Grad student payroll issue resolved

The university has resolved a payroll issue for graduate students by implementing a special pay schedule for the Fall 2006 semester.

When the university announced plans last month to convert graduate student pay from a monthly to biweekly pay cycle, many students raised concerns that they would be left strapped for cash while the conversion was put into place.

Under the old schedule, graduate students would have received just one check in July, and that check would have included just two weeks’ pay. They would not have caught up on their pay until December, when they would have received three pay checks.

The new special pay schedule calls for graduate students to be paid every two weeks, including July. The pay dates through the end of 2006 are as follows:
• July 14 and 28
• Aug. 11 and 25
• Sept. 8 and 22
• Oct. 6 and 20
• Nov. 3 and 17
• Dec. 1 and 15

A memo released by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies stated that the special schedule “evens out the distribution of pay and allows students to better plan their expenses and pay their monthly bills, and it will still get the students onto the standard biweekly schedule by January 2007.”

The memo – issued by Dr. John Gilligan, vice chancellor for research and graduate studies; Charles Leffler, vice chancellor for finance and business; Dr. Larry Nielsen, provost; and Dr. Robert Sowell, dean of the graduate school – also noted that Human Resources had hoped to announce such a plan at the Graduate Student Forum on April 28 but was still in the process of making sure it was “both technically possible and administratively viable” when the concerns were voiced.

“We apologize for any miscommunications leading up to the implementation of this change,” the memo said. “We believe this special graduate student pay cycle for Fall 2006 will be responsive to the concerns of graduate students and the faculty with whom they work, and we appreciate your patience as we have developed a strategy to make it happen.”

For more information, e-mail gradstipends@ncsu.edu.

Posted May 19, 2006

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