Please be reminded that there is a critical difference between graduate assistantship and graduate fellowship awards. Failure to observe this difference may jeopardize the tax status of recipients of the awards.

Although it is not recommended, it is technically possible to award both a fellowship and a graduate assistantship to the same student. In so doing, it must be clear to the student that no services are required for the fellowship award. Fellowship awards cannot be made to "make up differences" in amounts paid to two graduate assistants if both are expected to do the same amount of work.

Graduate Assistantship

A graduate assistantship is an award to which is tied a requirement of service to the University. This service obligation is usually instructional or research related. For these purposes, a graduate assistant is assigned to one or more faculty. Some graduate assistants are required to submit time sheets to document the rendering of service; others (particularly those paid from college departmental accounts) receive a fixed sum paid in equal installments through the semester of appointment. The nature and extent of the service of all graduate assistants is reported on Faculty Activity Reports.

Graduate Fellowship

A graduate fellowship is an award to which no requirement of service to the University may be tied. The usual function of a graduate fellowship is to provide sufficient funds to the recipient so that the student is freed from any necessity to work. Obviously, the amount of funds available for graduate fellowships at UWF does not permit us to realize this ideal.