As we emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic many of our budgets took significant hits due to lower enrollments and increases to staff salary lines. Financial administrators saw Graduate Assistant lines as an easy way to mitigate shortfalls $20,000-plus at a time.
Here at East Carolina University, we peaked at 15 Graduate Assistants in 2019 and have since decreased available positions to six in fall 2025. This represents savings of over $150,000 annually — a number that can save an entire program area or two full-time staffing lines.
Moving forward the department anticipates many tough financial decisions. However, as a director I feel it is important to prioritize the development we provide our Graduate Assistants, the future of our association.
Student Supervision
If you’re similarly aged to me, you know being 20-plus years older than your employees is increasingly challenging with each first-year class. Typically, a Graduate Assistant is freshly removed from the undergraduate experience, understands the specific challenges of that generation and can uniquely adapt to the needs of a changing employee demographic.
After two years in a role of front-line supervision, albeit on a part-time basis, they’re positioned to lead a recreation program area on their own and manage upwards of 50 employees at one time. As a director, the challenge I see most often with our front-line staff members is their inability to get the most out of their student employees and those with a Graduate Assistant experience are the most adept at this important skill.
Resume Build-Out
We all know turnover is a consistent problem for campus recreation leaders as often our positions cannot compete with the private sector, especially with salary or hybrid-work culture. When reviewing resumes, it’s easy to see those who are most qualified. Especially for our entry-level positions, it’s applicants who had experience as a Graduate Assistant.
The skills former Graduate Assistants possess — and most importantly the way the skills are articulated — far surpass peers in the applicant pool. As a resume reviewer for a coordinator position, it’s easy to see how an applicant with a graduate degree and two years working as a paraprofessional is prepared to transition into a full-time role.
Although you can never guarantee any new employee will flourish at your institution, at least you know they understand the nature of the position for which they are applying.
Education at the Right Time
Many institutions still view a graduate degree as a right of passage to hold a full-time position in student affairs. Human Resources lists these as a required qualification or adds an arbitrary amount of full-time work experience as a qualifier in place of an advanced degree.
Almost every fall when conversing with students set to graduate the following semester I hear “I’m thinking about going to grad school.” My response: “There is no better time than next year. You can live anywhere for two years but not pay for it with student loans.”
It’s so hard to go back to graduate school once a person has experienced full-time work and the accompanying increase in available funds. By providing opportunities to obtain an advanced degree at a young age for free, we’re positioning our next generation of leaders for success.
Affordable Alternative
Having worked at financially challenged institutions, obtaining approvals for new full-time salary lines is nearly impossible. Adding a graduate assistant position is a palatable solution for many budget administrators as the term is finite, typically lasts two years, costs about three times less and provides an adequate substitute for committing to another salary line long-term.
Another added benefit is the temporary nature of a Graduate Assistant’s employment. If you encounter issues with work conduct, programmatic fit or financial turmoil it is much easier to remove the person from the role — or the salary from your budget — when a position is not tied to the numerous restrictions of full-time employees.
