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Financial Support

FORMS OF SUPPORT

The Department of Plant Biology has a limited number of graduate assistantships and tuition scholarships to award to its graduate students. Graduate assistantships provide a stipend for the academic year (September through May), and require 20 hours per week of teaching or research.

A graduate assistantship involving teaching is called a "Teaching Assistantship” (TA). Several faculty have research projects supported by the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) and a graduate assistantship involving research attached to one of these projects is called a "Research Assistantship" (RA). Only students whose thesis research is associated with a project funded by the Experiment Station (AES) are assigned research assistantships. Graduate Project Assistants (GPA) are students who are appointed to conduct research normally supported by external grants or contracts.

During any one semester, each graduate assistant is assigned as either a TA or RA; mixing of duties during a semester is not advised. However, over the course of a student's degree program, a graduate assistant whose research is associated with an AES project should have an opportunity to serve both as TA and RA, with as equitable a distribution of these assignments as possible. The Graduate Admissions and Standards Committee is responsible for assuring fairness in distribution of teaching and research assistantships.

Externally funded research assistantships may be available from time to time; these are accessible only through individual faculty. These Graduate Project Assistantships (GPAs) are controlled by the faculty members who received the grant or contract.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES OF TEACHING ASSISTANTS

Responsibilities of teaching assistants depend on the course to which they are assigned but, in general, include all or combinations of the following.

  1. attendance at lecture/providing assistance as needed
  2. lab preparation and clean-up
  3. laboratory/recitation instruction
  4. office hours
  5. exam/quiz preparation and grading
  6. proctoring exams and quizzes
  7. conducting or assisting with field trips

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES OF RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

It is the policy of the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture that students on research assistantships funded through the AES must select thesis or dissertation topics that meet an objective of the AES project to which their stipend is assigned. Department Chairs are responsible for ensuring this mandate. In general, it is expected that research activities of all graduate students will be directed toward fulfillment of thesis or dissertation projects.

Graduate Projects Assistants are expected to conduct research meeting the specific goals of the grant or contract providing the support.

DURATION OF SUPPORT

For the purposes of this policy, “support” is defined as total support paid through university funds.

Maximum duration of support for master’s students is normally four semesters. Maximum duration of support for doctoral students not receiving their M.S. degree from the department is normally eight semesters. For students doing both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in the department, support during the doctoral program is limited to six semesters, with the possibility in exceptional circumstances of one or two semester extensions if it can be demonstrated that such is warranted by the shift in research area. Support beyond these limits may be provided by a dissertation fellowship or external research funding.

DISSERTATION FELLOWSHIPS

Each year several Dissertation Fellowships are available on a competitive basis from the Graduate School (see Graduate School web site). These are meant to support worthy students during the final year of their doctoral program to free them from other obligations (such as teaching) when they are involved in writing the dissertation. Students cannot receive other financial support while holding a Dissertation Fellowship.

Dissertation fellowships are considered a terminal form of support. The department will not provide further assistantship support to students who have not completed the degree at the termination of the UNH dissertation fellowship. Therefore, advisors should not encourage students to apply for a dissertation fellowship unless it is clear that the student will complete his or her degree in the year of the fellowship.

Students applying for a dissertation fellowship should inform the Graduate Program Coordinator in writing.

SUMMER SUPPORT

The Graduate School awards a number of Summer Fellowships for Teaching Assistants on a competitive basis. Consult the Graduate School for application forms and the spring semester deadline.

The Agricultural Experiment Station usually makes summer Research Assistantships available to graduate students working on AES projects. These are usually limited in number and are assigned to students using the following guidelines which are listed in descending order of importance: (1) Plant Biology students have priority over students enrolled through interdepartmental programs; (2) students whose research relates to the objectives of a departmental AES project have priority over other students; (3) students within the time limits for support (described in section IV D of the Graduate Program Manual) have priority over students who have exceeded these limits; (4) students in the first year of their graduate program have priority over students in later years of their program. Additional criteria for awarding summer support are established by the Graduate Admissions and Standards Committee.

Work-Study can also be a source of support for graduate students. Therefore, Graduate students are strongly encouraged to apply for summer financial aid in the form of a work-study award (must be U.S. citizen). The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) should be submitted to the federal processor listed on the envelope as soon after January 1 as possible but prior to March 1 for priority consideration for the academic year. For further information or copies of the forms, contact the Graduate Financial Aid Coordinator, Financial Aid Office, Stoke Hall at (603)862-3600. The form can also be filed via the Internet at: http://www.fafsa.org/.