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Assistantships and Fellowships

All assistantships and fellowships are awarded at the departmental or college level. You can direct your request for consideration to the department chair or graduate program director of a specific department. 

  • There are about 250 GAs available for the entire university; most of these require serving as an instructor for a department.
  • An individual department may have only two or three assistantships to award. Most of these are awarded late spring semester for the next academic year.
  • Full-time GAs are expected to work up to 19.5 hours/week for their stipend. Contact the departmental chair or graduate program directors for application materials.
  • Graduate assistants who are international students, whose native language is not English, and who have been assigned to teach may be asked to complete an English speaking proficiency examination administered by the Student Success Center.
  • Normally, graduate assistants are involved in classroom instruction, supervision of laboratory sections, grading papers and/or examinations, assisting faculty members in research activities, or other equivalent duties.

Appointing a Student as a GA or DA

  • To retain financial support as a graduate student, almost all sources of funds require that the student must maintain satisfactory academic progress.
  • For graduate assistantships, students must earn nine graduate credit hours or more each semester and maintain a 3.0 grade point average. Some departments may require additional evidence of satisfactory progress for a student to remain eligible.
  • Students who receive financial aid through the Financial Aid Office must meet the criteria established by that office for satisfactory progress to remain eligible.

Award Letter Template

Additional GTA Request FOrm

Personnel Recommendation Form

Current Paydate/Payroll Calendars

Graduate Assistant Handbook

Current Assistantship/Fellowship Compensation 

 

Research Assistantships are available throughout the university through grant monies or other external sources. Conditions of employment and amounts of compensation vary.

Questions about such sources of support should be directed to the academic departments or colleges.

  • There are 26 Doctor of Art Fellowships awarded each year to students admitted to and enrolled in the Doctor of Arts program.
  • These are available only in the Departments of Biological Sciences, English, Mathematics, and Political Science. Most of these are awarded late spring-early summer each year. Contact these departments via the information in the table below for details and applications.
  • Please be aware the entire DA fellowship award (tuition/fee scholarship and the monthly stipend) is disbursed as scholarships so will impact a student's federal financial aid eligibility.

Current Fellowship Payment Form

Contact

Location

Phone

Biological Sciences

Life Sciences Bldg.

(208) 282-3765

English

Liberal Arts Bldg.

(208) 282-2478

Mathematics

Physical Sciences Bldg.

(208) 282-3350

Political Science

Business Admin. Bldg.

(208) 282-2211

Deadlines & Information:

  • Most assistantships and fellowships are awarded on an academic-year basis. These awards are made in mid-semester in the spring for the following academic year.
  • To ensure consideration, a request for such financial support should be made to the academic unit by February.
  • Only students admitted as degree-seeking students are eligible to apply for graduate assistantships or fellowships. Non-degree-seeking students are not eligible to receive assistantships.
  • Because full-time graduate assistants are expected to work up to 19.5 hours per week, the maximum number of credits an assistant may earn in a given semester is 12. Normally, a full-time graduate assistant is expected to carry a minimum of 9 graduate credits, which is a full-time load. DA fellows are expected to carry a minimum of 9 graduate credits per semester.
  • Permission to carry fewer than 9 or more than 12 credits may be granted by the Dean of the Graduate School upon written recommendation of the student's advisor or program director. However, since the Idaho State Board of Education requires that graduate assistants be full-time fee-paying students, graduate assistants who are approved to take fewer than full-time graduate credits will still be charged full-time tuition/fees.
  • A student with a graduate assistantship or fellowship may be employed in addition to the awarded stipend. This employment may only occur with the permission of the Dean of the Graduate School and usually must be limited to 6 hours per week. Requests for permission for such employment must be sent in writing by the department chair or graduate program director to the Dean of the Graduate School.