Teaching assistantships
Graduate teaching assistantships (TAs) will usually be 1/2-time 20 hours per week nine-month appointments. These assistantships qualify students for tuition scholarships, partial miscellaneous fees scholarships, and health insurance benefits. TAs are required to teach the equivalent of four courses per academic year, usually courses that are part of the following programs:
ISUComm Foundation Communication (ENGL 1050 and 2500) is part of an ISU innovative program called ISUComm, which is managed by faculty from the Rhetoric and Professional Communication program and includes instruction in written, oral, visual, and electronic communication. New TAs enroll in a proseminar training course (ENGL 5000: Teaching Multimodal Composition) that prepares them to teach these courses in general and this material in particular. Some Foundation Courses are also part of a learning community, in which a cadre of first-year students take several classes together, thus building a small community within the larger one of the university. When TAs teach in a learning community, they frequently have the opportunity to collaborate with a teacher from one of the other linked classes to coordinate their work. These courses are all part of a program and therefore instructors must adhere to course outcomes, agreed-upon assignments, and policies. Materials are provided to guide instruction and ensure course consistency for students.
Fundamentals of Public Speaking (SPCM 2120): In this course, undergraduate students study oral communication, developing their ability to compose, deliver, and analyze public speeches. New TAs enroll in a proseminar training course (SPCM 5130: Proseminar: Teaching Fundamentals of Public Speaking) that prepares them to teach this foundational course. Instructors must adhere to agreed-upon outcomes, assignments, and policies. Materials are provided to guide instruction and ensure course consistency for students.
ISUComm Advanced Communication (ENGL 3020, 3140, etc.) is also part of the ISU innovative program called ISUComm. Teaching these courses requires special processes and require experience teaching ENGL 1500 and 2500 for at least two semesters and taking ENGL 5040: Teaching Advanced Communication.
ESL (English as a Second Language) Courses (ENGL 0990S and 1010) are offerings for international undergraduate and graduate students to support their academic English skills. ENGL 0990S addresses oral communication and reading skills, while ENGL 1010 addresses written communication. TAs in our MA TESL/AL and PhD ALT programs are assigned to teach these courses as determined by the Applied Linguistics faculty and based on academic preparation, experience, and staffing needs of the English department.
Special note for nonnative speakers of English: It is extremely important that nonnative speakers of English possess excellent English speaking and writing skills in order to be considered for teaching appointments. Nonnative speakers must meet the English department’s English proficiency requirement (minimum TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo, or PTE scores) in order to be considered for admission and teaching assistantship support or meet conditions that waives the requirement to submit English proficiency scores during the admission process. Those with teaching assistantship appointments must meet the English Placement Test (EPT) as well as the Oral English Certification Test (OECT) requirements before they begin teaching.
Research assistantships
The English department may occasionally have research assistantships to offer. These assistantships require a student to assist one or more faculty members with grant funded research projects for a specified number of hours each week. Occasionally faculty in other departments will hire English graduate students for special projects as well.
Tuition scholarships
For tuition purposes, all graduate assistants are assessed tuition equal to resident tuition rates (ISU Tuition and Fees). English department graduate students holding 1/2 (or greater) assistantship appointments receive tuition scholarships at the level determined by the Graduate College (75% MA, 100% MFA, and 100% PhD) during the academic year; the same percentage levels are applied in summer according to the number of enrolled credits). Students on at least 1/4-time (but less than 1/2-time) assistantship appointments receive half of the standard tuition scholarship benefit (37.5% MA, 50% MFA, and 50% PhD).
Eligibility guidelines
Length of eligibility: MA
Master of Arts students are eligible for assistantship support for up to 2 years as long as they are making satisfactory progress in their programs of study and are satisfactorily fulfilling all aspects of the assistantship appointment.
Length of eligibility: MFA
Master of Fine Arts students are eligible for assistantship support for up to 3 years so long as they are making satisfactory progress in their programs of study and are satisfactorily fulfilling all aspects of the assistantship appointment.
Length of eligibility: PhD
Doctoral students are eligible for assistantship support for up to 5 years so long as they are making satisfactory progress in their programs of study and are satisfactorily fulfilling all aspects of the assistantship appointment. PhD students can be approved for only one (1) additional year of support through their sixth (6) year.
Maintaining eligibility
As a graduate student you maintain eligibility for your assistantship from semester to semester by meeting several requirements (see Section 1.8.6 of the English Department Graduate Program Handbook). Not meeting such criteria for satisfactory progress and/or satisfactory performance can result in suspension or revocation of your assistantship.
Credit hour load requirements and restrictions
All English department graduate majors employed by the English department as graduate assistants must carry at least 6 credit hours of coursework per semester (excluding summer), 3 of which must be in English department course offerings. These may be graduate or undergraduate credit hours. New teaching assistants in the ISUComm Foundation Courses program (teaching ENGL 1500 and 250) and the Fundamentals of Public Speaking program (teaching SPCM 2120) should count ENGL 5000 or SPCM 5130 as part of their credit load their first semester. English department graduate assistants are restricted to taking a maximum of 12 credit hours per semester. To get a good start on fulfilling graduate requirements, teaching assistants should consider taking 9 credit hours (which includes 3 credit hours of the appropriate training course) during their initial fall semester.
Summer assistantships
The English department may have a few summer assistantship appointments available to offer to graduate students. Such appointments depend both on summer budgets (which remain uncertain until late spring) and on available graduate assistantship funding. The Department Chair and Associate Chair of Operations make these appointments. To be eligible for consideration, a student must be making satisfactory progress toward the degree and must be enrolled for at least one credit hour in summer session. If a student has been on a graduate assistantship appointment during the previous fall and spring semesters but does not hold an assistantship in summer, they are not eligible for the tuition scholarship if they register for summer coursework.
