Assistantships

Most doctoral student funding packages will contain a combination of Teaching Assistant, Project Assistant or Research Assistant appointments. All three come with comprehensive Health Insurance options and coverage of the costs of tuition.

Teaching Assistant Appointments
A Teaching Assistant assists the lecturer with grading of exams and papers, holding discussion sections with students, organizing materials for a class and holding office hours to individually help students with questions or problems on course material. Doctoral Teaching Assistants may serve as the lecturer for a course or sections of a course after they have made progress in their academic program and have mastered the materials for the course. Teaching Assistant appointments may be for 13 to 20 hours of work per week and students are paid a stipend according the number of hours they are assigned or the percentage of full-time (40 hours) expected. Most doctoral Teaching Assistants have 50% of full-time appointments with a work commitment of 20 hours per week. A 50 % appointment as a Teaching Assistant pays a stipend of $12,100 over nine months if the student is considered experienced or $11,262 if they are not.

Project Assistant Appointments
A Project Assistant assists faculty or administrative staff with research, data handling and gathering, composition, organizing of materials, and a host of other activities. In many cases, a doctoral Project Assistant may be working with a faculty member in preparing a research project for presentation and publication and will be gathering the skills needed to produce their own research as they progress in the program. Project Assistant appointments are usually for 50% of full-time and the stipend for a nine-month appointment. In 2002-2003, Project Assistant appointments of 50% for the academic year will generate a stipend of $11,101 over the nine month period.

Research Assistants
A Research Assistant is working on their own research or project under the scholarly guidance of a faculty member. Because the work is independent in nature, a research assistant does not have a "work" commitment for a set number of hours per week. The nature of a research assistantship is closer to a fellowship than a working relationship. Research assistants receive a stipend of $10,000 to $13,000 over the nine month academic year.