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For Faculty and Staff - Hiring a student

Hiring an International Student

Student applies to department or office as either:

Graduate Assistant

  • Only open to graduate students.
  • Assistantships may be
    • half-time (10 hours)
    • full-time (20 hours)
    • or Summer (up to 40 hours)
  • Positions are either as
    • Teaching Assistant
    • Research Assistant
    • or Graduate Assistant

Non-Work-Study

  • May be graduate or undergraduate.
  • Hours must not exceed 20/week
  • International Students receive no federal aid, therefore any position is paid out of your department/office's budget.

If you agree to hire the student

For GA positions, these two forms should be submitted:

As the Faculty or department sponsor, you must fill out the "Approving Funding for the Assistantship" section of the GA form. Depending on your department/college, you may need the Department Chair or Dean's signature.

Likewise, you must fill in your relevant department codes and obtain the proper signatures.

Social Security Numbers

 Before the student can start working, he or she needs a social security number.  As part of the Social Security Number application process, new federal regulations state that international students must have a .  More information is available at Applying for a Social Security Number.

From the UMass Dartmouth Waiver Policy

On the recommendation of the Graduate Council, the Provost determines each year a minimum stipend for a full-time academic year graduate assistantship (for 2013-2014 there is a minimum of $9,000.00 for a graduate assistantship - GA -  and a minimum of $12,000.00 for a teaching or research assistantship - TA or RA.)

The specific duties for a graduate assistantship vary according to the unit offering the award, the student's field of study, and whether it is for the general purpose of teaching assistance ("TA"), research assistance ("RA"), or general administrative assistance ("GA"). The duties performed shall be at a professional level appropriate to the student's academic field, as approved by the student's department. For example, a Professional Writing graduate student could have an assistantship which involves substantial original writing or design; but just clerical duties would not be appropriate. Duties regularly done by undergraduate students, such as peer tutoring or elementary web design, cannot be the basis of a graduate assistantship.

Additional stipend information can be found at Graduate Studies.

Notice of Non-Discrimination

Please read and be aware of the university's non-discrimination policy.

Mass.gov: Avoiding Immigration Scams

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