Fund your education while gaining valuable professional experience.

The primary purpose of our graduate assistantships is to provide opportunities to gain professional experience, and academic training, and to help relieve some of the financial burdens of graduate school.   

Assistantships are offered in both academic and administrative roles.  Responsibilities and eligibility for assistantships may vary among departments.  

Graduate assistantships pay a stipend of $9,657 for the academic year and cover the tuition for up to 9 credits of graduate-level coursework in both the fall and spring semesters and up to 6 credits during the summer semester. 

The full Graduate Assistant Handbook can be found on the mySEMO portal.

GA Handbook Summary

A graduate assistantship is a graduate student University employee position designed to provide support for a student during full-time graduate study. Technically, the assistantship is a scholarship for which service is required. The assistantship provides an opportunity for a graduate student to serve in a professional role and to establish a professional relationship with faculty, professional staff, and/or administrators.

The Office of Graduate Studies and the Office of the Provost assume an active role in establishing policies and procedures to govern graduate assistant allocations at the University. The Office of Graduate Studies and the Office of the Provost also serve as advocates for graduate assistants, ensuring that they are treated equitably and that their assistantship duties contribute towards their academic studies, rather than interfere with them.

Southeast has three primary types of assistantships - Teaching, Instructional Support, and Administrative.

Teaching. The graduate teaching assistant is expected to participate directly in the teaching and/or tutoring of a course. A teaching assistant may also fulfill teaching support duties assigned to specific course sections. A teaching assistant should be listed as the instructor of record for the classes or labs they teach. It is intended that the assistantship will be a learning experience that fosters an understanding of pedagogy and content in the student's academic discipline.

Instructional Support. The graduate instructional support assistant is expected to be primarily responsible for assisting faculty with instructional-related work. Responsibilities may include laboratory or clinical preparation, grading, tutoring, or library research to help prepare class presentations, etc. An instructional support assistant should not be responsible for the direct teaching of a course.

Administrative. The graduate administrative assistant is expected to develop competencies and assist in the daily operations of a university administrative unit. The graduate administrative assistant should be allowed to learn the functions of the office as well as educational management procedures. The appointment should not be viewed as the equivalent of a full-time staff or clerical level appointment with its related responsibilities. It is expected that the graduate administrative assistant will provide more than routine student clerical support that would typically be performed by student workers on campus.

Appointment recommendations are initiated in the department/unit and require the approval of the College Dean and the Vice Provost/Dean of Graduate Studies. Once approved, the appointment or reappointment forms are finalized and approved by the Office of Graduate Studies, they are forwarded to Human Resources for a contract to be issued. The GA will receive an e-mail notification to his/her Southeast student e-mail address regarding the issuance of the contract, along with detailed instructions related to the process of reviewing and accepting the contract.

TAs are expected to work 20 hours per week to complete the equivalent of six credit hours of instruction per semester. GAs are expected to work 20 hours per week. In no instance should workload related to the job expectations interfere with the GA’s program of study (e.g., time away from class, missing examinations).

All GAs must be directly supervised by a graduate faculty member within an academic department or by a designated professional staff member within other units. The person responsible for this supervision must be indicated on the job description provided to the GA when the appointment is initiated. Supervision must adhere to any existing accreditation guidelines applicable to academic programs to which GAs are assigned.

GAs are required to complete a minimum of six (6) hours of graduate-level work per semester. However, to meet full-time graduate enrollment for FAFSA, SEVIS, or other purposes, a minimum of nine (9) hours is required. The fee waiver included in the assistantship covers up to nine (9) graduate hours of coursework applicable to the student’s degree program per semester for the fall and spring semesters, and up to six (6) hours of graduate coursework during the summer semester.

Since the assistantship is essentially a scholarship, GAs are expected to maintain a satisfactory academic record. At all times, the GA must maintain at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA. A student who receives a failing grade (F) in a graduate program will be suspended until obtaining written approval from the appropriate college/department/program official(s) and the Vice Provost/Dean of Graduate Studies.

Graduate Assistant Forms

Approval & Reappointment 

  • Used when a new Graduate Assistants is hired 
  • Used when a Graduate Assistant is going to continue to work the next academic year 

Approval to Work Additional On-Campus

  • Used if a Graduate Assistant will be working during Winter/ Summer Break 
  • Used to obtain approval from the Graduate Studies Department 

GA Semester Evaluation Form

  • Used to evaluate Graduate Assistants. This form is to be submitted by the Assistantship Supervisor each semester before finals week 

GA Annual Evaluation Form

  • Used to evaluate the Assistantship. This form is to be submitted by the Graduate Assistant each year after working as a GA

GA Checkout Form

  • Used when the Graduate Assistant contract expires. Completion of this form is required to receive full clearance from the University.

Academic Year 2024-2025 Allocations and Openings 

Listed below are the allocations funded by Graduate Studies. Departments may have additional assistantships funded through other sources such as operations budgets or grant funding. 

Academic Departments

Department   No. of Graduate Assistant Allocated   Graduate Assistant
Availability
Department contact's
Name
and Email
Application
Allied Health, Kinesiology, and Sport Sciences 0


0


0

0
Monica Kearney
mlkearney@semo.edu 

Joel Ramdial
jramdial@semo.edu 

Kyle Schneider
kschneider@semo.edu 

Amy Moore
armoore@semo.edu 

Biology 11 0 Dustin Siegel
dsiegel@semo.edu 
Chemistry and Physics 4 0 Phil Crawford
pcrawford@semo.edu 
COE - Leadership, Middle, and Secondary Education 1 0

Shannon Clapsaddle
sclapsaddle@semo.edu 

COE - Counselor Education Training Clinic 1  0

Kirsten LaMantia
klamantia@semo.edu 

COE - Educator Preparation  1  0

Buddy Alberson
balberson@semo.edu 

COE - The Edvolution® Center 1 0 Jana Gerard
jgerard@semo.edu 
COE - The University School for Young Children 3  0 Jennie Webb
jwebb@semo.edu 
Communication Disorders 4  0 Susan Fulton
sfulton@semo.edu  
Computer Science 12  0 Reshmi Mitra
CSgradprograms@semo.edu 
Criminal Justice, Social Work, and Sociology 1  0 Kristen Sobba 
ksobba@semo.edu 
Engineering and Technology 6 0 Brad Deken
bdeken@semo.edu 
Application Form (Information about positions)
English and TESOL 8  0

Eric Sentell
esentell@semo.edu  

Application Form
Environmental Science 2  0 John Kraemer
jkraemer@semo.edu 
Graduate Business Studies 6  0 Gillian Nicholls
gnicholls@semo.edu 
History and Anthropology 3  0 Adam Criblez
acriblez@semo.edu 
Nursing 2  1.5 Gina Koch
glkoch@semo.edu 
Must have BSN with Missouri RN Licensure
Political Science, Philosophy, and Religion 1  0  Jeremy Walling
jwalling@semo.edu 
Psychology and Counseling 2  0 Tony Faber 
afaber@semo.edu

 

Non-academic Departments

Department   No. of Graduate Assistant Funded by Grad Studies   Graduate Assistant
Availability 
Department Contact Application
Admissions-Graduate 1 Alisa McFerron
amcferron@semo.edu  
Admissions-Special Events 1 0 Liz Jeffries
eajeffries@semo.edu 
Admissions-Tours 1 1 Liz Jeffries
eajeffries@semo.edu 
See SEMO Handshake for application information.
Athletics 14 0

Betsy Wilcox
bwilcox@semo.edu 
or
athletics@semo.edu  

Campus Life/Event Services 1  0 Michele Irby
mirby@semo.edu 
Career Services 3  0 Dan Presson
dpresson@semo.edu 
 
Center for Academic Advising 2  0 Amanda Eller
advising@semo.edu 
 
Center for Behavioral Health & Accessibility 1  0 Dinia Jenkins
djenkins@semo.edu 
Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) 1  0 Mary Talbut
mhtalbut@semo.edu 
 
Center for Writing Excellence 1  0 Jennifer Weiss
jlweiss@semo.edu 
Dean of Students - Case Management 1  0 Trae Mitten
lmitten@semo.edu 
 
Educational Access Programs 1  0 Charles Blackmon
cablackmon@semo.edu 
Office of International Education & Services 1  0 Paliza Shrestha
pshrestha@semo.edu 
Jane Stephens Honors Program 1  0 Scott Brandhorst
sbrandhorst@semo.edu 
Kent Library/Special Collections 1  0 Tyson Koeing
tmkoenig@semo.edu 
 
Learning Assistance Programs 3  0 Jennifer Weiss
jlweiss@semo.edu 
 
Marketing & Communications 1  0 Tonya Wells
twells@semo.edu 
 
McNair Scholarship Programs 1 0 Anoja Kuruppu
akuruppu@semo.edu 
Military and Veteran Services 1  0 Amanda Woods
awoods@semo.edu 
 
New Student Programs 2  0 Katie Krodinger
kkrodinger@semo.edu 
 
Office of Greek Life 0 0 Bruce Skinner
bskinner@semo.edu 
Office of Student Conduct 1 0 Randy Carter
lrcarter@semo.edu 
Office of the President 2 0 Chris Martin
cmartin@semo.edu 
 
Office of the Provost 0 Melissa Odegard
modegard@semo.edu
Southeast Online 3 0 Leah Michel
lmichel@semo.edu
 
Office of Residence Life 0 0 Allie Wisker
awisker@semo.edu
Student Government Association 0 0 Michele Irby
mirby@semo.edu 

 

Location
Office
Academic Hall 132
Mailing Address
One University Plaza, MS 3400
Cape Girardeau, MO 63701