Graduate student funding opportunities

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Teaching assistantships

What do teaching assistants (TA) do?

TA positions are awarded to highly qualified PhD students within The Polytechnic School (TPS). TPS PhD students will be notified of the application process for the upcoming semester.

A teaching assistant is an active student appointed part-time by the university to teach and perform teaching-related responsibilities. These duties may include the following:

• Attend class meetings and help with in-class activities or labs.
• Order project supplies and distribute to faculty or students.
• Grade assignments.
• Meet regularly with the instructor.
• Manage Canvas sites for the class (enter grades, upload content, monitor discussion board, etc.).
• Hold office hours and/or study sessions.
• Cover occasional class meetings when the instructor cannot be present.

Half-time vs. quarter-time assistantships

Students receiving teaching assistantships may be assigned appointments which are half-time (20 hours per week) or quarter-time (10 hours per week).

Students employed at half-time receive a full tuition waiver, biweekly stipend, and qualify for ASU health insurance for the term of the appointment.

Quarter-time assistantship holders receive a half tuition waiver. Note that the majority of TA positions offered by TPS are 10 hours per week (25%). All students who hold an assistantship through the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering are required to enroll into twelve credits for the semester of their assignment.

Teaching assistantships are assigned per semester and TPS cannot guarantee that students would receive assistantships for future semesters of their program.

English language requirements

All teaching assistants whose native language is not English must Take the iBT (Internet-based TOEFL) test and receive a score of 26 or higher on the oral portion of the test. Alternatively, students can take the SPEAK Test – offered on campus at ASU, the SPEAK Test is the local version of the TSE. Students taking the SPEAK Test at ASU must achieve a minimum score of 50 for limited teaching capacity, or 55 for full teaching capacity.

Global Launch’s International Teaching Assistant Program provides both the SPEAK test and the ITA Teacher Training Course. Online registration is available on their website: globallaunch.asu.edu/learn-english/special-programs/international-teaching-assistant

Research assistantships

Graduate research assistants may assist faculty members in any one of the following activities:

• Research.
• Administrative or editorial duties directly related to research.
• Assume responsibilities for a designated research area under the direct supervision of a faculty member.

Students receiving research assistantships may be assigned appointments which are half-time (20 hours per week) or quarter-time (10 hours per week).

Students employed at half-time receive a full tuition waiver, biweekly stipend, and qualify for ASU health insurance for the term of the appointment.

Quarter-time assistantship holders receive a half tuition waiver. All students who hold an assistantship through the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering are required to enroll into twelve credits for the semester of their assignment.

Research assistantships are funded by a faculty member through research grants and positions are found through direct relationships with faculty. These are commonly awarded to PhD students, but in some cases may be awarded to master’s students further along in their program. Not every faculty member has funding available to support research assistants.

If you are looking to do research with faculty, do not send a general email to all/multiple faculty. Please read about the research and expertise of the various faculty you may be interested in working with and find what interests you most to send a directed email to that faculty member.

Details about TA and RA assistantships are available at this website: https://students.engineering.asu.edu/graduate/fellowships-funding/research-teaching-assistantships/

Other student employment

Students may work as an hourly student employee at ASU. Opportunities can include:

• Graders.
• Instructional aides.
• Research aides.
• Section leaders.
• Office support.

ASU student employment information and application can be found at their website: https://students.asu.edu/employment.

Travel awards

Graduate College Travel Awards

GPSA Individual Travel Grant

TPS PhD Travel Grant Request Form: For PhD students only. Please use this form to apply for TPS conference funding and see the form for more details.

Fellowships and awards

Graduate College Distinguished Awards website: Various national and discipline-specific awards and fellowships.

Other Graduate College Fellowships: Completion fellowship, graduate college fellowship, interdisciplinary enrichment fellowship, etc.

Fulton Graduate Fellowships: The Graduate Fellowship application opens annually on February 1.

ASU Scholarship search: Various scholarship opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Policies related to financial support of graduate students

• Funding is not guaranteed with admission.
• A limited number of students receive written offers of financial aid prior to entering the program. Students who elect to enter the program without a written commitment of financial aid are responsible for providing their own financial support.
• All supported students are expected to complete their work assignments in a satisfactory manner as evaluated by the faculty.
• Any suspension from the Graduate Program results in the loss of financial support.