1. All students must be in good academic standing and making progress toward their degrees to be eligible for any graduate associateship appointment.
2. A student who holds a graduate associateship in this Department may not hold any other university appointment and may not hold simultaneous positions outside of the University without previous approval of the Graduate Studies Committee.
3. A student who has held a graduate teaching associateship during the first year of graduate work will ordinarily be reappointed for a second year if her/his academic and teaching performances are satisfactory. Beyond that time she/he may be given additional appointments provided that her/his record and her/his rate of progress remain satisfactory and she/he is recommended for reappointment by the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee. Guidelines which will be used by the Committee as indicators of the rate of progress include: sitting for the Qualifying Examination before the beginning of the third academic year, and passing the General Examination for the Ph.D. before the beginning of the fourth academic year. In borderline cases, the Committee may recommend appointment on a quarter-by-quarter basis only.
Students who have not satisfied the Departmental course requirements and not taken the Qualifying Examination prior to the beginning of the third academic year will generally not be considered to be in "good standing" and therefore not eligible for GA appointments until the requirements are met.
4. The normal GA appointment will be 50% time. Students who wish for some reason to hold a 25% appointment must make their reasons known in writing to the Graduate Studies Committee. The Committee will consider such requests in consultation with the student's advisor. Approval of a 25% appointment by the Graduate Studies Committee will only be on a quarter-by-quarter basis, and will be granted only in exceptional circumstances.
5. Stipends for GTAs will normally be established for twelve months beginning on October 1. The stipend for Ph.D. candidates (passed the General Examination) is set slightly higher than the stipend for students who have yet to establish Ph.D. candidacy. Stipends for GRAs may vary, but cannot be less than the minimum GTA salaries established by the Graduate School. As of autumn, 1996, the stipend is $1250/more for pre-generals students and $1300/more for post-generals students. For autumn, 1996, uncertified international students earn a stipend of $1100/more.
6. Beginning with students entering in Summer of 1996, all international students who are not citizens of countries in which English is the official language (regardless of type of support) are required to become certified in spoken English prior to the end of the third quarter of study, not including Summer Quarter.
7. Requests for changes from GTA status to GRA status, or vice versa, must be made before the seventh week of the quarter prior to the quarter the change is to take effect. Requests made after this deadline may not be approved.
To be eligible for a "Fourth-Quarter" GRA, a student must not have been in residence for more than ten quarters, and must have held a departmental GA for three consecutive quarters before the quarter in which the appointment will be held. The student must have been in "good standing" during that time and must continue in good standing during the quarter of appointment. The definition of "good standing" is determined by the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee on a case-by-case basis in which all information available to the Committee is considered. In each case the evaluation of teaching must not indicate poor performance. During the first year the student must have successfully completed a combination of seven core, contemporary physics and/or advanced courses, or appropriate 600-level courses during the academic year and must have maintained a cumulative GPA (CPHR) of 3.25 or better. For second year students: (a) if they have not passed the qualifying examination at the PhD level they must have successfully completed a combination of seven core courses, contemporary physics courses and/or advanced physics courses per academic year and to have maintained a CPHR of 3.25 or better; (b) if they have passed the qualifying examination at the PhD level, they are expected to have successfully completed a combination of seven courses per year or to have completed their program of required advanced courses and to have maintained a CPHR of 3.25 or better. An appropriate course from another department may be substituted for a physics course, upon approval of the student's research advisor. In exceptional cases, such as superb teaching, the GSC may grant an exception to the seven-course rule.
Students whose native language is not English must be certified for classroom teaching by the ESL program to be considered in "good standing." Students who are not certified prior to the Autumn Quarter of their second year are not eligible for departmental GTA support until such time as they are certified.
"Fourth-Quarter" GRA appointments will normally be made for the quarter following that in which the student becomes eligible; that is, they will usually be for the Summer Quarter. Requests for other quarters off from teaching will be entertained and accommodated whenever possible, but the time of all appointments necessarily remains at the discretion of the Department Chairperson.
During the time of her/his "Fourth-Quarter" GRA a student must be registered in the Graduate School on a fulltime basis and must be actively engaged in working toward fulfilling the requirements for an advanced degree. Outside work or other appointments are not permitted.
A student who has completed the first year of graduate work may take up to six credit hours in formal course work during the fourth quarter appointment. The remainder of her/his time should be devoted to work in a research area under the supervision of a faculty member who has agreed to direct her/his work during that quarter. For this purpose, the student should register in Physics 693 (or Physics 816 if he or she is in a Plan B M.S. program) for the quarter. First year students should discuss their plans with a faculty advisor well in advance of the beginning of the "Fourth-Quarter".
The "Fourth-Quarter" GRA is intended as a special research opportunity to enable the student to begin research work leading to an advanced degree. As a result, full-time study for an examination is not considered appropriate use of the fourth quarter. However, part time study for an examination in conjunction with a substantial research involvement may be an appropriate program.