Graduate Program: Part-Time Employment Opportunities
A limited number of opportunities are available for students in the form of part-time employment while pursuing the MS or PhD degree. These opportunities are in the form of teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and biweekly payroll assignments. Annual reappointment is based on continued progress towards the degree. The expectation is that support will be terminated after 2 years for MS and 3 years for PhD students.
Assistantships are awarded only to students who have exhibited a high level of scholarly achievement. This is done to ensure that the student can complete a rigorous and high-quality graduate program while carrying out the responsibilities inherent to an assistantship. Assistantships are part-time employment, and differ from scholarships or fellowships awarded solely based on merit, allowing students to focus on their courses and research project. Students who receive assistantships or biweekly payroll assignments are expected to exhibit the same degree of commitment, responsibility, and accountability as any other staff member employed by the University. Continuation of part-time employment is contingent upon adequate progress in the degree program, as described in the Evaluation section. The department assumes that any student on assistantship will have no other employment outside the University.
Graduate Research or Teaching Assistantships
In the department, both teaching and research assistantships are available to students and gives them the opportunity to work within the department to enhance their training. The number of assistantships available in a given year varies with funding available to the department and individual faculty members. Students are expected to provide 10 hours MINIMUM service for a 1/4 time assistantship and 20 hours MINIMUM service for a 1/2 time assistantship and 30 hours MINIMUM service for a 3/4 time assistantship, per week. These duties can and often fall outside a student's thesis research responsibilities. All assistantships are 12 month positions, with assigned summer duties.
Our current Departmental assistantships provide an annual support of $13,500 for the MS and $16,000 for the PhD, paid in 12 monthly installments. The assistantships also include a waiver of tuition and provide health insurance coverage. All of the above is subject to change and thus applicants should contact their prospective mentors/major professors regarding the most current information.
Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA)
Graduate Teaching Assistants work under the direct supervision of a regular faculty member in activities such as helping to prepare lectures, teaching discussion sections, conducting laboratory exercises, grading papers and keeping class records. The GTA should not be considered as support for your research activities, and adequate progress in the research program is expected beyond the assistantship duties. During the summer semester, when classes normally are not held, GTAs should report to the department head for work assignments.
A GTA orientation provided by the Graduate School is required in the fall of your first year, and online Blackboard training is also required. All GTAs whose first language is not English must pass the SPEAK test (http://gradschool.utk.edu/speaktest.shtml ) before assuming teaching responsibilities.
Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA)
GRA's at the MS and PhD levels will generally be defined as 1/4 or 1/2 time employment. When GRA's are not in class, they should be available to assist their major professor. The purpose of graduate research assistantships is to further the major professor or department's research goals. It is not payment for your time spent on a thesis or dissertation project.
Benefits
Graduate assistants have the opportunity to become more deeply involved in departmental programs, and this benefit should not be overlooked. Graduate assistants are a special class of university employee, with the following specific benefits.
- Tuition waivers normally are part of the assistantship support. The department pays your tuition! Note that tuition waivers are a real expense to the department. Therefore enrolling in excessive hours not approved by your advisory committee or unnecessary to meet degree requirements is not permitted.
- Heath insurance is provided
- You do not earn sick leave or vacation days, but flexibility in scheduling can be obtained from your supervisor
- Note that the IRS considers assistantship support to be taxable, as it is not a fellowship, it is a type of employment.
Bi-weekly Payroll Assignments
A number of graduate students have been hired on a part-time basis to assist in teaching and research operations. These students are paid on an hourly basis and generally have more freedom as to the time for performing their duties.
Fellowships
A number of fellowships are available through the Graduate School. These fellowship opportunities can be viewed at http://gradstudies.utk.edu/gradfund.shtml. These awards are for full-time study at UT Knoxville, and awardees are selected on the basis of high achievement, broad intellectual ability, and potential for significant career contributions.