Policies and Procedures
Graduate Student Assistantship Conflict Mediation and Appointment Termination
Adopted January 27, 2000
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The experience of a graduate student as a teaching, research, or graduate assistant is an integral part of graduate education. An assistantship can be viewed as an apprenticeship under the guidance of a mentor, who is usually a faculty supervisor. In most cases, this experience is instructive and positive. In some cases, however, a serious conflict may arise that may be resolved only through a change in supervisors or the termination of an assistantship appointment.
Policy
Assistantship appointment policies fall under the purview of the Provost's Office, the Office of Academic Human Resources, and the Graduate College. When a serious conflict between an assistant and a supervisor occurs, reasonable attempts should be made to resolve the conflict informally. If there is a conflict between a supervisor and an assistant that cannot be resolved by informal means, the most practical solution may be to reassign the student to new responsibilities. If reassignment is not feasible or does not appear to be warranted, the assistantship appointment may be terminated by following the procedures given below. The assistant may also choose to resign the appointment by submitting a letter of resignation.
Most conflicts between a supervisor and a student can be prevented if the student is given a clear description of responsibilities and expectations for performance and if the student receives regular supervision and evaluation. If conflicts surface, however, the Graduate College encourages and supports concerted informal efforts toward resolution within the department, beginning at the supervisor-student level. The procedures below provide guidelines for resolving and mediating conflicts informally. The procedures also provide guidelines for terminating an assistantship appointment when informal resolution is not possible and the assistant's performance is found to be unacceptable. Graduate College staff are available at any time to advise graduate student assistants, supervisors, graduate program administrators, or executive officers who are involved in such conflicts.
A graduate student who believes that a decision or behavior has adversely affected his/her status as a graduate student may informally pursue or formally file a grievance at the program level, if the program's grievance policy has been approved by the Graduate College, or at the Graduate College. See the Graduate College's information on grievance policies.
Cases of academic misconduct, such as breaches of academic integrity in research and publication, are handled under the campus's Policy and Procedures on Academic Integrity in Research and Publication, http://www.research.uiuc.edu/ai/index.asp. The Graduate Student Assistantship Conflict Mediation and Appointment Termination Policy does not apply to cases that arise under the Code of Policies and Regulations Applying to All Students ("Code"), such as capricious grading in a course (Section 26) or academic integrity (Section 33).
Procedures
- When a conflict about a student's performance of assigned assistantship duties becomes apparent, concerted efforts should be made to resolve the conflict informally. The supervisor and student should confer at the earliest opportunity, and review together the student's assistantship responsibilities and nature of the difficulties being experienced. The student may invite his/her faculty adviser or other trusted faculty mentor to attend this and other sessions convened under this policy. The supervisor should follow up in writing to the student, stating expectations for improvements in the student's performance and requesting a written response from the student.
- If informal efforts to resolve the problem are ineffective, the supervisor should send a copy of relevant correspondence to the unit executive officer, together with written comments about the nature of the conflict. The supervisor should also recommend whether the assistantship duties should be changed, whether the percent-time of the appointment should be reduced, whether the student should be assigned to a different supervisor, or whether there is due cause for termination of the assistantship appointment. The student shall be notified of this action, and may submit additional written comments within five working days of such notification, unless granted an extension by the unit executive officer or designee.
- If the unit executive officer has a conflict of interest, the unit executive officer will appoint a designee without such a conflict of interest to deal with the matter. Any of the parties may request that the Dean of the Graduate College review an alleged conflict of interest of an individual involved in the case. A conflict of interest is a significant professional or personal involvement with the facts or the parties to a dispute.
- The executive officer should confer promptly with the student and the supervisor to effect an agreement or reconciliation. If no
agreement or reconciliation can be effected, the executive officer shall decide about how to proceed within seven working days after the
conference.
- If the decision of the executive officer is to reassign the student, another appropriate supervisor should be identified as soon as possible, and the student should be reassigned to a different assistantship supervisor. The executive officer shall promptly notify in writing the student and present and future supervisors of the decision.
- If the decision of the executive officer is that there are probable grounds to terminate the assistantship appointment before the end of the appointment period, the executive officer shall promptly notify in writing the student, the supervisor, and the Graduate College. This written notice shall include reasons for the proposed termination, and the student will be provided with the opportunity to respond within five working days before a final decision is rendered. Due cause for termination of the assistantship shall exist if a student has been grossly neglectful of or grossly inefficient in the performance of appropriate, assigned University duties and functions. Due cause shall also exist if a student cannot be relied on to perform such duties and functions in a manner consonant with professional standards of competence and responsibility. Termination for cause need not be deferred until the completion of the appointment period; it may occur at any time that the procedures described here are completed.
- The executive officer shall notify the student in writing about his or her decision with respect to termination of the assistantship appointment and any related matters. A copy of the correspondence shall be sent to the Graduate College and the Office of Academic Human Resources. The executive officer or designee shall also inform the supervisor and the student that the student may appeal the decision under the departmental graduate student grievance policy, if one exists, or to the Dean of the Graduate College under the provisions of the Graduate College Grievance Policy. The assistantship stipend will end on the effective date of the unit executive officer or designee's decision. The tuition and fee waiver associated with the assistantship will also be cancelled on the effective date of the termination, unless the student has already served for at least three-fourths of the term or other special arrangements are made. If it is subsequently decided that the dismissal was inappropriate, the stipend and tuition waiver (if cancelled) will be restored.
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