Funding & Assistantships
Types of Funding
The department has 3 types of funding for graduate students: permanent assistantships, temporary or "soft" funding, and adjunct instructor or part-time grader positions. All students wishing to obtain funding from the department must complete a funding application by February 1 for the following academic year.
Permanent Assistantships
These are year-to-year funded teaching or research assistantships which pay a monthly salary for the academic year and normally have tuition waivers. Assistantships are awarded competitively on the basis of merit. Appointments are made on a yearly basis. Students may receive an assistantship for up to four years if pursuing both the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees; students pursuing only the Ph.D. degree may receive permanent-funded assistantships for up to three years.
Temporary or "Soft" Funding
The second type of departmental funding comes largely from grants obtained by faculty and usually consists of research positions. Last year, approximately two thirds of our graduate students who were not on T.A. appointment were employed by WSU, often working on research for faculty. For the most part, these jobs pay an hourly salary and do not include a tuition waiver. Under some circumstances, students who are employed for at least 20 hours a week may be eligible for an out-of-state tuition waiver. For many of these positions, students must be "work study eligible". This program enables the department to fund more graduate students because for every dollar we put in we get three work study dollars to support employment. (See Lisa Janowski regarding the procedures for applying for work study.) Often, these job opportunities extend into the summer. You need to file federal and state forms with the financial aid office to be work study eligible and should do so as soon as possible if you do not have hard-funding. The deadline for these forms is usually March 1st. Unfortunately, non American citizens are not eligible for work study.
Research Assistant Positions from Faculty Grants within the Department
Work study eligible students will often be employed before those who are not; however, the final hiring decision is made by the individual faculty member on whose project you will be working. Last year, over half of our faculty had research assistants.
Research Positions in the Division of Governmental Studies and Services (DGSS)
Our department has an applied research unit, directed by Professor Nicholas P. Lovrich and associate director Michael Gaffney. This unit pursues and administers contracts to conduct a variety of research projects in Washington State. Each year, DGSS employs a number of graduate students to work on research. This work is paid on an hourly basis. Students who work in DGSS are normally work study eligible. If you are interested, you need to apply for work study eligibility with the financial aid office and then submit a curriculum vitae to Ruth Self in DGSS (Johnson Tower 701).
Other Employment Opportunities Outside of the Department
- Social and Economic Sciences Research Center
This research unit often employs graduate students. - The Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service
The institute sometimes employs graduate students. - Graduate Professional Student Association
Employs graduate students regularly. - Campus Student and Hourly Employment Office
Ads are posted on a board in French Administration 126. - Writing Center
Our students have worked as writing tutors. Interested criminal justice students should see the director of criminal justice. Interested political science students should see the graduate coordinator. - Distance Degree Programs
Graders and instructors are needed. Interested criminal justice students should see the director of criminal justice. Interested political science students should see the graduate coordinator.
Adjunct Instructor Positions
The third type of funding is adjunct teaching or grading for courses. It is most common to have adjunct teaching opportunities for graduate students in the summer, but there are also several opportunities for adjunct teaching/grading through the Distance Degree Programs in which the department offers a degree. Students interested in grading for DDP courses should see the department's DDP coordinator, Otto Marenin. Students interested in summer teaching should see the graduate director or criminal justice director. Other adjunct opportunities depend on faculty sabbaticals, vacancies, and accruals, and therefore fluctuate from year to year. Students who have had a significant record in teaching, who have at least an M.A., if not an ABD, and who are not already on a teaching assistantship should inform the graduate director or chair of their expertise in teaching. The chair of the department makes all decisions on adjunct teaching in consultation with the graduate coordinator, the director of criminal justice, and/or pertinent faculty. Adjunct faculties are generally paid an agreed flat rate per course. No tuition waivers are involved.
Disqualification from Eligibility for Departmental Funding
Graduate students shall not be given departmental aid in the Fall semester if they are carrying a grade of "I" for any course other than 600, 702, or 800 received in a non-contiguous semester. Also, students who by the end of the third semester equivalent of full time enrollment in residence have failed to form a committee and file a program (in the case of the Ph.D.) shall normally be denied continuance in any assistantship or other kind of departmental employment, such as work with the Division of Governmental Studies and Services.
Travel Funding
The department has a limited amount of funding available to assist students who are presenting papers at major conferences. The amount of funding available will vary from year to year. Attendance at national or major regional disciplinary conferences (i.e., APSA, MWPSA, WPSA, ACJS, ASA) is more likely to be funded than attendance at small local or interdisciplinary conferences (although students are encouraged to look for opportunities to travel together to local conferences, and the department will fund shared modes of travel and hotel rooms for such purposes). Funding of conference participation is at the discretion of the chair. Students interested in applying for travel funds should prepare a short memo of request to the chair. The memo should outline the nature of the conference, the nature of the student's participation (i.e., author, co-author, title of paper, etc.) and projected travel costs. The request should be approved and the memo should be signed by all members of the student's advising committee.
Other Funding Opportunities
- WSU Financial Aid
- Graduate School Scholarships & Fellowships
- Graduate School Assistantships
- Graduate School Grants
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