Financial Assistance and Fees

The Department of Geography offers financial assistance in the form of Graduate Recruitment Scholarships and graduate assistantships. A graduate assistantship is usually designated as a teaching assistantship or a research assistantship. Only students admitted unconditionally may receive financial aid, although not all unconditionally admitted students receive aid. All students on financial assistance are obligated to perform certain duties, discussed below. Students must balance their schedules to meet assistantship, classroom, and personal obligations. Details regarding fees and related financial information can be found on the Bursar’s webpage.

Graduate Recruitment Scholarships

A Graduate Recruitment Scholarship (GRS) covers most of your tuition costs, whether resident or nonresident, for each semester awarded. Part of this funding is received as a stipend and is spread throughout the semester as compensation for assistantship work performed. The student is responsible for applying this stipend to the remaining tuition. Students are also responsible for all other fees (the general fee, technology fee, network fee, and health insurance). Recipients of the scholarship must take at least 18 graduate credit hours and work 5 hours per week for the department during each GRS-funded semester. Examples of assistantship duties for GRS students include grading for large classes or teaching one lab section. Only students who are recruited into the Department of Geography are eligible for this award. Students who have received any other financial assistance from the department are not eligible

Assistantships

Departmental assistantships are designated as teaching assistantships (TA), graduate assistantships (GA), or research assistantships (RA). These assistantships provide a tuition scholarship, whether resident or nonresident, a subsidy toward health insurance, and a stipend. The student is responsible for all other fees (the general fee, technology fee, and network fee). Recipients of an assistantship must take at least 18 graduate credit hours. The student is obligated to work no more than 20 hours per week during the fall and spring semesters.

A student receiving a teaching/graduate assistantship is expected to contribute to the department’s teaching mission in multiple ways. TAs are responsible for such duties as teaching lab or discussion sections, grading exams and assignments, and other forms of assisting classroom instruction. Most TAs/GAs are assigned to work with a specific professor in a specific class for the semester. Professors meet with and provide instructions, materials, and other information to their TAs/GAs. Specific course assignments for TAs/Gas are not made until after the welcome meeting for incoming students in the fall; spring semester TA/GA assignments are usually made a couple of weeks before the start of the new term. At the end of Fall semester, TAs are expected to take part in the assessment of research projects undertaken by undergraduate capstone students with guidance from the department’s assessment committee.

A research assistant is obligated to work a maximum of 20 hours per week according to the terms of her or his appointment. RAs generally work with an individual faculty member on a specific grant-funded research project. Funding amounts for grant-supported Ras can vary with the position because they are dependent on the terms and amounts of the faculty grants.

If you feel you are being asked to perform tasks beyond what is reasonable to expect given your graduate appointment, contact the graduate chair, department chair, your advisor, or university authorities, such as the Office of University Equity and Civil Rights Compliance.

Work Performance and Renewal of Financial Aid

Financial aid is not automatically renewed for the second year but will be determined when the annual performance review is completed. Unless there are performance problems, the normal expectation is to continue aid for the second year, pending budget support. Failure to complete assigned assistantship tasks may result in non-renewal of assistantship or scholarship funding in the next semester. If a student leaves the university without finishing required work assignments, their pay will be adjusted according to the amount of work completed.