This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) was created in collaboration with the IUPUI Office of Academic Affairs and is meant to aid departments and schools as they decide how to attract and fund degree seeking graduate students. This document is focused on Student Academic Appointees.
Note, that some graduate and professional students receive financial aid from their department / school that is not tied to specific duties (SAA) or scholarly pursuits (Graduate Fellowship).
Many graduate students are funded via Graduate Fellowships or a Student Academic Appointment (SAA). Others are employed on a staff-temporary-hourly basis. Sources of funding include: school funds allocated for financial aid or staff; grants; Indiana University merit-based fellowships; IUPUI Graduate Office fellowships; IU Foundation; and state and federal financial aid.
Review the Indiana University Student Payment Guidelines to ensure you are paying the student appropriately and in compliance with federal and state regulations, IU policies, and donor intent.
SAAs are considered Academic Appointments. You can appoint them by the semester or academic year. See SAA Handbook for more details.
No, an SAA cannot have a summer only appointment. To have a summer appointment, they must have held a spring/fall appointment or 10-month academic appointment prior to the summer appointment.
Student Academic Appointees must be appointed at a minimum of 37.5% FTE (15 standard hours per week). A 50% FTE appointment is considered full time, and this equates to 20 hours a week. Anything above 50% FTE must receive approval from OAA (below). See SAA Handbook for additional details.
For international students, you must confer with the Office of International Affairs regarding visa requirements for appointments. Note that most visas allow only 20 hours work (or 50% FTE). See Hiring an F-1 or J-1 Student for additional details.
Anything over 20 standard hours (or 50% FTE) requires overload approval from Rachel Applegate, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Faculty Affairs, Office of Academic Affairs. The graduate student’s academic supervisor must email a request that includes the justification for the overload, and the total commitment of courses + other hours worked to confirm the total is below 30 standard hours per week. This request must be emailed to Dr. Applegate at rapplega@iupui.edu, and the subsequent approval should be attached to the appropriate HRMS eDoc (see HRMS eDocs for AC3 Appointments below).
During the summer, appointments may be made without special justification up to 100% FTE (40 hours per week). Summer is defined as period between Commencement and the official start of the fall semester.
IUPUI does not have an SAA minimum stipend; however, schools are obligated to meet the IU minimum wage requirements for academic appointments, which is $15 an hour.
Although, separate and distinct from SAAs, graduate fellowships are another way to attract students in a highly competitive recruitment landscape. The IUPUI Graduate Office provides a competitive stipend as part of the University and Diversity Fellowship for highly qualified incoming PhD and master’s students pursing research-based degrees. The 21-22 academic year IUPUI University Fellows receive a first-year stipend (Master’s/ 15.5K and PhD/22.5K), and health insurance while departments provide a fee remission. The IUPUI Graduate Office strongly encourages departments and schools to provide a similar level of compensation to their SAAs.
It depends on the student’s FTE percentage. SAA with full-time appointments of 50% FTE, must be awarded a 30 credit hour fee remission with no more than 12 credit hours awarded per semester or combined summer session.
Note that students appointed as an SAA must enroll in at least 6 credits, or a full-time enrollment course equivalent such as G901 (available to IU PhD students at 90 credits and requires school and Graduate Office approval).
This benefit varies with percent effort, see page 6 and 7 of the SAA Handbook.
See IUPUI's Tuition and Fees website to calculate the cost of tuition.
Health Insurance
If the SAA is appointed at 37.5% FTE (minimum appointment) or greater the student is automatically enrolled from date of appointment, and insurance coverage activated when the job is entered into IU system. Insurance includes health, dental, and Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Insurance coverage terminates when the department terminates the position in the IU system, or during IUB VPFAA’s batch termination process each semester.
The Waiver Request Form should be used if the student has existing insurance coverage and does not need the IU-sponsored coverage. The waiver request form must be submitted by the deadlines noted on the form to be approved. This will prevent your account from being billed the premium for insurance the student is not utilizing.
If the student meets the eligibility requirements the insurance premium is charged to the account used to fund the SAA’s stipend each semester. IU rates / minimums are published each spring for the following fiscal year. Contact your budget office for additional details.
It depends. Coverage for fall SAA appointments is 8/1 – 12/31 annually. Coverage for spring SAA appointments is 1/1 – 7/31 annually, as long as the SAA remains active and a waiver is not submitted. If the SAA is terminated during the year, coverage will end as of the termination date.
Alternatively, if a student’s appointment begins Summer term, they are automatically enrolled from date of appointment, and insurance coverage activated when the job entered into IU system. Coverage terminates when department terminates position in HRMS, or during batch term process each semester.
Biannca L. Yates, University Human Resources, biyates@iupui.edu
Overload approval for over 50% FTE (20 hours a week).
Rachel Applegate, Office of Academic Affairs, rapplega@iupui.edu
HRMS eDocs for AC3 Appointments
Effective date must always be the first day of a month and must match the contract begin date.
Contract end date must always be the last day of a month, unless it’s a 10-month appointee who’s being appointed for the full academic year (August-May). In those instances, the contract end date will automatically default to the Monday after BL graduation.
Contract dates for the following periods are listed below:
Fall: 8/1-12/31
Spring: 1/1-5/31
Academic year: 8/1-5/31
A background check and I-9 must be completed prior to final eDoc approval of the hire.
The IUPUI Academic Personal Profile Form must be completed and attached to the Hire eDoc.
The standard hours must be a minimum of 15 = 37.5% FTE. Anything over 20 standard hours (or 50% FTE) requires overload approval from Rachel Applegate.
Students can only work up to 40 hours per week during the summer without overload approval.
Effective date must always be the first day of a month and must match the contract begin date.
Contract end date must always be the last day of a month, unless it’s a 10-month appointee who’s being appointed for the full academic year (August-May). In those instances, the contract end date will automatically default to the Monday after BL graduation.
The standard hours must be a minimum of 15 = 37.5% FTE. Anything over 20 standard hours requires overload approval from Rachel Applegate.
An SAA must have a fall or spring appointment to be paid on a Create Summer Pay eDoc.
This eDoc type is only for 10-month appointees who work during the summer, 12-month appointees who work during the summer are paid on a Renew Contract eDoc.
Dates can vary from year-to-year. There’s an option to select Summer Session 1, Summer Session 2 or Irregular Schedule.
If Irregular Schedule is selected, the initiator can input any begin/end date as long as it falls within a summer pay period (May-August).
Definitions
Graduate Fellowships are offered by departments, schools, or the University to selected graduate students. The stipends attached do not require specific duties and are excludable from taxable income to the extent they are actually used to pay for tuition and course-related books and expenses. All fellowship recipients must be degree seeking and enrolled full-time. A full-time course load is defined by each school, but may in no case be less than 6 credit hours per semester without special permission. Definition altered for clarity from Bloomington – SAA Handbook.
Student Academic Appointment - (Graduate Assistant, Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant) – Graduate student appointments are offered by academic schools or departments to selected graduate students. The stipends attached to appointments are considered graduate student support and compensation for the academic duties assigned, and as such are considered to be taxable income. These student academic appointments are independent of other possible awards of financial aid. Definition altered for campus clarity from Bloomington – SAA Handbook.
Compensation – payment to an individual (employee or student) for work performed on behalf of the University. Student Academic Appointees are compensated for academic duties assigned.
Stipend – payment to a student to contribute to cost of living, but not for work completed on behalf of the University. Graduate Fellowship recipients receive a stipend.
Fee Remission – Payment of student tuition (does not include G901, mandatory, course related or miscellaneous fees) by a university component (Campus, RC, School, Unit, etc.). Typically, as a component of a Student Academic Appointment (SAA), but discretion is afforded to university units beyond SAA’s.
Indiana University Graduate School Indianapolis resources and social media channels
