor to pull up the student’s contact information and send the letter.

The person filling out the form is pre-filled. Once you input the student UserID, the student section,

including GA, is pre-filled, and Page 2 of the form loads.

Once you submit, the student receives a link to accept their offer. They must accept from a desktop or

laptop. This form is not optimized for smartphone and will create an error.

When the student clicks the link on a desktop, the following page is displayed and will prompt the

student to fill in their information and accept or decline their assistantship.

After the student accepts or declines, you will receive a confirmation email. Attached to the

confirmation email is the PDF contract the student receives for their records.

See the Conditions of Appointment included on the student’s contract on the Graduate College’s

Forms website.

Types of Positions

There are three categories of graduate assistantships.

Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA- 110) have primary responsibility in an instructional capacity.

Services provided by a graduate teaching assistant may include lecturing, leading discussion groups,

serving as an assistant to laboratory classes, counseling students, proctoring examinations, grading

tests and papers, and providing general assistance in the instructional process.

Graduate Research Assistants (GRA- 210) are selected for excellence in scholarship and promise as

researchers. They do part-time research as a portion of their training under the direct supervision of

regular faculty members or support the research initiatives of the institution.

Graduate Service Assistants (GSA-310) assist in a service unit whose mission is closely related to

the student’s area of academic study and interest. The GSA is responsible to a professional member

of the service unit who supervises and trains the student in the service role. The main purpose of the

assignment is to assist in the service role of the unit.

When you initiate the OnBase form you should carefully select the appropriate job code from the

three listed above. The HR Service Team will select the job code based on what is included in the

signed OnBase letter.

In this manual, the term graduate assistant (or GA) is used to refer to all positions.

Use the dates found on the The Important Dates and Deadlines for Graduate Assistants and

Coordinators

The start date for the GA is the week before classes begin each semester.

The end date on the letter will be the last day the graduate assistant is paid.

Please be mindful of the processing time required for any personnel action.

Letters of Appointment are valid for the period of the assistantship and shall not exceed one

fiscal year. A new letter is required each fiscal year.

Hours shall not exceed 20 hours per week without written approval from the Graduate College. No

assistantships shall be awarded for less than 10 hours per week. See additional hours section if you

are in need of an exception.

International students who request additional work hours must also obtain approval from the

International Office to work winter break.

The total stipend is divided by 190 days for the academic year, and paid to the graduate assistant every

two weeks, according to the university payroll schedule, whether the student works or not.

The minimum stipend for a 20-hour per week, academic-year appointment is $15,000 for master level

and $18,000 for PhD and EDD.

Winter and spring breaks should be considered when calculating the stipend. Students awarded an all-

year graduate assistantship will receive their stipend over winter and spring break. Students awarded

a spring-only GAship will have spring break off, with regular stipend. Any additional hours that the

student and department would like over these breaks should be paid through the request for additional

hours form process. If the student is international, they will need additional approval. GAs should not

be required to “make up hours” due to holidays or snow closures that fall on a regularly scheduled

shifts. Please contact NAU payroll for any additional questions related to these policies.

Date to return letter (allow 14 business days when possible.)

Graduate assistant e-signature and date are required and automatically included on the

acceptance letter in OnBase. Prior to submitting an HR Service Ticket for E-Par, the Onbase letter

must indicate the insurance preference if a 20-hour GA, (accept or decline). If a 10-hour GA, health

insurance option should not be marked and will be recycled to ensure student is aware they are not

eligible for the paid benefit. If 2 10-hour GAships are planned and therefore the student is eligible for

the health insurance benefit, please ensure comments indicate an additional 10-hour GAship is

forthcoming in order to avoid ther E-Par being recycled by the Graduate College.

If the student performs two types of duties, such as research in the fall and teaching in the spring,

student will need a letter for each semester.

EMPLID

Amount: Must match the stipend amount in the text of the letter and epar.

Start Date:

Hours Worked Per Week: Shall not exceed twenty hours per week.

Was student previously employed as a GA?

End Date:

Dept. Name:

Position No: Contact the Budget Office if a new one needs to be assigned.

Three criteria must match for the correct position number:

 Department

 Job title (graduate assistant)

 Percent of stipend paid from Agency/org

Agency/Org and Job Code: Program/Fund and Job code determine how the GA benefits are paid.

Check Correct Title & Job Code: One per letter.

 Graduate Teaching Assistant (Job Code 00110)

 Graduate Research Assistant (Job Code 00210)

 Graduate Service Assistant (Job Code 00310)

Grant-Funded Assistantships

Sponsored Projects requires a written explanation if the end date of the appointment exceeds the end

date of the grant or if the stipend and benefits exceed the funds available in the grant account. If

applicable, this information should be included in the ePAR comments by the department level

approver in order to expedite processing of the ePAR.

Is This Position Safety/Security Sensitive?

ABOR Policy 1.085, implemented on February 1, 2006, requires identification of all positions which

are considered safety/security sensitive. The safety/security sensitive status of graduate assistant

positions must be identified on the graduate assistant letter of appointment. The hiring departments

must make the identification since they are the most knowledgeable regarding specific job

responsibilities. Contact your payroll specialist if you have questions about the policy. The worksheet

to determine if this position is safety/security sensitive is available on the human resources website

(click on S in the index then click on “Safety Security Sensitive Position Identification Tool)

Conditions of Appointment

Include with the graduate assistant Letter of Appointment a copy of the Conditions of Appointment if

your department uses it. The student must read and initial each condition, and sign and date the form,

and return it with the signed Letter of Appointment to you. Please retain the original Conditions of

Appointment in the student’s file. Do not send a copy of this form to the Graduate College or

your HR Service Team.

Changes to the Terms of the Graduate Assistantship

All changes to a graduate assistant’s Letter of Appointment will be done via an ePAR for the following

circumstances. All ePARs are initiated by HR Service Team members after the department initiates

the appropriate HR service ticket.

1. Changes to a signed Letter of Appointment

2. Additional Work or One-Time Pay

3. Extensions to an Assistantship Appointment

4. Termination—prior to end date on Letter of Appointment

Please include comments, resignation letter, and email [email protected] if you have any

special circumstances such as changing the position type to ensure accurate processing.

Changes to a Signed Letter of Appointment

To make a change to a signed Letter of Appointment, please initiate an ePARs for Job Changes ticket

in the Employee Service Center. Be sure to attach any documentation you want included and/or leave

a comment with specific details in the case.

Upon receipt of the ticket and any necessary additional documentation, the HR Service Team agent

will initiate the appropriate ePAR, which will route through the graduate college for approval.

Termination & how benefits are repaid or charged to departments

The termination of a graduate assistant is processed via ePAR; all ePARs are initiated by HR Service

Team agents after receipt of a ticket and any necessary documentation. If the graduate assistantship

appointment is terminated early, the benefits will be charged as if the assistant had worked the entire

appointment. If the student separates before the middle of the semester the charges will be reversed

and the student will be responsible for repaying any tuition and benefits. Academic year

appointments terminating at the end of the fall semester will be paid through December 31

. The

student should be advised of the potential requirement to pay back any tuition and health insurance.

Please note Graduate Assistants may not be eligible for rehire in another GAship if they do not fulfill

the terms of their contract.

Reasons for termination are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and supporting documentation must

be attached to the service ticket and subsequent ePAR. Please email GAT[email protected]u to discuss

specific circumstances regarding a potential termination.

To terminate a graduate assistant, please initiate an Offboarding ticket in the Employee Service

Center. Be sure to provide a copy of the resignation letter and a comment stating the reason

for termination as soon as you are notified of a separation; prompt action in these cases can

avoid the issue of overpayment for a GA, which requires the former GA to pay back the university.

Benefits for Graduate Assistants

The Graduate College processes all graduate assistant tuition waiver/remission and insurance

benefits and submits them to Financial Aid for processing.

The amount of the tuition benefit and the student’s eligibility for the health insurance benefit are

based on the number of hours per week a graduate assistant works:

• Graduate assistants who work 20 hours per week receive 100% tuition waiver or remission

and payment of the student health insurance premium. The student must enroll by the

deadline of 14 days after the first day of class each semester to receive the health insurance

benefit.

• Graduate assistants who work 10 hours per week receive 50% per year tuition waiver or

remission, but are not eligible for the health insurance benefit.

Eligibility

To qualify for benefits, graduate assistants must hold one appointment for the entire semester. If the

graduate assistantship appointment is terminated early, the benefits will be charged to the

department as if the assistant had worked the entire appointment.

All graduate assistants with an appointment of 10 or more hours per week pay the resident

tuition rate, processed by the Graduate College staff. If there is a residency error, please

contact [email protected] so that the Graduate College can correct the issue.

In addition, the following benefits apply.

Graduate Teaching Assistants with:

• State funding

20 hours per week

100% graduate tuition remission. Tuition is charged to the waiver account. The health

insurance premium is charged to the NAU ERE account.

10-19 hours per week

50% graduate tuition remission. Tuition is charged to the waiver account.

• Local, grant or revenue funding

20 hours per week

100% graduate tuition remission. Tuition and health insurance premium is charged to the

account paying the stipend.

10-19 hours per week

50% graduate tuition remission. Tuition is charged to the account paying the stipend.

Graduate Research Assistant or Graduate Service Assistant with:

• State funding

20 hours per week

100% graduate tuition remission. Tuition and health insurance premium are both charged

to NAU ERE account.

10-19 hours per week

50% graduate tuition remission. Tuition charged to NAU ERE account.

• Local, grant or revenue funding

20 hours per week

100% graduate tuition remission. Tuition and health insurance premium is charged to the

account paying the stipend.

10-19 hours per week

50% graduate tuition remission. Tuition is charged to the account paying the stipend.

• Split funding. If the position number indicates the salary is allocated to more than one account, the be

be allocated in the same proportion.

Department Tuition Payment Request (DTPR)

If grant funds are available and regulations permit, a department may pay all or part of a graduate

assistant’s tuition, health insurance, and/or fees. Use the “Department Tuition Payment Request.”

Please utilize the most current fillable PDF form (see link in this manual,) found on the Financial Aid

website.

It is important to follow these guidelines to avoid an overcharge on a student’s account for graduate

assistant benefits.

1. Confirm the student isn’t receiving another award. You can use the student group report to check

this information. Depending on the type of award, additional tuition, fees, and or health insurance

if the student is not a 20 hour GA could be paid through a DTPR.

2. Because of the consistency requirement in the federal cost accounting standards, no additional

payment of tuition for graduate research assistants is allowable from sponsored project funds.

That is, we cannot pay a higher proportion of the tuition on a sponsored project than the amount

we pay for state-funded graduate assistants as set by university policy.

If you believe your grant award provides an exception to this requirement, contact the Office of

Grant and Contract Services (523-4880) to verify that such a payment is allowed under the terms

of the grant.

Similarly, payment of tuition and/or insurance may not be allowable from a state or local account.

For example, a service center account may not be used to pay for the balance of tuition owed by a

graduate research assistant assigned to a sponsored project.

Contact the Office of Grant and Contract Services (523-4880) for assistance in determining

whether the charges are allowable costs to the proposed account.

If the payment is allowable, the balance of tuition (or insurance premium) can be billed directly

to the approved account using the Department Tuition Payment Request

3. Please note that the standard university benefits (outlined in #1 above) are always applied through

the payroll process. Any departmental billing must be applied toward the balance remaining after the

university benefit has been processed. If you submit a departmental billing form for full tuition, or an

eligible insurance premium, this may result in an over-award to the student’s financial aid package

and create problems for the student. It could also result in an overcharge to the grant account.

Exceptions

Exception to Allow Additional Work or One-Time Pay for Graduate Assistants

Graduate assistants with 20-hour appointments are not allowed to work a second job, in any capacity,

for NAU.

Exceptions are normally approved only for one-time work, such as driving a van for a field trip.

International student approval requires additional approval from the Center for International

Education.

• A Request for Additional Work form for Graduate Assistants must be approved by the

Graduate College for all 20 hour GA’s asking for additional hours before the work is

completed. Email the completed request to GATW@nau.edu for Graduate College signature

prior to requesting the work or submitting a service ticket. The HR Service Team will not initiate

an ePAR for additional work for a GA without a signed copy of the Request for Additional Work

form.

• Once the Graduate College has signed the Request for Additional Work form, the department

should initiate a New Employee Onboarding ticket in the Employee Service Center. Be sure to

attach a copy of the signed Request for Additional Work form to the ticket for expedited

processing. Upon receipt of the ticket and any necessary additional documentation, the HR

Service Team agent will initiate the appropriate ePAR.

Remember—Payroll will not pay for the additional hours unless approval from the Graduate College

is on file.

Exception to the Nine Credit Hour Registration Requirement

Graduate assistants and graduate students who are awarded graduate tuition waiver scholarships are

required to enroll for nine credit hours each semester. If the graduate student is enrolled for less than

nine hours, the waiver and graduate assistant benefits will not be applied to the student’s account.

Exceptions to this policy require the submission of the Exception to Nine Units form. This form

accompanies the tuition waiver or GA E-Par along with the offer letter in order to avoid processing

delays for every individual semester the student is under-enrolled. Because tuition amounts sent to

Financial Aid are set as a standard full-time amount, each Exception to 9 Unit form that is submitted

after the June 15 and November 15 processing deadlines results in an individual correction request to

Financial Aid, creating unavoidable processing delays.

In the event a graduate assistant wishes to enroll for less than nine hours, the student may forfeit:

health insurance, tuition remission and waiver of non-resident tuition. GAs enrolled in less than 6

units are not eligible for Student Health Insurance, however the department may choose to pay for

their health insurance with a DTPR if they have available departmental funds.

• Signatures of the current assistantship supervisor & academic advisor must be on the form

prior to sending form to the Graduate College. Omitting the signatures may delay processing

the request.

• To accompany a tuition waiver request, email both attachments to gatw@nau.edu

• To accompany a GAship, ensure your service team attaches it to the E-Par along with the offer

letter.

• After the request has been received, whether for a GAship or a Tuition Waiver the GATW

coordinator will adjust the tuition and send a correction to Financial Aid if the form is not

received in conjunction with the E-Par, therefore please advise the student to anticipate

funding delays.

Summer Graduate Assistants

Unless it is required by a grant for a graduate assistant to work between the end of spring semester

and the start of the fall semester, the Graduate College does not permit summer only appointments.

Instead, the Graduate College recommends hiring a student as a student wage employee. Learn

more about compensation for student employees on the Student Employment website.

Graduate assistants hired through the summer do not receive benefits and must be enrolled in at

least two hours of credit.

If a graduate assistant is not enrolled while employed for the summer session, both the graduate

assistant and the funding source are liable for the 7.65% FICA tax on the student’s gross earnings.

The tax to employer is equal to the amount of tax paid by the employee. For graduate assistants paid

from grants or local accounts, the employee’s share of the FICA charges will be charged to the grant

or local account.

We do not track the hours worked over the summer session since we do not have summer graduate

assistants.

If the summer employment, regardless of position title, is going to cross over into a regular academic

semester, you must complete the Request for Additional Work Form and receive Graduate

College Approval prior to the work begin completed.

Checklist for Resolving Graduate Assistantship Problems

Allow 7-14 working days from the date the assistantship is received in the Graduate College

(depending on the timing of financial aid disbursement,) for tuition remission and health insurance to

be applied to accounts. A paycheck will be generated in accordance with the Payroll processing

calendar.

Why didn’t the graduate student receive a paycheck?

• Did the department initiate a New Employee Onboarding ticket in the Employee Service Center

within any deadlines set by the HR Service Team or Graduate College?

• Did the student complete their preboarding work, including their New Hire packet, I-9

verification and/or background check? Consult your HR Service Team with questions.

Why doesn’t the health insurance benefit appear on the student’s account?

• Did the student enroll for health insurance when enrolling for classes? All-year GAs enroll in

Fall only, and are re-enrolled for Spring. GAs who are on semester contracts enroll each

semester they are a GA.

• Is the student enrolled for 9 credit hours? If not, a request for an exception to this policy must

be made on the Exception to 9 Units form and submitted to the Graduate College by the

processing deadlines. International students must receive a second approval from the

International Office.

• Is the graduate assistant working 20 hours per week? Only graduate assistants who work 20

hours per week for the entire semester are eligible for the student health insurance benefit.

(See the section on benefits for eligibility information.)

• Did the Letter of Appointment arrive in the Graduate College before the processing deadline? If

not, then the processing of the benefit has been delayed.

• For questions related to Health Insurance please contact the Campus Health Billing Office.

Why doesn’t the tuition/waiver remission appear on the student’s account?

• Is the student enrolled for 9 credit hours? If not, a request for an exception to this policy must

be made on the Exception to 9 Units form and submitted to the Graduate College.

• Did the letter of appointment arrive in the Graduate College before the processing deadline? If

not, then the processing of the benefit has been delayed.

• Does the student have holds on their account preventing disbursement?

Graduate Tuition Waiver Scholarships

Eligibility

• Graduate student must be admitted to an NAU graduate degree program.

• Graduate student must enroll for 9 credits toward their graduate degree every semester and

maintain 3.0 cumulative GPA. If their program does not require 9 units an Exception to 9 Unit

form must accompany the Tuition Waiver request in order to avoid processing delays. Tuition

will not be paid unless this step is followed.

• Students who have been awarded WRGP do not qualify for an instate tuition waiver.

To help outstanding full-time students who do not obtain assistantships, the Graduate College

awards a limited number of tuition waiver scholarships each year. These scholarships are allocated to

academic departments each year and awarded to graduate students based on the recommendation

of the academic department. The tuition waiver scholarship is a gift award; no work can be required of

scholarship recipients.

A tuition scholarship may affect a student’s financial aid award. Encourage the student to check with

the Office of Student Financial Aid before accepting the tuition scholarship.

Tuition waiver scholarships for Arizona residents cover the cost of resident tuition; tuition waiver

scholarships for non-residents cover only the cost of the non-resident portion of tuition. Resident and

non-resident waivers are not interchangeable. Normally, students who receive tuition waiver

scholarships are required to enroll for nine (9) credit hours each semester. Any exceptions to this

policy should be requested using the Exception to 9 Units form and attached with the tuition waiver.

Academic departments receive allocations of tuition waiver scholarships in February. Any

scholarships not awarded by June 15 return to the Graduate College. The Graduate College

maintains a file for tuition waiver scholarships and makes awards throughout the summer as

scholarships become available.

A limited number of tuition waiver scholarships may be available for spring semester only.

Departments are encouraged to contact the Graduate College to inquire about spring awards.

Residency Changes and Tuition Waiver Scholarships

In some instances, students are eligible to petition for Arizona residency. In this case, submit the

tuition waiver recommendation form, and note a petition is in progress in the comments section.

Tuition Waiver will fund at the non-resident amount and be adjusted as a correction to the resident

amount if approved. Contact Student Accounts for individual questions. SDAS@nau.edu

Processing Graduate Tuition Waiver Scholarships

1. After you receive your allocation from the Graduate College (February) complete a

recommendation form for each tuition waiver scholarship and submit to the Graduate College no later

than June 15. Email your allocated and completed forms to gatw@nau.edu. Do not send more forms

than your allocation.

2. Review campus, residency, and planned units to complete the Tuition Waiver Recommendation.

Submit Exception to 9 units if less than full-time attached with the Tuition Waiver. For an All-Year

Tuition Waiver, submit a second Exception to 9 units for the Spring semester by November 15 to

ensure accurate processing.

3. If you are recommending a non-resident student for a resident waiver because the student is

seeking reclassification, indicate that in the comments.

4. The Department notifies the student they are awarded a departmental tuition waiver based on their

allocation.

5. If students have questions regarding the impact of a tuition waiver they are encouraged to work

with their graduate coordinator, faculty advisor, and Financial Aid.

Student Issues

Students must enroll in nine credit hours per semester. Requests for an exception to this policy must

be made on the Exception to 9 Unit form as outlined in the Exception to 9 Unit section.

Non-resident waivers are awarded for nine credit hours of non-resident tuition.

If a student receives a graduate assistantship, the tuition waiver scholarship will be cancelled. Tuition

waivers can only be reallocated by the department until the processing deadlines. Any awards

cancelled after the processing deadline will be reallocated as time allows by the Graduate College.

Residency Classification Information

All residency petitions are directed to Residency@nau.edu; Residency is adjusted for non-resident

Graduate Assistants only for the term of their Offer Letter by the Graduate College GATW

coordinator. Residency questions or concerns not related to an active GA should be directed to

Residency@nau.edu.

Taxable Income

Tuition Waivers, GAship Tuition Remission, and the GA 20-hour health insurance benefit are reported

on the 1098T form (under Box 5 for gifted aid and under Box 1 as payment if the award covered

tuition charges). If students have any questions regarding their form, they can email

TaxCredit1098T@nau.edu.

Graduate Service Assistants are taxed differently due to the categorization of their assistantship.

Please refer to the Tax Information for Graduate Assistants page.

Student Group Reports

Once GAship or Tuition Waiver has been received by the Graduate College, students will be placed

into a student group as confirmation that the award has been received and is in progress. In

Enterprise reports, students can be filtered by college, unit, current enrollment for reminders to enroll,

and NAU email addresses and other contact information. Please email GATW if you would like the

current student group as it will change each semester.

Service Teams

Onboarding and Offboarding requests can be found with the following link:

Enter the Employee Service Center – nau.service-now.com/hr

From the Homepage, you will find the service through the Catalog, Request Service tab, or

by searching a key word, such as “Hire”.

Refer to the HR Payroll Processing Calendar for timelines regarding stipend processing. The

Graduate College GATW coordinator does not have a role in stipend questions- those should be

directed to your Service Team.

The Graduate Assistantship, Fellowships and Traineeship Manual addresses policies and procedures

for fellowship recipients as well.

Processing of fellowships is currently being revised so please check directly with the Graduate

College as you offer fellowships to graduate students and process paperwork related to the awarding

of fellowships.

For questions from the student perspective consult the Graduate Assistantship Policy Handbook.