About Student Research Assistants Program 

(as of 9/7/2022)

This is a new program to support faculty research by providing student research assistants. The following procedure does three things: it establishes a fair way to request funding, determines who will not be requesting funds for the year (so that available money can be redistributed to others who are planning to have student support), and designates ways to document how the support was used.

Background

SIS Faculty have expressed a need for student assistance, given that WSU is an R1 institution and that their teaching loads are higher than parallel programs at other universities. Because the budget has no room to routinely fund student assistance, SIS is planning to draw on income from a relevant endowment that allows for its income to be used to support research. This will result in different amounts each year, with the estimate for the 2022-23 academic year in the $1000 to $2000 range per research faculty member, depending on how many faculty request assistance. It may be feasible to have an initial request and reserve a modest amount to support requests at the beginning of the Winter term as well.

Process

• Research faculty respond to a form that requests the following information:
  • Whether student support will be sought for one or two terms
  • If sought, a description of the nature of the requested support, number of hours, and a rate of pay (the default being $20 per hour)
  • A timeline of the project
  • A list of deliverables that the student would supply to the faculty member
  • A statement about the impact of the project on the
    • student
    • faculty research
    • school
• Requests would be submitted to the associate dean before the end of September and approved as they are submitted.  Earlier submissions would enable faculty to get assistance sooner.
• If there are significant unclaimed funds, applicants will be informed and allowed to amend their requests; otherwise, extra funds will be reserved for additional later requests (for the Winter term, for instance).
• When granted, faculty would identify a student assistant and let the associate dean know that they want to appoint the student to the tasks. The associate dean would work with the student to complete the hiring process.
• The successful interaction between the faculty and the student would be the responsibility of the faculty.
• Late requests would be considered on a case-by-case basis and limited to remaining funds for the year.
• A short report of the students' work (no more than one page) and its impact on the student and the faculty’s research agenda would be turned in at the end of the Winter term.
• An assessment of this process would be made at the end of the academic year and potential changes included for the subsequent year.
• Changes to the policy will be made by the Administrative Concerns Committee and the Associate Dean.
• Request form is here: SIS Faculty Request for Student Research Assistant - Wayne State University

Graduate Student Assistants (GSA)

SIS has several graduate student assistants that have the opportunity to learn from faculty and assist the School.  Students get up to 9 credits in Fall and Winter paid, an hourly wage, and benefits.  This is a competitive award.  Typically, SIS has one Diversity GSA working in the office gaining experience in academic service and one in SISTech that learning tech support and instructional technology.

They are usually employed until their 36 credits are completed.  If they deem to stay on for additional courses or certificates, that is beyond the SIS GSA expectations.  SIS wants to spread this benefit to as many students as possible.