Career Center

Title: Graduate Assistant (Communication, Media, & Theatre Arts)

Employee Classification: GA

Pay Grade: GS 00

Division: Academic and Student Affairs

Department: School of Communication, Media, and Theatre Arts

Campus Location: Main Campus

General Summary

Graduate Assistants for staffing will support co-curricular activities in the School of Communication, Media, & Theatre Arts. Areas of staffing include: Forensics coaching; Scene shop; Costume shop; Theatre Direction; Applied Drama & Theatre for Young; Performance Studies events.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Positions will be supervised by an assigned faculty or staff member who will require orientations and periodic supervision for each position.
• These positions require Graduate Assistants to often complete their hours of work in the evenings and/or on weekends.
• Graduate Assistants may be asked to supervise undergraduate students to execute the duties of a particular position. 
• Traveling with staff for off campus events or attending on campus events may also be required.

Minimum Qualifications:

A Bachelor?s degree from an accredited college or university or recognized international institution of higher education.

Must work at least 10 hours a week

Must be fully or conditionally admitted to a graduate program of study in the School of Communication, Media, or Theatre Arts. (Applicants with a grade point average below 3.0 or students with admission for continuing education, non-degree, and teacher certification are also not eligible for a graduate assistantship.

Academic background or co-curricular experience relevant to the needs of a particular position.

Experience in public speaking, such as presenting research, forensics competitions, or prior teaching engagements.

Additional Information:

• Period of Employment is August 2026 - April 2027
• Second-year appointment is contingent on performance, academic success, and resources.

Tuition support: A half-time GA entitles a student to 5 graduate credit hours of tuition waiver in the Fall semester and 4 graduate credit hours in the Winter semester, with a limit of 9 credit hours in total during the Fall/Winter semesters. No tuition waiver is available during the Spring/Summer semester. A full-time GA entitles a student to 18 credit hours of tuition waiver divided equally over Fall and Winter terms. 

To be eligible for the full or part-time award, students must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours in the Fall and 6 credit hours in the Winter. Students are responsible for additional fees not covered by tuition (i.e., general fee, student center fee, and technology fee), new student record initiation fee, registration fee, late registration fee, drop fees, or late fees applied when bills are unpaid. Courses taken below the 500 level will not be eligible for reimbursement under the GA/DF tuition waiver benefit unless the courses are included in the program of study for a 150-credit hour, dual degree, bachelor?s/master?s program.

Priority registration is provided by online registration by the date specified by the Office of Records and Registration as noted in the Class Schedule Book or Website (same date as undergraduate Honors students)

Appointment Percentage:

50% or 100%

About Eastern Michigan University

Since its inception, Eastern Michigan, first as a Normal School, then as a College and finally as a University, has grown and developed to respond to the ever-changing needs of society. Over the years, EMU has educated thousands of sons and daughters of Michigan, the nation, and the world. The University currently serves 23,000 students who are pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 200 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Health and Human Services; Technology, and its graduate school. Eastern Michigan's exceptional faculty, students and alumni include CEOs from major businesses; a National Student Teacher of the Year, National Teacher of the Year, numerous Fulbright Scholars and Milken Family Foundation National Educators award winners; and several Michigan Teachers of the Year.

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