Financial Aid

Teaching Assistantships

Graduate teaching assistants are essential to the program of instruction of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures. They normally provide instruction in the first six semesters of German language under the direction of a faculty course coordinator.

For the academic year 2005-2006, the stipend for TA's is a minimum of $12784 (50% appointment). Payment is $1420.44 per month for 9 months. These assistantships additionally include a tuition and service fee waiver. However, students pay the mandatory health insurance and health service fee as well as a general and a transportation fee (annual pass for C.U. Mass Transit District busses). Teaching assistants can also apply for a limited number of summer teaching assistantships. (The tuition and fee waiver carried by the teaching assistantship for the academic year is valid also for the following Summer Session.) Summer teaching assistants are expected to be enrolled. (See Graduate College Handbook, p. 18).

Responsibilities

The normal appointment for a teaching assistant is a 50 percent appointment for the academic year. Teaching assistants normally teach one four-hour course section in one semester and two four-hour sections in the other; consequently, the workload in the two semesters is unequal, but in practice averages out over the year to the equivalent of 20 hours per week. Teaching assistants are required to administer the ICES [Instructor and Course Evaluation System] forms to their students and to have one copy of the results sent to the department head and the course coordinator. (See Graduate College Handbook, pp. 18, 24-25.)

For first-year assistants, the teaching load is normally one section in the fall, two in the spring semester; for continuing assistants, the load is normally two sections in the fall and one in the spring. These assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis, with preference given to students who have lived or studied in a German-speaking country or have had teaching experience.

Teaching assistants prepare for and conduct their classes, hold one office hour per course taught each week, participate in the composition of examinations, and correct course assignments and examinations promptly. In the case of illness or other indisposition, teaching assistants are to inform the course coordinator, who will then make the necessary arrangements. Teaching assistants may not exchange classes or substitute for each other without the prior permission of the faculty coordinator.

In some of the multisection courses, the faculty coordinator is assisted by a graduate student. Assistant coordinators normally hold a 17 percent appointment (equivalent to on average 6-7 hours per week). They meet with the course coordinator once a week, maintain and update curricular materials, function as liaison between the course coordinator and the teaching assistants, assist with the development of curricular materials, and process routine requests for instructional equipment and resources.

Mentoring

Because of the importance of graduate teaching actions to the instructional program of the department, and because of the importance of the assistantships to the students' professional development, the department takes very seriously the role of faculty members as supervisors and mentors. The faculty course coordinator is responsible for selecting and making available the curricular materials (including textbooks, realia, and other supplementary materials), setting instructional and grading policies, overseeing the preparation and administration of examinations, providing guidance to the teaching assistants in the form of regular meetings, and where possible serving as master teacher. In multisection courses with a master teacher, teaching assistants are expected to observe the faculty instructor at least twice a semester.

In addition to faculty course coordinators, the department mentors its teaching assistants through faculty observers who visit classes taught by the teaching assistants. Faculty visitation has a two-fold purpose: to assist graduate students in their development as teachers and to monitor the quality of instruction offered in the department. In conformance with the department's "Selected Guidelines for Observation of Teaching," faculty observers meet with the teaching assistant after each visit to discuss the conduct of the class. Following these conversations, students are provided with a written evaluation, which is also placed in the student's file; these evaluations, however, do not become part of the student's official record. (See Graduate College Handbook, p. 36.)

Research Assistantships

With remuneration at the same rate as teaching assistantships, research assistantships are often available for qualified continuing students.

Fellowships

External

The University of Illinois makes available on a competitive basis a number of generous fellowships in support of graduate study and research. Graduate students in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures have also been extremely successful in obtaining external fellowships and grants for study and research at home and abroad. Awards have been made by such prestigious agencies as the American Association of University Women, the American-Scandinavian Foundation, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, and Fullbright-Hayes Students with external fellowships may not hold university fellowships concurrently. Information and assistance in applying for funding from these and other sources is provided by the director of graduate studies.

Internal

Each year the department may nominate a limited number of outstanding students for University Fellowships plus tuition and fee waiver, for the academic year and summer session, and exceptional students may be eligible for a second year of fellowship support. )Students with fellowships in a given year may apply for teaching assistantships in subsequent years.)

Exceptional students applying for admission may be nominated to compete in the university's Distinguished Fellowships program. These fellowships provide $17,000 per 12-month year for three years and a tuition and service fee waiver.

Graduate students may apply for Dissertation Completion Fellowships, which provide a tuition waiver and a one-year stipend of $17,000; Dissertation Travel Grants, which subsidize travel and other costs associated with doctoral dissertation research; Humanities Graduate Students Research and Conference Support; and On-Campus Dissertation Research Grants and Thesis/Project Support Grants (See the UIUC's A Handbook for Graduate Students and Advisers.)

Fellowships and Assistantships Abroad

The stipends for the fellowships and assistantships abroad are comparable to those for students serving in the department as half-time assistants.

Exchange Fellowship

Each year the department selects a graduate student to study for a year at the University of Regensburg, German, with a fellowship stipend.

Exchange Assistantships

The department selects two graduate students to study for a year with assistantship stipends at the universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg, respectively.

Austria-Illinois Exchange Program (AIEP)

Each year the department selects and sends abroad a graduate student to serve as administrative assistant to the program director in Vienna.

The AIEP graduate assistant performs teaching and administrative duties under the supervision of the resident director. These included the following: teaching of one advanced language course each semester, preparation for and assistance during fall-and spring-semester orientation programs, assistance with other aspects of program administration, such as bureaucratic tasks associated with life and study in Vienna, preparation for and supervision of participants during extracurricular events, and nurturing good relations with the exchange partners.

The AIEP graduate assistant holds a 67 percent appointment for the period 1 September through 30 June. This requires the equivalent of 26.66 hours of program-related work per week. During the period of appointment, the assistant occasionally is asked to work more than 26.66 hours per week, but at other times during the semester the assistant works fewer hours per week. This is often the case during the middle weeks of each semester. It is the responsibility of the resident director to monitor the graduate assistant's workload and ensure that it corresponds generally with the terms of the appointment. The program-related work required of the graduate assistant allows enough time for graduate-level coursework and progress toward the degree.

Departmental Policy on Financial Aid

Financial aid is normally provided as follows:

1. For students with a B.A. working toward the M.A. or M.A.T.G. degrees: two academic years. To meet the requirement for normal progress, the student must pass the M.A. or M.A.T.G. examinations before the end of the second semester of the second year of support.

2. For students with the M.A. working toward the Ph.D. degree: two academic years for the completion of course requirements. To demonstrate normal progress, the student must pass the preliminary examinations, both written and oral, before the end of the second semester of the second year of support.

3. For students who have passed the preliminary examinations and are working toward completion of the doctoral dissertation: two academic years.

Summer teaching by graduate students or appointment as Assistant to the Director of the Austria-Illinois Exchange Program in Vienna will not be counted in the above limits.

Academic-year fellowships and assistantships for study abroad count as one semester of financial aid for students who have not yet passed the preliminary examination for the doctorate, but as a full year at the dissertation stage.

The department guarantees six years (2-2-2) of financial aid contingent on normal progress toward a degree and availability of funds. Renewal of teaching assistantships is also contingent on the rendering of satisfactory service by the assistant.

Since the primary purpose of financial aid is to enable students to pursue graduate studies toward a degree, all financial aid is contingent upon the student's maintenance of normal progress toward a degree. Students working towards the M.A. degree shall be full-time students, enrolled in an average of 3 units per semester, and maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0; students in the doctoral program shall be full-time students, enrolled in an average of 3 units per semester, and maintain a minimum GPA of 3.5.

Review of Academic Progress

Each student is reviewed by the graduate faculty of the department once a year to ensure that normal progress is being made toward a degree. At the end of each academic year, students receive from the director of graduate studies a brief written confirmation of their status; should the faculty have found that a student's progress is not that normally expected, the director of graduate studies shall meet with the student to identify and seek to remedy any specific difficulties. If in the judgment of the director of graduate studies, the department head, and the student's advisor the student is not likely to attain normal progress in subsequent semester, financial aid, including fellowships and teaching assistantships, may be with drawn and the student may be asked to discontinue graduate study. EX grades lower the student's priority for teaching assistantships or other departmental financial support.