Graduate Student Financial Support

Note: All students are strongly encouraged to complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year, by the beginning of fall quarter.  The FAFSA is used to determine eligibility for need-based awards and to apply for support from the Financial Aid Office as well as from the department. No need-based fellowship can be awarded to a student who does not have a current FAFSA on file.

Department Policy for Graduate Student Financial Support

The Mathematics Department is strongly committed to the financial support of graduate students who are making good progress toward either the Masters or the Ph.D. degree. For the purpose of financial support, a student’s progress is measured against the Degree Programs and Timetables. A teaching assistantship is the most common form of financial support for graduate students in good standing.

Free Application for Financial Student Aid (FAFSA)

All students are strongly urged to completed a Free Application for Financial Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine eligibility for need-based awards and to apply for support from the Financial Aid Office as well as from the department at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ Students facing special financial hardship are urged to make this known to the department in a timely manner. The department will do everything in its power to insure that all students in good standing are given sufficient financial aid to enable them to continue their study of mathematics.

Teaching Assistants 

• Union
  Teaching Assistants are covered by a collective bargaining agreement between the University and the United Auto Workers (UAW). The agreement can be viewed electronically here.
  
• Appointments
  TA appointments are usually made at 50% time (an assigned workload of approximately 220 hours for the quarter). Teaching assistants are under the supervision of the faculty member who is responsible for the course.
  
• Assignments
  TA assignments are based on course enrollments. Faculty and TAs will be notified of the preliminary assignments as soon as possible. These preliminary assignments are always tentative pending student enrollment information. Early in the quarter, TAs may be reassigned at short notice, based on the course enrollments.
  
• Duties
  The specific allocation of TA duties is subject to change, depending on enrollments and the number of teaching assistantships in the department allocation. Instructors and their teaching assistant(s) will meet at the beginning of the quarter to complete the Notification of TA Duties form in order to identify the agreed upon tasks. The performance of these tasks will form the basis of the end-of-quarter performance evaluation, and will use the following criteria: quality of work; accuracy and attention to detail; interaction with students, peers and instructor; knowledge of subject; dependability.
  
  Please note that some classes now utilize on-line grading, which means there is no homework for faculty, readers or TAs to grade. In other cases, one or more readers may be assigned to the class to grade homework. In general, TA duties will likely include the following:
  
  √  TAs for upper division courses may be asked to grade some of the homework in addition to leading 1-2 sections, writing solutions, holding 3-5 hours of office hours, and assisting with grading midterms and finals
  
  √  TAs of  lower division courses (depending on enrollment) may be asked to grade some of the homework (except where on-line grading is in use or readers are assigned) in addition to leading 2-3 sections, writing solutions, holding 3 hours of office hours, and assisting with grading midterms and finals.
  
  √  TAs of the entry-level math courses will be expected to lead 3-4 sections, write solutions, hold 3 office hours, and assist with grading midterms and finals. 
  
• TA Training
  All TAs are required to participate in the department’s Teaching Assistant training program. Professor Frank Bauerle is the TA Trainer for the Mathematics Department, and he conducts a training session at the beginning of each school year to prepare first-time teaching assistants, and a second session including all TAs in our program. Additional workshops are conducted at the beginning of each quarter, and on-going advising, coaching, and mentoring are provided to our teaching assistants to prepare them for excellence in the classroom.

Four Year Rule

The total length of service rendered in any one or any combination of the following titles may not exceed four years: reader on annual stipend, teaching assistant teaching fellow and/or associate. Under special circumstances, the Chancellor, upon recommendation of the department chair and the Dean of Graduate Studies may authorize a longer period, but in no case for more than six years.

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