A PDF version of the Teaching or Research Assistantship application form is available on the web for download, or you can pick up a copy at the C&J main office. For the PDF version, you will need Acrobat Reader, and it is available free at the Adobe site.

• Teaching Assistantships
• Teaching Assistant Resources
• Research and Other Assistantships
• Cost of Living
• Scholarship and Financial Aid
• Go to graduate student recruitment video
  

Teaching Assistantships
The Department of Communication and Journalism has, at any one time, a total of 40-45 teaching assistantships for Ph.D. students and M.A. students. All assistantships are competitively chosen. If you wish to apply for an assistantship, you'll need to complete the Application for Teaching or Research Assistantship (see application materials). You can apply for the assistantship when you apply for the program. Returning students may also apply for an assistantship by completing an application and giving it to the administrative assistant in the main office.

Funding for the teaching assistantship is for the duration of your graduate program (three years for Ph.D. students and two years for M.A. students) pending three conditions: (a) teaching performance, (b) classroom performance (in your own graduate classes), and (c) budget cuts. Budget cuts are unlikely to happen, but if they do returning students are given priority over new students. Thus, it is highly unlikely that you would lose a teaching assistantship. In fact, the faculty cannot recall an instance of such a cut.

Teaching assistants typically teach two courses/semester (four total for the year). This is considered a 0.5 FTE (full-time equivalent). We also have some students who teach only one class/semester, a 0.25 (half-time equivalent). The financial package for teaching assistants who teach four courses per year during the academic year 2003-2004 consists of the following:

Ph.D.
1) Stipend of $11,340/year
2) Tuition waiver for up to 24 credits/year
3) Health insurance

M.A.
1) Stipend of $10,300/year
2) Out-of-state tuition is waived. Instead, you will pay the in-state rate of $151.80/credit hour.
3) Health insurance

The stipend usually increases each year, but the actual amount of the increase is subject to state legislative decisions and we do not find out specific figures until April or May of each year. Finally, there are some opportunities for summer teaching. However, the summer schedule is not drafted until early in the spring semester.

Teaching Assistantship Resources
We work very hard to ensure that your teaching experience is rewarding. We want to help you achieve your goal of being an excellent teacher. Therefore, we offer the following resources: 1) Faculty Facilitation/Coordination. A faculty member in the department provides coordination and facilitation for all courses taught by TAs. Each TA is responsible for teaching his/her own classes (i.e., for most classes TAs are not assistants, but the primary teacher of the course), but the faculty coordinator will provide support to help you be successful in your teaching. The support includes meeting before the semester to assist with course and syllabus preparation and regular meetings (weekly or biweekly) during the semester to discuss ongoing issues in the course (e.g., class activities, grading, lectures, problems, etc.). The meetings provide the opportunity to share what is working, and what is not, in your own classes.

2) TARC/ITARC. TARC (Teaching Assistant Resource Center) and ITARC (International Teaching Assistant Resource Center) are programs that operate through the Center for Advancement of Scholarship in Teaching and Learning and housed in the Department of Communication and Journalism. TARC and ITARC are each a one-credit course that provides instruction about the finer points of teaching. The course meets once a week for two hours for eight weeks. The center is available to all students at the university and is required for new TAs in the C&J department. There are opportunities for graduate students in C&J to assist with TARC and ITARC (especially those students interested in instructional communication).


Research and Other Assistantships
The Department of Communication also has other assistantships available to graduate students. The funding for these projects is variable, but generally is consistent with the funding for teaching assistantships. Some research assistantships provide funding for 12 months, which increases the overall stipend as teaching assistants are paid on a nine-month schedule. During the next academic year, we will have the following assistantships.

1) TARC and ITARC There are two positions for graduate students this year. Each position is 0.5/semester.

2) Faculty Dispute Resolution Center. One of our former faculty members (Jean Civikly-Powell) runs the Faculty Dispute Resolution Center on campus. The Faculty Dispute Resolution Center has a 0.5 position (20 hours/week) each semester.

3) Research Assistants - We have several faculty who do funded research and often employ RAs.

Gill Woodall does a number of funded projects through the Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addiction (CASAA) at the University of New Mexico, and there is a good possibility for a research assistantship.

John Oetzel works with professors in public health and often has RA positions available, especially for students with quantitative plata analysis skills.

Cost of Living
We know that one concern that you might have is the cost of living in Albuquerque. The following information may be useful for you in planning the cost of attending the University of New Mexico. These costs are approximate and represent a range of possible expenses.

Scholarships and Financial Aid
There are several types of grants and scholarships available from the university. The Office of Graduate Studies offers the following awards (for national students only):

1) 3% scholarship. The department nominates up to five students from the department to receive a scholarship that covers tuition and fees for the academic year. These awards primarily are awarded to MA students who do not have the opportunity for a tuition waiver. This scholarship is available only to New Mexico residents. Other criteria are academic merit and financial need.

2) Graduate Dean's Dissertation Year Fellowship. Provides one year of financial assistance to students who will complete their dissertation by the next academic year. An award of $8,000 is provided.

3) Graduate Fellowship. The graduate fellowship is intended to increase enrollment of students from traditionally underrepresented groups in graduate education. MA students can receive the fellowship for two years and PhD students can receive it for three years. An annual award of $7,200 is provided.

4) Tom L. Popejoy Dissertation Prize. A $1,000 award and assistance toward publication is provided for an outstanding dissertation (completed). It rotates across departments and C&J students are eligible every three years (next time will be 2004).

The Office of Graduate Studies website is at www.unm.edu/grad

The university also offers an Amigo Scholarship for international students. This is the only award for international students other than a teaching or research assistantship. The award provides a waiver of out of state tuition and a cash award of $500. Go to www.unm.edu/~schol/trans/amigoint.html for more information.

Two other sources of information at UNM:
     Financial Aid Office: www.unm.edu/~finaid/
     Scholarship Office: www.unm.edu/~schol/