Graduate Assistantships
Every year, the Linguistics program offers several teaching assistantships to graduate students in the program. Sometimes students have also found assistantship positions in CESL. The number offered is determined by the budget provided by the College of Liberal Arts for Linguistics and by revenues and enrollment needs for CESL. Assistantship offers are generally made in mid-Spring semester for the following academic year for both Linguistics and CESL (sometimes with a few offers made later as needs and funding change and CESL enrollment warrants). For optimal consideration of admission to our graduate programs and for a teaching assistantship, your application to the graduate program should be received by March 1. No additional application is required for a teaching assistantship.
General Assistantship Policies
Students in MA programs are limited to 24 months of Assistantship support by Graduate School policy The contract between GA United and the University requires that students holding an assistantship in Fall or Spring semesters also enroll in at least 8 hours of graduate coursework each semester (3 hours graduate coursework in Summer semester for those holding a Summer assistantship). All courses offered in the Linguistics graduate program are three credit hours. This is, for all practical purposes, a requirement for nine hours/three classes each semester. Assistantships offered by Linguistics are generally 25% assistantships, meaning that students holding such assistantships are expected to work an average of ten hours per week. Assistantships in CESL may be 25% or 50% (ten or twenty hours per week, respectively). Workload requirements and other rights and responsibilities of graduate assistants are summarized in the GAU contract at the link provided above.
Teaching Assistant Positions available
Generally, positions are available in the following areas:
- Teaching LING 104: Grammar in Language
- Teaching in the ESL Writing Program
- Teaching discussion sections of our Core Curriculum offerings
- Teaching in the Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTL) Program
- Teaching lab sections of LING 402: Phonetics
- Teaching in CESL classes
- Assisting with administrative duties in the CESL
- CESL Tutoring
- General Teaching Support
Please keep in mind when applying for assistantships that the number of applicants far exceeds the number of assistantships available. The program is never able to offer assistantships to all qualified or deserving applicants.
University Fellowships
The Graduate School offers the following competitive fellowships for students enrolled in MA programs: The Graduate Dean's Fellowship and the Master's Fellowships. To be considered for either of these fellowships your application to the MA programs in Linguistics should be received by February 1.