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IV. Graduate Assistantships and Fellowships
A. Assistantships and Fellowships
In support of their graduate studies, graduate students may be offered a graduate assistantship or fellowship. Students with
assistantships of fellowships receive a stipend and the University pays their instructional and general fees. In return, graduate
assistants are contractually obligated to perform certain duties in the university, such as assisting instructors, serving
as a research assistant, and so on. Summer assistantships are available. There are also a limited number of fellowships that
do not require service to the university. These “non-service” fellowships are available awarded on a competitive basis to
students in the last year of their Ph.D. studies who are Only those making good progress on the dissertation are considered.
1. Assistantships
An assistantship may be awarded to students in the Ph.D. program who meet Graduate College minimum criteria and who are deemed
worthy of such support by the department's Graduate Committee. If additional funds are available, master’s students may also
be offered assistantship support.
To retain an assistantship, a student must remain in good academic standing and satisfactorily fulfill their assistantship
responsibilities. For students who have not yet received the M.A., good standing requires maintaining a cumulative GPA of
at least 3.00 in graduate work. For students who have received the M.A. and are registered as PhD students, good standing
requires maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 in graduate work. Students in the Ph.D. program are supported for a
maximum of five years. However, in special cases a sixth year of funding can be added upon the approval of the Director of
Graduate Studies. Support after the first two years requires passing the M.A. examination. Students must apply for the sixth
year of funding, but it will be awarded provided the student is in good standing and is making normal progress toward the
Ph.D.
An assistantship contractually obligates the student to perform duties in the university. It is current department policy
to award assistantships at the .50 time rate. This entails that graduate assistants are contractually obligated to work between
eighteen and twenty hours per week.
Students with an assistantship receive a stipend for the work they perform. In addition, they receive from the Graduate College
a waiver of most tuition and fees. Each assistantship is awarded a waiver of tuition covering the Ohio Instructional, Non-resident
and General fee (up to 18 credits/semester) during the semester of the assistantship. Assistants are also provided tuition
and fee waivers covering Ohio Instructional and non-resident fees (up to 15 hours/semester) for the summer semester following
an appointment during the academic year, but the summer General fee is not waived.
2. Non-Service Fellowships
The Graduate Committee has a small number of “non-service” fellowships to award for the sixth year of the Ph.D. program. Such
fellowships carry a stipend but do not require service to the university. In order to be eligible, a student must be in the
fifth year of the Ph.D. program, must meet Graduate College minimum criteria, must be making normal progress toward the degree,
and must be well advanced in his or her dissertation work.
B. Assistantship Assignments
Graduate students on stipend may be assigned any of the following duties to fulfill their contractual obligations: 1) working
with instructors (as graders, as discussion leaders, as section leaders and the like) in large introductory classes, i.e.,
introduction to philosophy, introduction to logic or introduction to ethics; 2) working with instructors in larger sections
of more advanced undergraduate courses, typically in applied philosophy, e.g., medical ethics, business ethics, philosophy
of death and dying or the philosophy of law; 3) teaching independent sections of introductory courses; 4) teaching independent
sections of more advanced undergraduate courses; 5) serving to support the research of faculty; or 6) serving to support administrators
in the department (e.g., working with the library committee) or affiliated centers.
C. Evaluation of Performance and Renewals
Students in the Ph.D. program may have been awarded a full five years of support. Continuing support is of course contingent
on students’ (1) continuing to make satisfactory academic progress toward the M.A. and then the Ph.D. and (2) continuing to
perform their contractually assigned duties satisfactorily.
The Philosophy Department acknowledges its responsibility to monitor satisfactory performance of contractually assigned duties
by its assistants since the latter are funded by the state of Ohio and since they provide professional service to Bowling
Green students and faculty.
The performance of students with teaching assignments is monitored by supervising faculty through regular consultation with
those they are supervising and through periodic classroom visitation. Where serious problems are identified, faculty have
the responsibility to confer with the students and, where appropriate, to report unsatisfactory performance to the Chair and
the Graduate Committee. Comparable supervisory responsibility falls upon those working with graduate students with research
and administrative assignments. In any case, where unsatisfactory performance is identified, remedial measures are recommended,
and if unsatisfactory performance persists, non -renewal of a graduate student contract may be recommended.
D. Procedures for Assigning Duties
Although assistants are asked to indicate preferences in their duties, there are several overriding principles which are employed
in making these assignments. To ensure that teaching, research and administrative assignments are performed responsibly and
ably, students are assigned duties within their capabilities (as judged by faculty to be assisted, in consultation with the
Director of Graduate Studies and the Chair). Students with minimal backgrounds in philosophy or with a need to improve English
language skills are assigned non-classroom duties until they are deemed ready for such assignments. In general, it is desirable
to have students involved in instruction at the introductory level before assigning them to upper level courses. It is required
(save in extreme circumstances) that students serve as assistants in large format introductory classes before attempting independent
teaching. It is highly desirable that students be given a variety of assignments in the course of their studies rather than
repeating assignments. Students who are puzzled about the rationale leading to particular assignments in their own cases in
particular semesters should seek information from the Chair.
E. Assessing Graduate Assistant Teaching
Teaching by graduate assistants is monitored by supervising faculty. In the case of large courses, students are monitored
by those in whose courses they are assigned duties (e.g., managing logistics, grading, discussion leading and the like). Where
students have responsibility for running discussion sessions, supervising faculty are expected to visit each section at least
once during the semester to observe their assistants. Supervising faculty are expected to provide help and guidance in developing
in their assistants the abilities to perform their assigned duties effectively. This expectation entails that faculty will
meet regularly with their assistants to discuss course objectives, assistant responsibilities and the like.
In the case of students teaching independently, they are to do so under the guidance of a supervising faculty member. In the
usual course of events such students are to teach courses following rather closely the syllabi of faculty who have previously
taught the course (and ideally who have previously supervised the students in a large class format). Where there are departures
from this norm, students are to discuss their syllabus and other course preparations with and secure approval of plans from
the supervising faculty member. Independent student teachers, too, are to be visited in class at least once during the semester.
Though students given such assignments are considered to have proved themselves to have many of the requisite teaching abilities,
supervising faculty are still expected to provide help and guidance in further development of student teaching abilities.
When supervising faculty visit sections or classes taught by graduate students, they should consider factors such as the following
(where applicable) in assessing the teaching they observe:
1. Conveyed the interest of the topic.
2. Showed sensitivity to the students who were not speaking.
3. Kept the philosophical point of the discussion clear.
4. Helped students to overcome student-expressed confusions.
5. Helped students to express their ideas clearly.
6. Paced the introduction of new ideas well.
7. Related new ideas to central points.
8. Answered questions as clearly and simply as possible.
9. Explained content accurately and clearly.
It is Department policy that all instructors (including those teaching discussion sections of large lecture courses) have
their students complete course evaluation forms during the last week of classes. Graduate teaching assistants may also want
to seek mid-semester feedback from their students as well.
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