Departmental Policies

Teaching and Research Assistantships

Because the M.S. and Ph.D. programs are rigorous, the Department strongly discourages students with assistantship support from working outside the University during the academic year. The number of assistantships varies from year to year, depending on funding allocations made by the School and on the success of the Department in obtaining externally supported research grants. Continued support for individual students is not guaranteed beyond what is stated in the offer letter. Funding is always contingent on satisfactory progress (see above), satisfactory work on the assistantship. Beyond the funding that is guaranteed in the initial offer letter, continuing funding will be contingent on the availability of funds, the length of time the student has been in the program, and satisfactory progress in the program. As a general rule, we do not provide financial support to MS students, but we may consider granting assistantships to exceptional MS candidates. We encourage MS students to obtain internships over the summer term. Ph.D. students, who are normally admitted with an assistantship, usually receive four years of support. In some cases, we are able to provide summer support to Ph.D. students, in the form of fellowships or research assistantships.

Assistantships come in the form of Research Assistantships (RA) or Teaching Assistantships (TA). Performance as a TA or RA will be evaluated by the faculty supervisor and the Graduate Studies Committee. Students should seek guidance from the supervisor as needed to perform their teaching or research responsibilities. If a student is concerned about the quantity or quality of a supervisor’s guidance, he or she should consult with the Graduate Program Director or Department Chair (in that order). Students who do not perform their assistantship duties well may have their funding reduced or eliminated. The duties of a teaching assistant may include but are not restricted to: grading problem sets and examinations, tutoring individual students, leading discussion sections, and helping with administrative tasks associated with courses. The TA may be required to give lectures for a course, but may not assign grades. Another variant of graduate support is available in the form of “Teaching Associate”. A Teaching Associate has sole responsibility for teaching an undergraduate course. Candidates for Teaching Associates are in or beyond their third year of the program; we ask students interested in this to communicate such interest to the GPD during their first or second year. Teaching Associate experience is an excellent addition to the student’s CV, an experience that is particularly valued by academic employers. Teaching Associates are usually offered an additional stipend. During the first year, a student with an RA will be assigned to a sponsored research project. Every attempt will be made to place assistants in projects that match their areas of interest, but this may not always be possible. In the first year, an RA may be involved in activities such as data manipulation and literature search that may or may not relate to the thesis or dissertation topic, within the constraints of the supported research activities of the Department. Fall assistantships begin at the beginning of September and end around mid-January. Spring assistantships begin around mid-January and end 19 weeks later, toward the end of May. Employment during spring break may be required in order to fulfill work requirements. Particular arrangements should be made between the assistant and the supervisor and meet the approval of the Department Chair.

The standard assistantship is a half-time position representing 20 hours of work per week during the academic year and, depending on funding availability and details in the offer letter provided to the student, a varying number of hours per week during the summer (if the student has been offered a summer RA position). By April 1st of the first year, each student who will be a research assistant over the summer will be asked to consult with the faculty advisor and then to submit summer vacation and work plans to the faculty advisor, Graduate Program Director, and Department Chair. Should departmental research funds permit, students on summer assistantships (if applicable) might be offered an opportunity to work more than the standard contract during the summer months. Alternatively, a faculty member may use outside grant money to pay a research assistant to work increased hours during the summer; the GPD will facilitate matching a faculty member needing to secure an RA with a student in the pool of available RAs.

Graduate assistants working on departmental research, teaching or extension projects should use departmental supplies for the work connected with the project; they may obtain supplies by requesting them from the Graduate Program Coordinator. No student should take departmental supplies for personal use. Graduate assistants working on departmental projects as employees are entitled to reimbursement for travel and other expenses (related to that work) in accord with University policy. University rules should be followed carefully, particularly the requirement to submit a travel authorization form at least two weeks prior to travel.

Maintaining your Student Status

The Graduate School requires that you are an actively enrolled student every fall and spring term from the time you enter the program until you earn your degree. This means you must be enrolled in coursework or dissertation credits. If you are not enrolling for courses or dissertation credits then you must enroll in the Continuous Enrollment “course” (GRADSCH 999) and pay the program fee. Additionally, if you are an international student, you are required to be a full-time student. If you are not enrolled full-time (9 credits) in any semester but are working on research, the Graduate Programs Coordinator can override your academic status to full-time. It is your responsibility to seek permission from the Graduate Program Director for such overrides. Failure to do so may result in visa complications. Please note that this may affect you even if you are not an international student. Taken from the Graduate School website: “To be eligible for a loan deferment, a graduate student must be studying at a pace equivalent to taking 6 or 9 graduate credits in a given semester.” Moreover, “Health insurance for students who register for less than 5 credits (or who pay the Continuous Enrollment fee) is not automatic.” If you are covered by the Student Health Benefit Plan and taking less than 5 credits, then you should contact University Health Services to verify coverage. The Graduate School webpage, Graduate Student Services Center, IPO, Financial Aid Services, and Health Services are all good resources for information about your individual situations. Financial Aid Services and Health Services are included because your financial aid and health benefits can be affected by your academic status.

Statute of Limitations Extension Policy

Graduate School Statute of Limitations policy allows Master’s degree students three years to complete all degree requirements; Ph.D. students are allowed five years after achieving candidacy. A student who requests an extension to the Statute of Limitations must petition the Graduate Program Director, who in turn submits a recommendation with justification to the Graduate School Dean. The final decision rests with the Dean of the Graduate School. Department policy on extensions is developed by the Graduate Studies Committee. It is the policy of the Committee that extensions will be granted only in extraordinary circumstances. Individual requests are decided on a case by case basis by the faculty members of the Committee.

Leave of Absence

Under unusual circumstances, for example a prolonged illness, a student may apply to the Graduate Program Director for a leave of absence. The Graduate Program Director submits a recommendation with justification to the Graduate Dean, whose decision is final. A leave of absence temporarily suspends the Statute of Limitations clock, allowing the student additional time to complete the degree.

Graduate Student Travel to Professional Meetings and Conferences

The Department strives to fund graduate student travel to present papers, when funds are available, as it is an important part of graduate education. The Department has a history of supporting graduate student travel to meetings and encourages paper submissions.

Financial support for travel to professional meetings is provided for students who have papers or posters accepted for presentation. All travel is ultimately approved by the Graduate Program Director and Department Chair.

Financial support is limited, and students should follow the guidelines below:

• Only matriculated graduate students (i.e., enrolled in an on-campus graduate degree program for credits or Program Fee/Continuous Enrollment) are eligible.
• The submission to a conference needs to be discussed and approved by their research advisor. We encourage students to present at conferences with the greatest impact whenever possible.
• Follow the submission procedures for travel support, posted in the Graduate Program Moodle page.

Other Policies

All graduate students planning to pursue or pursuing the Experimental and Behavioral Economics track are expected to contribute to periodic tasks needed to keep the experimental lab and the research conducted in it operational. This includes helping with recruitment of subjects, updating subject pool, testing software and hardware, etc. More generally, we expect everyone in the experimental/behavioral community (faculty and students alike) to actively participate in activities related to this field (e.g. participating in pilot sessions, providing feedback on experimental designs, etc.). Specifically, we request that students make sure they adhere to the Experiment Policy Procedures (posted in the Grad Program Moodle page).

Normally, all graduate students are given office space. Should the number of students ever exceed the available desk space, the GPD will allocate space taking into consideration several factors including: seniority, need of space due to TA duties, whether student is funded or not, whether student is an MS or PhD student.

All graduate students may use the computer facilities in the computer laboratory. These items of equipment should not be removed from the computer laboratory. The Department’s Computer Committee determines priorities for use of this equipment. Department copy machines are not for student use. Copying required as part of teaching or research work must be done through the faculty supervisor or the graduate administrator.