Students indicate their interest in Graduate Assistantships as part of the process
of applying for admission to the Graduate School. By checking the appropriate field
on their application, students ensure that their name and qualifications will be forwarded
to the English Graduate Coordinator, who reviews candidates and contacts them for
interviews.
In order to be eligible to apply for a Graduate Assistantship, students must hold
a GPA of 3.0 or higher, must be fully accepted to the English graduate program (i.e.,
not accepted on a provisional basis), and may not be enrolled in the Post-Baccalaureate
Teacher Certification program.
Graduate Assistantships are awarded to eligible students based on a variety of factors,
including the student's undergraduate and/or graduate GPA, personal statement, writing
sample, letters of recommendation, and work experience relevant to the specific GA
position. Additional qualifications may be required, depending on the Graduate Assistantship;
for example, in order to be hired as a tutor at the
University Writing Center, students must take ENG 600: Tutoring Composition.
Depending on their interests and qualifications, GAs might work with individual faculty
on research projects, assist with
College Literature and the
Poetry Center, or tutor at the
Writing Center. (Graduate Assistantships at the Writing Center are not awarded directly by the English
Department and may require additional qualifications.)
The most common form of Graduate Assistantship is the "half-time" (i.e., six-credit)
assistantship, which includes tuition remission for six credits per semester and a
stipend of $1,250 per semester, in exchange for ten hours of work per week.
Half-time GAs work for ten hours per week. However, students may also combine two
half-time assistantships, which include—in return for twenty hours of work per week—tuition
compensation for up to twelve credits a semester and a stipend of $2,500 per semester.
