Graduate Student Support

Financial support for graduate students is provided in the form of teaching assistantships (TA's) and research assistantships (RA's). A major purpose in granting assistantships is to enable students to spend as much time as possible at the University pursuing graduate studies and thesis research. A TA or RA requires 20 hours work per week. All TA's and RA's must be enrolled for at least nine credit hours of course work or thesis research each semester that they receive support. Support for the graduate assistants is in the form of a stipend and a tuition waiver.

Teaching Assistantships.

Teaching assistants are supported by University funds and are assigned to instruct undergraduate laboratory classes and carry out other duties within the Department. New full time TA's generally teach three sections of physical or historical geology laboratories under the supervision of the Physical or Historical Geology Laboratory Coordinator. Experienced TA’s may be assigned to upper-level undergraduate courses depending on the need and the TA’s experience. A limited number of TA positions are available for the Summer semester.

Research Assistantships.

Research assistants are supported by external grant funds awarded to faculty members. The duties that are assigned to an RA and the terms of employment as an RA are determined by faculty member responsible for the grant.