Selecting Graduate Students for Fifth Year Funding (March 2009)

1. Normally, graduate students in the Ph.D. program receive four years of support (teaching/research stipend and tuition waiver) based on progress toward their degree and competence in teaching or other duties.
2. Unanticipated funding for a fifth year of support occasionally becomes available when the Dean's office provides additional funding, faculty receive grants, current graduate students accept positions prior to completing their fourth year, and a variety of other circumstances.
3. When unanticipated funding is available to support one or more students for a fifth year of support, those students will submit a curriculum vita and the following criteria will be used in this order to select the student(s):
   1. The student must be available for teaching throughout the entire year.
   2. The student must be qualified to teach the needed courses.
   3. Students who most recently completed their four years of support are given higher priority.
   4. Students who have made the most progress towards degree completion will be given higher priority.
   5. Students with the most research productivity will be given higher priority.
   6. Students with the highest course evaluations will be given higher priority.
4. Graduate school regulations prevent the department from providing more than five years of tuition waivers. In the extremely unlikely event that a graduate student was hired to teach for a sixth year, the graduate student can only receive the standard stipend without a tuition waiver.

Addendum (Approved May 2, 2012)

If multiple students apply for fifth year funding, the top student choice will be offered funding and given one week to decide. If that person declines, then the offer would go to the second person with one week to decide. And so on.