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❓ What’s Different About GAs

The main difference between GAs (Graduate Assistants) is that GAs are paid by a stipend from their program, rather than by the Writing Center. The exception to this is if you choose to work over the holidays (such as Intersession, Summer, or extra hours beyond your stipend contract). Another major difference is that you will be invited to take on more leadership responsibilities. While other tutors can apply for leadership roles (

Student Managers and

Writing Group Facilitators), many of them won’t. In contrast, while GAs are not required to take positions as

Student Leaders, most will.

🤔 Understanding Your Stipend

GAs are not paid on an hourly basis, but instead by stipend. A set amount of compensation—determined by your department, not the Writing Center—is dispersed to you in even payments throughout the school year.

Disbursement begins the first pay period of the school year in September, and ends the last pay period of the school year, in June.

The amount is the same for every paycheck, and continues through Winter and Spring breaks.

This amount also does not change based on the hours worked, so if you clock 38 hours instead of 40 in one pay period, you will still receive the same amount.

During the Winter and Spring breaks, you do not need to enter hours in order to receive your stipend disbursements.

The Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Graduate Office oversees your stipend and Gerald Cruz (Associate Director of Graduate Advising) is the person directly responsible for approving your hours and answering any questions about your stipend. Gerald “encourage(s)…GAs to reach out to me at any time/for any questions” at GCRUZ15@depaul.edu or (773) 325-7310.

🗓️ Scheduling & Hours

The number of hours that Writing Center GAs work is determined by their GA contract (usually 20 hours). Your availability and schedule are determined through the same process as the rest of the Writing Center Tutors, as outlined on the

Quarterly Scheduling Process & Policies page. Likewise, for any schedule changes or calling out sick, you will still use the schedule change form. This includes scheduling any make-up hours that you might need to, though you will also talk to your direct supervisor (for

Student Leaders) or Katie Brown for about those hours.

⏳ Make-Up Hours

The LAS Graduate Office is much more concerned with making sure that GAs aren’t being made to work more than their contract asks than if they are working less than that number. For instance, if your contract is for 20 hours a week, 22 hours on the clock is much more concerning than 18. As such, making up hours is between you and your supervisor in the Writing Center. If you are making up hours, it does not have to be in the same pay period as the missed hours, but Gerald Cruz would appreciate a heads-up about the extra hours on your timesheet so that he doesn’t think something is wrong. Your timesheet should always reflect the number of hours you have worked, even if that number isn’t the same as what your GA contract says.

When Might I Need to Make Up Hours?

As a GA, you get paid the same no matter how many hours you work, so any time you take off is time you might need to make up later, no matter what your reason is for taking the time off. In other words, any instance of missed hours is eligible for hours that need to be made up, with one exception: if the entire University is closed. For instance, you do not have to make up any hours you missed because of a holiday closure like Memorial Day. If the closure is just the Writing Center, then it is between you and your supervisor whether those hours need to be made up.

How Do I Make Up Hours?

It is between you and your supervisor how many of those hours you need to make up. If you are sick for three days, your supervisor might only ask you to make up one day of work, or they might ask you to make up all three. What they can’t do is ask you to make up those hours outside of normal Writing Center operating hours (but you can volunteer that, if you would like). You also can’t be asked to work an inordinate amount of hours all at once. For instance, if you have missed an entire week, those hours cannot all be made up the next week, they need to be spread out more reasonably. Just let the LAS office know that extra hours will be appearing on your time sheet.

🤒 Sick Hours

As per DePaul’s Sick Time, Short and Long-Term Disability policy

[S]tudent employees paid via stipend may use sick time when necessary. They do not accrue sick time and do not record time in the University Time & Labor system but rather re-arrange their schedules to accommodate their illness. Pay continues when they are absent from work.

GAs do not accrue sick time during stipend hours. However, if you work any additional paid hours, you accrue sick time the same as any other hourly employee, according to the DePaul sick pay policy. You cannot use accrued hourly sick time to make up missed stipend hours, only missed hourly hours. Whether or not you have to make up any stipend hours you miss because you are sick is between you and your supervisor; the LAS Graduate Office policy does not require you to. The only time LAS needs to hear about you being sick is if your timesheet is going to have zero hours on it. They won’t take action unless you have missed 30 consecutive days of work.

To call out sick, you only need to follow the Writing Center procedure, no need to inform the LAS Graduate Office (or Gerald Cruz).

⛱️ Intersession and Summer Hours

If you are working at the Writing Center during December Intersession or the Summer Holidays, you will be an hourly employee; it is not part of your GA contract. You will still receive stipend payments during the Intersession, but you are not required to work GA hours. This means you will receive both your stipend payments and your hourly wage if you work during Intersession. If you work during the summer, you will not receive stipend payments, just your hourly wage.

As an hourly employee during Intersession and Summer, all of the normal hourly employee policies will apply to you, such as accrued sick time.

For more information, please refer to the

Summer & December Intersession Hiring page!

💬 Points of Contact

Stipend and GA logistics → Gerald Cruz or the LAS Graduate Office

Coursework and program → ask your program advisors and Department Heads

Work and scheduling → ask your Writing Center supervisor, or Katie B.

(Only refer your questions to Matthew Pearson if he is your direct supervisor, or Katie B asks you to.)

📝 WRD 582

The Writing Center Theory and Pedagogy course ( WRD 582) that all incoming Writing Center Tutors are required to take counts differently in your degree progress depending on which program you are in. It will be covered by your stipend, no matter your program.

For MAWP/MFA and MALP

WRD 582 can count as either one of your Open Electives, or as one of your LLPT (Literature, Language, Publishing, or Teaching) Electives. On your DPR it will automatically sort as an Open Elective, all you need to do to switch it over is ask your program director: Professors June Chung or Rebecca Johns-Trissler.

For MAWRD

WRD 582 can count either for the Teaching Writing and Language concentration, or as one of your Open Electives if you are not pursuing that concentration. It will automatically reflect in the correct place on your DPR. If, however, it does not, contact your program director: Professor Jason Kalin.

🗃️ Taxes, and Other Paperwork

In the summer before a GAship begins, the new GA will receive a series of emails with introductions, information, and instructions—and paperwork that needs to be filled out. This email (from the LAS Graduate Office) is very comprehensive, and perhaps a little overwhelming. What is important to remember, is that you must complete the hiring paperwork as soon as possible. If you miss the deadline your GAship isn’t revoked, but it does delay your stipend dispersal.

Taxes

The below information from the IRS can hopefully help you with filing taxes for your stipend, as it can be a little confusing.

Topic No. 421, Scholarships, Fellowship Grants, and Other Grants | Internal Revenue Service

A scholarship is generally an amount paid or allowed to a student at an educational institution for the purpose of study. A fellowship grant is generally an amount paid or allowed to an individual for the purpose of study or research. Other types of grants include need-based grants (such as Pell Grants) and Fulbright grants.

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc421

🕥 Full vs Half-Time GAs

👋 Renewing or Withdrawing

For most programs, the process to renew your GAships is incredibly simple: an email that you may or may not have to respond to. The fiscal year resets July 1st, so don’t worry if you hear nothing about renewal until after then. As a returning GA, you will also receive an informational email from the LAS Graduate Office similar to the one you received previously as an incoming GA.

If for some reason you want to end your GAship, contact the departmental assistant or program director (English or WRD department, not Matthew). In that case, you lose access to any stipend or tuition waiver for the upcoming quarters. If a GA withdraws from their GAship mid-quarter, it’s up to the department whether the tuition waiver continues, or if tuition is prorated for the remainder of the quarter. In either case, the withdrawing GA would not owe any back pay for classes in progress or already attended.

👥 Writing Fellows as a GA

💯 Tips from Gerald

Get your hiring paperwork in on time! If you don’t, it impacts your paycheck, and Gerald has to do the math to redistribute your stipend payouts (You will still get your full stipend, but if your paperwork isn’t in on time you can’t get the first payout, so your stipend has to be redistributed)

Communicate clearly and often with your supervisor (on a day-to-day basis is good)

If there are ever any issues with anything, please reach out to the LAS office email (LASGraduateOffice@depaul.edu) or Gerald Cruz’s email (gcruz12@depaul.edu)

The Writing Center Administrators and program or Department Heads don’t know much about the stipend process, so skip the middle man and reach out to Gerald with your questions

December Intersession courses and Winter courses are billed together, so you can use your waiver to take Intersession courses instead of Winter courses, but you still only get two courses for that billing period, and you have to let your Department and Gerald know beforehand

Graduate Assistantship Information