Graduate Assistant Handbook | Graduate Employment Guidelines | Graduate Assistant Salaries
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Awarding Assistantships
The Graduate School makes financial support available to graduate students through a set number of graduate assistantships (GAs), which are distributed among the various graduate programs at New Mexico State University. The Graduate School sets the criteria for basic eligibility for assistanships.The English Department makes every effort to provide eligible graduate students with financial support in the form of teaching assistantships, when students request such consideration in their applications. The English Department recommends eligible applicants for teaching assistantships to the Graduate School; the Graduate School awards available assistantships to eligible students when they are admitted into a specific program of study. In their personal statements and in the supporting materials of their applications, prospective students should offer evidence of their preparation for teaching.
Standard Term of an Assistantship
Assistantships at the MA level* are exceptionally competitive. For MA students in the Literature and Rhetoric and Professional Communication emphases, the standard term established by the Graduate School for assistantship support is four semesters. For PhD students in the doctoral program in Rhetoric and Professional Communication, the standard term is ten semesters.*Applicants to the MA in English with an emphasis in English Studies for Teachers should not apply with the expectation of receiving a GA. Students in the MA emphasis in English Studies for Teachers are not eligible to hold a GA. In the rare circumstance of transfers between MA emphases, a student already awarded a GA who transfers to an emphasis that does not award GAs will lose the GA. (Note: Applications are no longer being accepted for the MA emphasis in Creative Writing.)
Applying for an Assistantship
The deadline to apply for a Graduate Assistantship in the English Department follows the application deadlines according to program and must be submitted as part of the application to the specific program in SLATE:
- PhD students: February 1
- MA students: February 1
- Continuing (enrolled) PhD and MA students: February 1
All applications for assistantship support should include a statement of teaching interest, should be addressed to the English Department Faculty, and should provide whatever additional information and supporting documentation the applicant deems useful to making a strong case for consideration.
