Graduate Handbook

IV. FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Types of Funding
The department has three types of funding for graduate students: hard funding, soft funding and adjunct instructor salaries.

Hard-funding—Hard funding consists of permanent teaching assistantships which pay a monthly salary for the academic year and normally have tuition waivers. Assistantships are divided among the three Ph.D. course fields and Criminal Justice master students, and are awarded competitively on the basis of merit. T.A. 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 hard-funded assistance for up to three years.

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, you 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 your employment. (See Cynthia Avery 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. If you are interested in these, you need to submit a research profile to the Graduate Coordinator, providing information in the following four areas: 1) Work study eligibility; 2) Research Experience -- areas of interest and/or expertise and knowledge of and experience in research methods, e.g., quantitative -- statistics, SPSS, surveys, etc. and/or qualitative--content analysis, literature reviews, language capabilities; 3) Computer skills -- please be as specific as possible; and 4) if employed, how many hours, for how long, and how many more additional hours per week could you take on. These profiles will be used in final hiring decisions.

Research Positions in the Division of Governmental Studies and Services (DGSS)
Our department has an applied research unit, directed by Professor Nicholas P. Lovrich. 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 a 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 Ms. Ruth Self in DGSS (Johnson Tower 701).

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.

Extended 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.

Research Assistant Contracts—1) Students receiving departmental soft-funding will fill out an R.A. contract with the faculty member for whom they are working; 2) These contracts will be distributed to the faculty member in charge in the beginning of the semester.

Adjunct Instructor Positions—The third type of funding, adjunct teaching, is limited and irregular. It is most common to have adjunct teaching opportunities for graduate students in the summer; however, faculty are the first to be assigned summer classes to teach. 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 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 faculty are generally paid according to their degree status. 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.

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