FINANCIAL INFORMATION
- As a rule, the Graduate School provides Research Assistantships to
first year Ph.D. students who do not have external financial support
while they are engaged in their laboratory tutorial rotations.
- Students who receive these GSBS Assistantships are considered to be
half-time (50%) employees of the State and their title is "Graduate
Research Assistant" (GRA). The stipend level for 2007-2008 will be $23,000
per annum. Effective September 1, 2008 the stipend level will be $26,000 per annum.
- As part of the employee sign-up process, students must provide documentation from the “List of Acceptable Documents” on the back of the I-9 Form (http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9.pdf): one from List A OR one each from List B and List C.
This step is important and one which must be done in order for students to be paid. If you have questions about the employee sign-up process, please call the GSBS Financial Office (713-500-9866).
- GSBS GRAs are paid bi-monthly. Pay days are the 1st and 16th of each month.
- GSBS Assistantships continue while students are engaged in tutorial
laboratory projects, or through August 31 for students who matriculate
in the Fall Semester. Following the first twelve months, students are funded
by fellowships, training grants, or their advisors' grants (for more information see http://gsbs.uth.tmc.edu/policies/advisor.html). The Graduate
School, working with advisors and departments, will make every effort
to ensure that students continue to receive financial support throughout
the course of their degree programs.
- The stipends awarded to GSBS students are intended to contribute sufficiently
to meeting educational and living costs so that students can devote
full time to their studies. It is the expectation of the Graduate School,
therefore, that students holding stipends will not undertake activities,
including employment of any kind, that will interfere with their educational
program or delay their progress toward the degree.
An exception to this policy will be made by the Dean only if the activity proposed by the student (1) can be justified as contributing in some fashion to his/her training as a researcher/teacher and (2) involves no more than 80 hours of effort over the course of an academic year. Students who participate in extracurricular activities which require a substantial involvement of time must obtain the approval of their advisor prior to initiating the activity.
- Combined Award Policies
Outside fellowships--A student who applies directly to a funding agency outside the University and is awarded a fellowship may hold that fellowship in combination with a Graduate Research Assistantship as long as the combined payments from the outside fellowship and the GRA do not exceed 130% of the standard GSBS stipend level. When combined awards of this sort exist, the advisor or department has the discretion of providing additional support such that the combination of payments equals the standard GSBS stipend level ($23,000; $26,000 after 9/01/2008)) or up to 130% of that level. If the amount of the outside fellowship is, by itself, greater than the 130% limit, the student is permitted to accept and use the fellowship regardless of the amount provided. In such a case, the student may not hold a GRA nor may the outside fellowship be supplemented by other funds.
Internal awards--The 130% combined award policy also applies to full-stipend fellowships awarded by the GSBS (e.g., the Cameron, Schissler, and Sowell-Huggins Graduate Fellowships) but not to Teaching Assistantships. One time, lump sum prizes, such as the American Legion Auxiliary, Presidents’ Research, Butcher and Worsham Scholarships, are considered as supplements to standard GRAs. Accordingly, the 130% rule does not apply, and the student may hold any number of these prizes. Note that some fellowships (such as the Rosalie B. Hite) prohibit supplementation of any kind.
International students—Students who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents are restricted, by the terms of their visas, to salaried appointments that may not in total exceed 50% of a full-time equivalent position. Accordingly, if an international student holds a 50% GRA appointment and is eligible for additional support, that support must be in a form (such as a fellowship stipend) that does not increase the student’s salaried level of effort to more than 50%.
Health insurance, vision insurance and multiple dental insurance plans are available to GSBS students. The plans offered to GRAs by the UT System are described at www.utsystem.edu/egi/.
All students are required to have health insurance. Students who have been awarded a Graduate Research Assistantship will be covered by the employee medical policy after the initial new hire waiting period. However, all international students will be required to purchase a supplemental insurance policy to cover costs in the event of medical evacuation or repatriation.
