DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING Faculty/Staff Resources

RA pay should be changed only at the beginning of the fall, spring or summer semester.  Pay rate changes at any other time must be due to unique circumstances and requests must be approved by the chair and DGS.  Note passing qualifying exams is not a reason to change pay rate mid semester. 

TA pay should be changed only at the beginning of the fall or spring semester.  Pay rate changes at any other time must be due to unique circumstances and requests must be approved by the chair and DGS.  Note passing qualifying exams is not a reason to change pay rate mid semester.  TA pay is $900 biweekly.  If the faculty wants to pay more, the excess over $900 should come from the faculty salary savings account.  Excess pay for TAs can not come from grants since tuition would then not be fully covered by the TA Tuition Scholarship. 

No.  Summer tuition is not covered by the RA due to Graduate School Rules, thus any summer RA is responsible for paying the full rate of summer tuition themselves.  Also, summer tuition is not allowed on grants. 

No, TAs are not allowed over the summer.  Spring TAs must either be separated or moved to another position at the end of the spring semester. 

No.  Even if a student graduates in the spring, they can’t remain in a student position (RA, student hourly, etc) over the summer if they are not in a student status.  They need to either be separated or moved to a non‐student position, such as a temporary position. 

No. If they are brand new to UK and not enrolled in summer classes, they won’t be in student status until the fall, so they can’t be in an RA or student hourly position until the fall.  It may be possible for them to be in an hourly temporary position before they become a student, but it depends on their visa situation. 

1/1/23 ‐ For Spring RAs and TAs 
5/7/23 – For Summer RAs  
8/13/23 – For Fall RAs and TAs 
12/31/23 – For Spring RA and TAs 
5/5/24 – For Summer RAs 
8/11/24 – For Fall RAs and TAs

Fall 2023 RA: $900 to $1,200 biweekly 
Fall 2024 RA: $1,000 to $1,300 biweekly 
Fall 2025 RA: $1,100 to $1,400 biweekly

In order to charge Research Assistant tuition to a sponsored project all of the following criteria must be met: 

1. The individual must be coded in payroll as a graduate research assistant; and 
2. The sponsored project must be active at the midpoint (mid‐March for spring, midOctober for fall) of the semester being charged; and 
3. The student must show effort on the sponsored project by at least the midpoint of the semester being charged; and 
4. Tuition must be an allowable expense on the sponsored project with appropriate budget available; and 
5. Tuition charges to the sponsored project follow the effort proportionately; and 
6. The sponsored project account to charge must have been submitted to the Graduate School by their established deadline. 
7. Please review your specific award to determine if budget is needed in sponsored class E537110; contact your CGO and/or RA with questions regarding budget requirements. 

If the sponsored project is not eligible for the tuition charge by the deadline, a non‐sponsored account must be provided to the Graduate School to utilize for the expense.