Teaching Assistantships

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) work with the faculty by conducting recitation and laboratory sections and assisting with grading and examinations. The time commitment for a GTA averages twelve hours per week. In addition, GTAs carry a full load of 16 credit hours of graduate course work and/or thesis each term.

First-year graduate students are generally supported as teaching assistants. GTA stipends are adjusted regularly to ensure that they are competitive with those offered by most graduate programs. GTAs do not pay tuition, but they must pay a modest incidental fee each term. The 2005-2006 graduate student stipend is $18,000 over 12 months. In addition, the university also pays for the tuition of the student (approximately $10,000 per year) which brings the level of total support up to approximately $28,000. We constantly strive to provide a competitive stipend.

Research Assistantships

Most of the research conducted in the department is supported by grants from federal agencies, e.g., the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, or large private sources such as the Petroleum Research Fund, Research Corporation, foundations, and industry. Graduate students performing research on these projects are supported as research assistants. Graduate research assistants carry a full load of 16 credit hours of course work and/or thesis each term.

The stipend is the same as that for GTAs. Research assistants pay no tuition, but they are required to pay the incidental fee.

During the first term of study, students should discuss prospects for research support with faculty members with whom they are interested in doing thesis research. Faculty members cannot provide absolute assurance of support, since it depends on the renewal of research grants by outside agencies, and these actions cannot be predicted with certainty.