Graduate Assistantship Survey

Spring 2015

  1. Survey Information
  2. Survey emailed to 82 graduate assistants on 4/14/15
  3. 84 respondents with 2 people filling the survey out twice
  4. 100 % response rate
  1. Respondents

Department/Program / Supervisor / Hours per Week
Academic Advising & Exploration Center / Pam Tanner / 15
Academic Advising & Exploration Center / Janay Alston & Kristine Yesbeck / 20
Academic Assessment / Joan Littlefield Cook / 20
Accounting / William Raabe / 15
Accounting / William Raabe & Joanna Stradusky / 15
Applied Economics / Nick Lei Guo
Applied Economics / TekinKose
Athletic Department / Steve Hillmer
Athletic Department / Stacy Boudreau / 30
Career & Leadership Development / Kim Clarksen / 20
Career & Leadership Development / Jan Bilgen & Sarah Suter / 20
Career & Leadership Development / Cindy Konrad & Jan Bilgen / 20
Center for Students with Disabilities / Scott Ritter / 20
Center for Students with Disabilities / Scott Ritter / 20
Center for Students with Disabilities / Scott Ritter / 20-25
Center for Students with Disabilities / Betsy Brandt / 20
CoBe Tech / Robert Schramm / 20
Communication / Kathy Brady / 20-25
Communication / Kathy Brady & Corey Davis / 25-35
Communication / Kathy Brady / 23
Communication / Kathy Brady / 25ish
Communication / Corey Davis / 20
Communication / Kathy Brady / 15-25
College of Education & Professional Studies / Robin Fox / 20
College of Letters & Sciences Advising / Debra Heiber / 10
Communication Sciences & Disorders / Roxanne DePaul / 10
Communication Sciences & Disorders / Roxanne DePaul / 10
Communication Sciences & Disorders / Roxanne DePaul / 10
Communication Sciences & Disorders / Roxanne DePaul / 20-25
Counseling Education / Brenda Rust O’Beirne / 10
Counseling Education / Brenda Rust O’Beirne & Jennifer Betters-Bubon / 20
Counseling Education / Brenda Rust O’Beirne & Jennifer Betters-Bubon / 15-20
Counseling Education / Brenda Rust O’Beirne / 20
Counseling Education / Brenda Rust O’Beirne / 10
Counseling Education / Krista Kim / 10
Counseling Education / Krista Kim / 15
Economics Department / Daniel Teferra / 10
Economics Department / Stuart Glosser / 20
Economics Department / David Welsch / 0
Finance & Business Law / Kim Marino / 15
Finance & Business Law / Kim Marino / 15
Financial Aid / Connie Murray / 20
First Year Experience / Amberly Bell / 20-25
First Year Experience / Kelli Danielski & Beth John
First Year Experience / Marie Hornickle / 20
Graduate Studies & Continuing Ed / Seth Meisel / 20
Graduate Studies & Continuing Ed / John Stone / 20
Graduate Studies & Continuing Ed / John Stone
Graduate Studies & Continuing Ed / Kara Meissen & Seth Meisel / 20
ITSCM / Paul Ambrose / 15-20
ITSCM / Paul Ambrose / 15
Management / James Bronson / 15
Management / James Bronson / 20
Management / Steve Hillmer / 30
Marketing / Char Anderson / 20
Marketing & Media Relations / Sara Kuhl
Office of Residence Life / Ariel Powers-Schaub / 20
Office of Residence Life / Christina Aichele / 30-35
Office of Residence Life / Jack Fischer, Tiffany Tardy, & Terry Tumbarello / 20
Office of Residence Life / Trelana Daniel / 20
Office of Residence Life / Terry Tumbarello / 20
Office of Residence Life / Tiffany Tardy / 20+
Office of Residence Life / Terry Tumbarello / 40
Office of Residence Life / Terry Tumbarello / 20-30
Office of Residence Life / Whitney Supianoski / 20
Office of Residence Life / Frank Hartfield & Terry Tumbarello / 20+
School Psychology / Christine Neddenriep / 15
School Psychology / Christine Neddenriep / 15
School Psychology / Christine Neddenriep / 10
School Psychology / Christine Neddenriep & Tracey Scherr / 15
School Psychology / Christine Neddenriep / 10
School Psychology / Christine Neddenriep / 10
School Psychology / Christine Neddenriep / 15
Special Education / James Collins, Katy Casey, Simone DeVore, & Brook Winchell / 15
Special Education / Shannon Stuart
Testing Office / Ben Prather and Nelson Edmonds / 20
Testing Office / Ben Prather and Nelson Edmonds / 20
Undergraduate Research Program / Catherine Chan & Juk Bhattacharyya / 15
University Health & Counseling Services / Whitney Henley / 20
Warhawk Alley / Tonia Harvel / 30
Wheelchair Athletics / Jeremy Lade / 30
Women’s Basketball / Keri Carollo / 40+
  1. Survey Responses
  2. % Time Performing Each Task:
  3. Support research for faculty –mean = 19.30
  4. Support instruction by faculty –mean = 23.94
  5. Support departments administratively –mean = 24.70
  6. Other –mean = 32.06
  • Factors in accepting an assistantship (1-4, 1 representing the most important):
  • Financial Support–mean = 1.92
  • Eligibility for benefits–mean = 2.58
  • Work with faculty–mean = 2.13
  • Other –mean = 2.60
  • Extent to which GA was a learning experience:
  • Not at all –2 (2%)
  • Somewhat – 7 (8%)
  • Moderate – 14 (17%)
  • A lot – 46(55%)
  • I am a different person due to it – 15 (18%)
  • Extent to which GA experience contributed to the following skills/competencies:

Skills/Competencies / Not at all / Somewhat / Moderate / A lot / I am a different person due to it
Organizational Skills / 6 / 14 / 23 / 28 / 2
Management Skills / 5 / 13 / 22 / 39 / 5
Data collection skills / 18 / 14 / 27 / 23 / 2
Data management skills / 15 / 16 / 28 / 21 / 4
Library research skills / 33 / 22 / 18 / 10 / 1
Problem-solving skills / 5 / 13 / 20 / 34 / 12
Technology skills / 9 / 20 / 19 / 32 / 4
Oral communication / 4 / 16 / 22 / 33 / 9
Written communication / 6 / 18 / 30 / 24 / 6
  • Other relevant Skills that developed as the result of the GA experience
  • Professional communication (12)
  • Working with children
  • I got to collaborate with my professors and build a stronger relationship with them.
  • Time management (8)
  • Training, Hiring and Interviewing, Customer Service (3)
  • Creativity and adaptability in the classroom (2)
  • responsibility
  • Due to this being an instructional assistantship dealing with a large number of students, my patience has greatly developed.
  • Great experience!
  • Research (4)
  • Reading intervention knowledge
  • Public Speaking (5)
  • Feedback
  • Multi-tasking
  • How to work with different leadership styles
  • Advising (2)
  • Crisis management (2)
  • This assistantship has prepared me for the future after I graduate.
  • I am more knowledgeable about the field I plan on going into.
  • Feature story writing
  • Executing events
  • Organization
  • Independent work
  • Athletic training skills/knowledge
  • Has mostly helped with learning how to assist and teach students in the classroom.
  • Program development, program assessment, accreditation processes
  • Supervising undergraduate students was a rich experience.
  • Supervision skills, assertiveness, autonomy, leadership, professional development (5)
  • Understanding of campus and faculty from a different viewpoint than just a student.
  • Professional Experience (5)
  • Grading undergraduate Exam papers
  • Being able to solve problems more effectively without asking for help as much.
  • Mediation and diplomacy
  • Consultation
  • Advisor skills
  • Leadership, communication, self-esteem, collaboration (2)
  • Unfortunately I don't feel as if I have learned that much in my GA position.
  • I gained a lot of technology experience.
  • Creating department materials for distribution.
  • Conflict mediation
  • I definitely improved/developed the skill of organization.
  • Person Oriented- skills
  • Overall satisfication with GA experience
  • Very dissatisfied –3 (4%)
  • Somewhat dissatisfied–1(1%)
  • Moderate –12 (14%)
  • Somewhat satisfied –21 (25%)
  • Very satisfied –47 (56%)
  • Additional comments:
  • This has been a great experience for me! I believe the position is doable in 25 hours a week once you get used to the position and fully know what is expected.
  • This was a great program to be a part of. Even though I want to go into coaching there were a lot of valuable skills that I picked up that will help me throughout my career. All the employees in the office are very friendly and don't hesitate to help when you need it.
  • Thank you for this opportunity!
  • I'm an untraditional graduate student (age 50) and family needs are different than most students I'd guess. Great experience, I'd do it again if I could!
  • I need more practical business routine work to help me become stronger, :-)
  • It has been a pleasure working with Dr. Schramm this past year, and I am excited to continue working for him next year as well! Working at CoBE Tech has offered me a marketable skill set in IT that I did not have before beginning to work at CoBE Tech in June of 2014. I can't wait for next year to learn even more!
  • I greatly enjoyed my experience as a graduate assistant within the Accounting Department. In this position, I had the opportunity to work closely with numerous professors and expand my accounting knowledge. I value this experience very highly in terms of my overall educational career at UW-Whitewater.
  • I really appreciated the opportunity
  • The flexibility of hours in this position was my #1 most important for item 7
  • Robin was such a great help to me. She was flexible with my school schedule and gave me just enough workload to be flexible with my school load. She was very clear with her instructions and what she needed help with. She helped me to build my research skills and helped get me connected to the campus.
  • My understanding is that the Communication Department has not always had a GRA. With that, there were times I felt a little underutilized mostly due to professors not understanding what I was there for or how to utilize the hours of my availability. I am sure that my second year as a GRA is going to much busier. While I thought that having the opportunity to be a GIA would be beneficial with the teaching experience, I am immensely satisfied with the unique experience of being a GIA.
  • I feel very lucky and honored to have an assistantship in the First Year Experience Office. I have grown so much from this role and owe a lot of that to my supervisor, Amberly Bell. This office provides great professional development opportunities and challenges us young professionals.
  • A majority of the work I completed was not what I expected it to be. I spent most of my time being given the runaround or ignored by faculty members. I would have to nag the professors to get the information I needed to complete my tasks and my direct/official supervisor indicated that they did not care about the work I was expected to do. I learned a few skills, but very few of them are relevant to my future career goals.
  • It has been a great experience and I would be a GA again next year if I had the time.
  • It's been a great experience. I've felt really valued in my department and can tell that I've made a significant difference. I really appreciate the stipend and the health insurance. However, I still really struggle with the fact that there is no tuition remission for my position - this is just so different from other institutions.
  • Supervisors were not always clear with vacation and holiday expectations. I was required to use paid vacation time (I was given 40 hours per academic year) on all holidays when the campus was closed. This limited flexibility of when to use my vacation time. This was not explained prior to my accepting the position.
  • I believe I have one of the best graduate assistantships offered in the Midwest!
  • I am having a great time in my Graduate Assistantship, I love my interactions with fellow staff members and students.
  • This is my second year of my assistantship in the First Year Experience office and I have learned so much through my experiences here. I feel like the entire office is extremely supportive and my supervisor has really helped me grow professionally. She challenges me to do the best that I can while providing flexibility when she knows that I need it. She has been an excellent mentor and I look up to her immensely.
  • I've appreciated the flexibility of my graduate assistantship with regard to performing well academically and the willingness by superiors to work with my schedule and life demands as a student.
  • It would be more fair to have a consistent and universal policy of vacation hours and job duties of graduate assistants. Some graduate assistants aren't required to come to campus for their full 20 hours per week and get winter and spring breaks off, while other GA's get very limited vacation time and are expected to use it for holidays on which the campus offices are closed.
  • Now that I have a full school year under my belt I have asked and am looking forward to more responsibility and student interaction.
  • I am not working for CoBE Tech next year because I am moving home to save money. I was extremely pleased with my experience in CoBE Tech and I learned a lot. I'm sad I will not be around next year to work with my awesome coworkers.
  • There was a lot support coming from Career and Leadership in my development as a student affairs professional. I got a lot of institutional research skills and how to supervise student volunteers and supervise two student organizations and four interns.

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