Financial Aid

Support Within the Department

The Department has a number of graduate teaching assistantships in Linguistics, as well as a number of graduate teaching positions at the American English Institute [AEI] (for students with native English proficiency). Other types of support are occasionally available, e.g. research assistantships in other departments for native speakers of Romance or East Asian languages. Qualified applicants for graduate admission are automatically considered by the Department for a GTF position in the Department of Linguistics and need not apply for it separately. Each spring, students who are already enrolled in the program apply for GTF positions for the following academic year. The application consists of a CV, a brief description of current research activities and accomplishments, and a list of courses they would prefer to teach/TA for. For financial aid information in relation to the Language Teaching Specialization program, see Language Teaching Specialization MA sidebar.

GTF Appointments: General Information. GTF appointments in the Department most commonly involve support of faculty members who are teaching large enrollment courses through the managing of discussion sections, assisting with the preparation of study materials and exams, scoring exams and essays, and such, though more advanced graduate students may teach a section of a lower division introductory course on their own. GTF appointments at the AEI generally involve teaching small enrollment courses in ESL in one of the AEI programs.

In virtually every case, the appointment is offered as a fraction of a full-time appointment (what we would call here 1.0 FTE, or full-time equivalent). Most appointments are either at .40 FTE or .49 FTE. Any appointment at .20 FTE or greater includes an appropriate stipend and a tuition waiver (but not a fee waiver), along with access to health care and other benefits.
The principles governing GTF appointments at the UO can be found in the UO/GTFF Bargaining Agreement available on the web at this location: http://hr.uoregon.edu/employee-relations/gtff2002-form.html.

Support Outside the Department

We strongly encourage students to seek outside support for research and/or stipends, both to enable higher-quality research and to support extended time in the Department. The Graduate School has a funding library, informative web pages on financial support and GTFs open to students from across campus, and occasionally sponsors workshops relevant to funding issues.

For additional possible funding sources, consult the Graduate School's funding pages:
http://gradschool.uoregon.edu/?page=fundingResources.