Doctoral Teaching and Research Assistantships

Daytona Beach

The University may provide doctoral assistantships (tuition waivers and financial stipends) to selected, qualified students in certain doctoral programs. They are designed to assist graduate students early in their doctoral studies with the cost of maintaining enrollment in the doctoral program and to provide teaching and/or research experiences that contribute to an enrichment of the academic experience. It is expected that following the assignment of the doctoral student to a research advisor, grant and/or contract support (when available) will be used to fund financial stipends supporting the student and to help defray course tuition and research credit costs.

To be eligible for a University-funded assistantship (Graduate Teaching Assistantship), a student must be enrolled in a doctoral degree program and be performing satisfactorily. Satisfactory performance includes maintaining a CGPA of 3.00 or higher out of a possible 4.00 through the end of the semester preceding the appointment.

Doctoral teaching assistants who act as the teacher of record (i.e., having primary responsibility for teaching a course for credit and/or assigning final grades for such a course) must be credentialed for teaching according to university policy.

Doctoral students receiving University-funded assistantships must be registered as full-time students and maintain good academic standing as determined by individual department guidelines. 

University-funded Doctoral assistantships providing financial support are generally awarded on a twelve (12) month basis. During the Fall and Spring semesters, students who are U.S. citizens, or lawful permanent residents of the U.S., may work a maximum of twenty-five (25) hours per week, while international students may work a maximum of twenty (20) hours per week. During University breaks (winter, spring and summer), all students may work up to twenty-nine (29) hours per week based on department needs.

A student may have multiple assistantships but may not work outside of these contracts and the contracts may not exceed the hourly limits when combined. The number of hours per week in the contract is determined by the sponsoring unit. This can be any number of weekly hours from one (1) to twenty (20) if paid hourly but must be a minimum of ten (10) hours per week if paid through a fixed stipend.

University-funded assistantships providing course credit tuition waivers and financial support to doctoral students are generally available until the end of the semester the student sits for the Qualifying Examination. 

Oversight of a doctoral student’s performance while supported by a University-funded assistantship (tuition waiver or financial support) is the responsibility of the immediate supervisor and the department chair.

Non-university-funded doctoral research assistantships (Graduate Research Assistantships) funding doctoral candidates doing research for their dissertation (usually following admission to candidacy) are the responsibility of, and are expected to be provided by, research advisors with funding from grants or contracts supporting the faculty research. The level of financial support and the duration of such support will be decided by the research advisor in consultation with the department chair or designee but is expected to be reasonably consistent with University guidelines as advised by the Senior Vice President or office of the University Dean of Research and Graduate Studies.