Financial aid for graduate students takes the form of Teaching Assistantships (TA), Research Assistantships (RA) and Fellowships (FS).

 · The level of appointment is usually designated 25% time (10 hours/week) or 50% time (20 hours/week). The actual number of work hours applies more directly to TA positions than to RA and FS positions.

 

 ·  Both 25% and 50% appointments include a waiver for tuition and some fees (it does not include health insurance, clinic fee, etc. totaling about $500-$600 per semester).

 

 · Sometimes appointments are combined, for example, a 25% RA is combined with a 25% FS to provide a 50% appointment. All three types of appointment have the same stipend (monthly salary).

Appointment lengths vary between 9 and 11 months for the calendar year - the University typically does not appoint students for all 12 months.

Stipend levels for the 2007-2008 academic year for beginning MS students are:

    · 25% level: $892.25 per month
    · 50% level: $1,784.50 per month

The Associate Head of the Department sends students official letters offering financial aid upon recommendation of the structures faculty.

Teaching Assistantships (TAs)

TAs help faculty members teach the larger sections of 3xx and 4xx structures courses. Typical duties of a TA include: working homework assignments, grading homework assignments, holding office hours to answer questions, grading quizzes, teaching class when the professor is on travel and maintaining the class web site. TAs are assigned office space for the duration of their appointment.

Most TAs hold a 25% appointment. They are a good option for new MS students unsure about pursing a PhD.

Typical courses staffed by structural graduate students as TAs include (some have more than 1 TA):

  CEE-300: Behavior of Materials

  CEE-360: Structural Engineering
  CEE-460: Steel Structures, I
  CEE-461: Reinforced Concrete, I

  CEE-462: Steel Structures, II
  CEE-463: Reinforced Concrete, II

  CEE-465: Design of Structural Systems
  CEE-470: Structural Analysis

  CEE-498: Special Topics

Research Assistantships (RAs)

Individual faculty members, groups of faculty and research centers solicit funds from government and industry to conduct research at the university. Graduate students hired to work on these projects are called Research Assistants (RAs). The work performed by RAs often forms the basis for a special problems course or a thesis at the MS level, and the dissertation for PhD students. The activities of RAs ranges widely from experimental work in the laboratories to development of
new analytical-computational procedures. Most RA positions are funded 50% time for 11 months per year.

The connection of a graduate student seeking an RA with a faculty member, group or research center takes place in an informal manner. Graduate students are not assigned an RA by the Department with a particular faculty member, group or center. The process requires initiative by the student to become familiar with the research interests of the structures faculty and the current funding availability. The selection of which students to receive RA offers is made directly by the faculty member, group or center that will fund the student. Students seeking an RA should contact faculty members that have similar research interests by e-mail and visit with them in-person.

Fellowships (FSs)

The Department and the University have a number of Fellowships to offer a select group of outstanding new graduate students each year. All structures students applying for admission are considered automatically in the fellowship competition. The Structures Faculty typically combines a 25% Fellowship with a 25% RA to provide a 50% appointment. These students have the honor of holding the named Fellowship and enjoy more flexibility in establishing a connection with a faculty member, group or center for research work.