PhD Students are also university employees. They provide 20 hours a week of their time to offset the costs of their education. These assignments also help students in their career advancement.
TA and RA assignments are made each semester by the director of the PhD program. Students with funding from the university are required to work 20 hours a week each semester (fall and spring). Students may apply for a reduction to 10 hours per week once in their career at Northeastern. This reduction would normally be in the four or fifth year and is granted to students who are in the process of completing their dissertation. (In the past, this reduction was granted automatically in the first year of the program. This changed starting with the 2019-2020 academic year.)
Some students will be assigned RA positions, but these positions are limited and in most cases students must apply for these when they are available. Students interested in research experience should also free to volunteer to be an RA without pay. Many faculty welcome help in exchange for mentoring, but don't have the external funding to pay for an RA.
Students may speak with the PhD director at any time about their teaching and research assignments to express their preferences or to discuss the workload.