Did you know that there are on average 100 graduate assistantships available across campus at the College of Charleston? A graduate assistantship (GA) is a part-time position available on campus for full-time, degree-seeking graduate students. The position usually consists of 20 hours a week, but some departments share GAs, resulting in two students working 10 hours a week. The salary for a 20 hour a week GA for the 2010/11 academic year is $12,500, and is paid every other week like a typical paycheck.
If you’re interested in finding a position, there are a few steps you will have to take. The first is submitting your Graduate Assistantship Application. The next step is to get your name out there. Make sure your program director is aware of your interest in finding a GA position on campus. While there are many positions available at any given time, it helps to have insider knowledge of where these positions are. You will also want to conduct a search in the Career Center’s CISTERNonline employment database.
Accessing your profile can be pretty easy; just make sure you use your full Edisto email address (that includes the @edisto.cofc.edu part of your address). After creating your profile, you can access the positions listed within CISTERNonline. When you get to the keyword search, type in assistantship and the available positions listed in CISTERNonline will be computed for you.
As a side note, the Career Center told me that there may be a few students who will have trouble accessing their profile. These individuals include anyone who was enrolled for the first time in classes at the College of Charleston during the Spring 2011 semester. Also, those who enroll for the first time in a summer session will not be in the system until the Fall semester begins. If you run into these issues logging in, it’s best to contact the Career Center. They will help you make your profile so you can gain access to the employment database.
I did a check yesterday, and there were two positions available at the moment for graduate assistants. The first is with Student Media, and the second is with The Graduate School. The Graduate School and the Career Center are working together to encourage more departments across campus to post their assistantship opportunities online. So, be sure to keep accessing CISTERNonline to learn about more opportunities available to you. If you have any questions about obtaining a graduate assistantship, contact the grad school at gradstud@cofc.edu or by calling 843.953.5614.
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