Full-time students engaged in academic employment must be assigned one of the following classifications:
| 1. Graduate Student Teaching Assistant | A0405 |
| 2. Graduate Student Demonstrator | A0409 |
| 3. Student Research Assistant | A0706 |
| 4. Graduate Student Assistant | A0701 |
| 5. Undergraduate Student Assistant | A0801 |
| 6. Postdoctoral Fellow | A0504 |
Requirements for Academic Employment of Students
All students engaged in academic employment must be registered as full-time degree or additional session students. The work performed is closely related to the student's course of studies and is usually performed in the student's department or faculty.
Remuneration for this type of employment is subject to mandatory government deductions at source (see Appendix I).
Students employed in this capacity are entitled to 4% vacation pay or one working day for each month of uninterrupted service up to a year, for a total leave not exceeding two weeks a year.
This amount may be included in the remuneration, if this is specified.
Definitions
1) and 2) Graduate Student Teaching Assistants and Graduate Student Demonstrators
Graduate student teaching assistants and graduate student demonstrators are full-time degree or additional session students registered at McGill and paid from operating funds. They are employed to assist in the teaching of a specific course or laboratory. They do not have full academic responsibility for a course or laboratory.
Graduate student teaching assistants and graduate student demonstrators paid through operating funds are members of AGSEM (the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill), a certified union. The classifications of A0405, graduate student teaching assistant, and A0409, graduate student demonstrator, are to be used exclusively to identify these positions.
Excluded from these two classifications are:
- individuals who are fully responsible for preparing, teaching and evaluating a course and for submitting course grades; and
- individuals hired on an ad-hoc basis for a few hours to serve as invigilators, markers and the like; and
- individuals paid from soft funds.
Negotiations with the Association of Graduate Students employed at McGill (AGSEM), representing graduate student teaching assistants and demonstrators are ongoing. Until a collective agreement is signed, existing working conditions are maintained. The final definitions for these classifications will be determined at the negotiating table. The working definitions above are to be used in the meantime:
When offering a position to graduate student teaching assistants or demonstrators paid from hard funds, please use the model confirmation letter, attached.
In addition, when corresponding with new, incoming graduate students, it is important to differentiate financial assistance offered to the candidate as a student, from remuneration for work performed. Use the Student Academic Employment and Financial Assistance Form to assist with this task.
3) Student Research Assistants
All students registered as full-time or additional session students at McGill University and who are working part-time as research assistants must be classified as A0706, student research assistants. Student research assistants carry out duties related to research under the supervision of a faculty member.
4) Graduate Student Assistants
A graduate student teaching assistant or demonstrator paid from soft funds. (revised 11/96)
5) Undergraduate Student Assistants
An undergraduate student teaching assistant or demonstrator. (revised 11/96)
6) Postdoctoral Fellows
Postdoctoral fellows are appointees who have been awarded a Ph.D or equivalent not more than five years prior to their appointment and who shall be appointed for limited terms which may be renewed provided that the limited term appointments do not exceed in aggregate five years. Their appointments are temporary, involve full-time research and are viewed as preparatory for a full-time academic and/or research career. Postdoctoral appointees work under the supervision of a senior scholar or a department. They are classified as A0504, postdoctoral fellow.
Procedures
Students employed in the above classifications for the duration of a course, a term, or for the academic year must be appointed on employee appointment forms. This effects equal semi-monthly instalments over the term of the appointment. Please note that employee appointment forms must always be used for graduate student teaching assistants and demonstrators. Casual appointment form are never to be used for these two classifications.
Students employed in classifications 3, 4 or 5 on a short term or irregular basis may be paid on casual payroll requisitions.
B: STUDENT FINANCIAL AWARDS
Definitions:
Financial Awards include all stipends for student support and other purposes, scholarships, fellowships, tuition fee awards and other awards. These are discretionary allocations. The principal criterion is normally academic merit. Excluded from this definition is all remuneration for work performed.
Procedures:
The University's systems must capture awards for tax and reporting purposes. The procedures below apply to awards.
a) Tuition Awards
Tuition fee payments on behalf of a student are to be processed directly through the fee system using the fee waiver form (available on ASAP)
b) All Other Financial Awards
All other award payments (stipends, scholarships, fellowships and other awards) may be processed by appointment form or by means of casual payroll requisitions. If appointment forms are used, they must indicate clearly that the payment is for an award, otherwise the payment will be treated as salary and mandatory government salary deductions will be made.
C: OTHER STUDENT EMPLOYMENT:
Casual employment
Students may be employed in other temporary academic or non-academic employment categories at the University. In this capacity, they perform work that is not directly related to their student status. Some examples are work-study projects, special events, clerical, technical or programming tasks. Ad hoc work, such as invigilating and marking, is also categorized as casual work. Students engaged in casual employment are subject to the same regulations and procedures as all other non-academic casual employees of the University.
Qualified graduate students can also be employed as course lecturers, as can other qualified individuals. Students in this category are subject to the same regulations and procedures as all other course lecturers at the University.
Procedures
Students employed as casual employees of the University are paid on non-academic casual payroll requisitions. Students employed as course lecturers are normally appointed for the duration of the course.
Students engaged in academic employment are employed part-time. Graduate students are covered by the regulations of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research which limit the number of work hours to 12 hours per week.
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