Arkansas State University graduate assistants are getting the short end of the stick, so to speak.

Other Arkansas universities offer high stipends and waived tuition for those graduate students who work as GAs. The requirements that ASU sets forth for its graduate assistants are nearly the same as other universities in Arkansas.

GAs must complete at least six hours of graduate work and maintain at least a 3.0 gpa. The duties of assistants vary throughout the departments, but often include teaching classes, helping with research and attending faculty meetings. GAs are limited to being paid for 20 hours per week.

The responsibilities of GAs at ASU do not vary much from other Arkansas institutions, although the compensation for their work does.

GAs at ASU receive a stipend of about $6,000 a year. They do not receive tuition waivers (except for the out-of-state tuition waiver), so the stipend merely covers tuition and fees which leaves little money for GAs to live on.

Other schools provide either a tuition waiver or a higher stipend to compensate their GAs for their work. At the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, stipends range from $7,000 to $12,000 for nine to ten months. Both in-state and out-of-state tuition is waived. At the U of A, some efforts are even made to help GAs find health insurance. At the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, GAs usually receive a tuition scholarship and a stipend of $6,200. At the University of Arkansas in Pine Bluff, GAs receive a considerably higher stipend in place of a tuition waiver.

Other schools in Arkansas seem to have made it a priority to compensate and encourage graduate assistants for their work.

The message ASU has sent to GAs seems to be that they are worth less than GAs at other schools.

GAs at ASU should either receive a tuition waiver or more pay. A change in this policy might show GAs and the rest of the student body that ASU is truly committed to academics.