Graduate Assistantship Appointments and Rate-Setting Process

The graduate assistant rate-setting process is as follows:

After approval by the Provost, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, and the Dean of the Graduate School sets minimum 50% TA, PA, RA, PA grader/reader, University Fellowship, Advanced Opportunity Fellowship, and Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship rates for the next fiscal year.
The Dean of the Graduate School announces these rates and requires programs to submit their rates to the Graduate School for approval by a specified date.
Programs must have their rates approved by their school or college prior to reporting them to the Graduate School.
Rates must be consistent with Graduate School policies on maximum levels of appointment and concurrent appointments.
Graduate students must be paid the RA rate associated with the academic program in which they are enrolled. If a graduate student is appointed as an RA in a different program, they are paid at the rate of their academic program home.
Any unit that employs PAs and pays them a rate above the campus minimum must report their rate to the Graduate School’s Fellowship Director. This requirement applies to all units that do not participate in the general rate-setting exercise.
All faculty and PIs must pay the approved program rate.
Programs are strongly encouraged to set all RA and PA appointments at 50% in order to allow students to compare funding offers from other universities.
Programs must provide written offers of 4- or 5-year funding packages to all PhD students at the time of admission.