August 2024 update: We have enacted a significant raise in grad student salaries, bringing the total annual stipend up to about $42K per year. For details, contact the Graduate Chair.
Last updated April 2024
Students holding TAs and RAs typically have their base pay supplemented by their faculty advisor during the summer. This supplement does not occur automatically and needs to be discussed with the faculty member and arranged with the administrative office at least four weeks (2 pay periods) in advance. During the first two years of graduate school, summer salary is usually funded by the student’s ASTR 699 research advisor and in the following years by their PhD advisor.
How many months can I work during the summer?
Summer salary (often referred to as “overload”) can be earned only during the three-month period starting the Monday after May Commencement and ending the Friday before the “Official Faculty Duty Start Date” in August. The exact dates vary from year to year – see the UHM academic calendar for details.
For summer 2024, the overload window runs from May 15 to August 15. So April 15 is the deadline for completing the administrative setup described below if you want to start overload work on May 15. Correspondingly, May 15 and June 17 are the very last deadlines to be paid for 2 months (TAs) and 1 month (RAs) of overload work, respectively.
IfA policy limits students to two half-months of summer salary if they hold an RA, or two full months if they hold a TA. This policy is based on the model of a student working half-time for nine months during the academic year, and full-time for two months during the summer, leaving one month of free time for personal travel or other vacation-style activity. Students can, of course, choose to work for less than the maximum allowed period. The following chart illustrates the difference between an RA and a TA.
Note that one six-week session of summer school teaching (see below) counts as 1.5 half-months of summer overload.
How is summer salary calculated?
Summer salary is governed by university rules and is based on the type of graduate assistantship held during the previous year. This means that TAs and RAs are paid at slightly different rates even if they are doing the same work over the summer. The following table shows how this calculation is made, using numbers for 2024:
Summer Overload Calculation
| RA at step GA-14 | TA at step GA-13 |
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How do I arrange summer salary?
The deadline for submitting your request for summer salary is four weeks before the first day you start work (not the first day you expect to be paid). There are federal rules that forbid people to be paid until they are officially appointed. Here are the steps you must follow to arrange for summer employment:
- Talk with your faculty advisor to determine the source of summer funding and decide exactly which days you will officially be working during the aforementioned mid-May to mid-August range. This period of time cannot include any personal time. If you plan to have work-related travel during these days, it should be related to the same funding source as used for your summer salary. Please submit the dates and the faculty member who will be funding you to via the Google form sent by the Graduate Chair.
- Find out from the faculty member the name of the fiscal officer (FO) in charge of the grant used to pay you.
- Fill out form UHM-3, which you can download from the web as a PDF file. The “Rank/Step” should be GA-14 for RAs and GA-13 for TAs; the Social Security number only needs your last 4 digits; “Department” should be “Institute for Astronomy”; leave the “Dollar amount” blank; and fill out “Inclusive dates” exactly. Please consult with your FO’s to ensure the form is correctly completed before you sign & submit it.
- Submit the completed form UHM-3 to the appropriate FO at least four weeks before you want to start your overload period. This means April 15, 2024 if you plan to start overload work on May 15, 2024.
- To confirm that your summer salary has been processed, log into Employee Self Service (ESS) with your UH username and password 2-3 weeks after the start date. Please note that access to ESS requires being on a campus network and having Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) enabled (instructions here). Once logged in, go to the “Employee Change Summary” tile to view your summer salary information.
- Get paid for solving the mysteries of the Universe (or some small portion therein). Note that payments for summer overload are made approximately two weeks after the end of the pay period in question.
Can I teach during the summer?
Graduate students may have the chance to teach a summer section of ASTR 110 for 1.5 half-months of summer salary. These accelerated courses require about 30 × 75-minute lectures to be delivered in six weeks. These classes are organized by the Outreach College of the University of Hawai‘i, which occasionally offers ASTR 110. Class arrangements need to be finalized early in the spring semester of the preceding summer, so if you are interested in this opportunity, you should get in touch with the Graduate Chair by the middle of the preceding fall semester (e.g., by October 2023 for Summer 2024 teaching). Note that this teaching serves as another potential funding source for summer pay but cannot be used to augment an existing full allocation of summer overload. We aim to have all graduate students with the same annual salary once overload is included.
How much time off do I have?
As shown in the above table for RA and TA compensation, there is one month of free time. This may be taken during winter break, during spring break, or during the summer when you are not getting summer salary. If you want more than one month of free time, you cannot earn the full summer salary.
