ByGeorge! Online

Feb. 4, 2003

GW Investing $1.5 Million in Graduate Assistant Support, Doubles Contribution for Health Plan

Strategic Initiative Aims Additional Resources for Specific Programs

By Greg Licamele

By the end of 2004, GW will have invested $1.5 million in additional graduate assistant support, raising minimum stipends (independent of tuition) to at least $15,000 an academic year for a majority of graduate assistants and targeting additional funding for graduate assistants in specific programs. GW also has doubled its contribution for graduate assistants who enroll in the University’s student health plan from $500 a year to $1,000. These investments in graduate assistants derive from the University’s strategic initiative, which in part calls for GW to join the top ranks of educational institutions by attracting the best graduate students.

“We have to realize that if we want to compete with the very best schools for the very best students, we must continue to do what we can to offer attractive and competitive support packages,” says Donald R. Lehman, executive vice president for academic affairs.

Lehman says $750,000 has already been invested in the baseline budget, noting that these are additions and not one-time expenditures. The final $750,000 will be appropriated from fall 2003 through fall 2004. These resources, Lehman explains, come from a combination of reallocated funds and additional revenue from graduate tuition.

GW currently has about 400 graduate assistants in three categories: graduate teaching assistants (GTA), graduate research assistants (GRA), and graduate administrative assistants (GAA). Approximately 220 students are now being targeted in the minimum stipend plan and all graduate assistants will be eligible for the increased health plan contributions from the University.

“We have a big group of assistants,” says Carol Sigelman, associate vice president for research and graduate studies. “Some are on limited assignments with smaller awards. Our focus at this stage is on those who receive full tuition and at least $8,000 in financial support now.”

Lehman says seven selected academic programs have been targeted for additional support, including new graduate assistant positions: transportation safety and security, public policy and public service, Sigur Center for Asian Studies, political science, history, biomedical engineering, and human evolution. In addition, doctoral programs that have gained or have strong potential to gain national or international stature will receive additional funding for graduate student support.

“We’re trying to focus on a group of programs that bring national recognition and are ranked nationally for the University,” Lehman says. “In order to do that, we have to continue to have top-notch students in those programs.”

In these selective academic programs, multiyear and “super” packages
will become available, too. Sigelman says multiyear packages will award five years of guaranteed support in selected programs that are in the humanities and social sciences, while two or three years of support will be offered in selected science and engineering programs. Sigelman says science and engineering students typically receive external support in the final years of their research from organizations such as the National Science Foundation.

Lehman says guaranteeing multiyear awards began about eight years ago at Washington University in St. Louis, which decided to offer these packages for its humanities and social sciences doctoral students.

“What they found is that the time to complete the degree dropped and because of it, they were able to attract better graduate students than they had ever attracted,” Lehman says. “I’m motivated by such results since they match with our strategic aims for GW.”

The University is looking to attract the best graduate assistants, Lehman explains, because many will play a key role in supporting classroom learning at the undergraduate level and many will eventually partner with faculty members on research projects.

William Frawley, dean of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, says his school, which has the largest number of graduate assistants, fully supports these initiatives.

“Increased stipends and other benefits will enhance the research and teaching environment substantially at GW, attract, retain, and place the best students and, as a consequence, attract and retain the best faculty,” Frawley says. “It’s a win-win situation all around.”

One area that has received additional graduate assistant support is public policy and public administration. Hal Wolman, director of the public policy program, says the University provided three new packages this semester, with three more awards scheduled for this fall. He also cites an additional investment of a staff position to assist faculty in preparing proposals for external funding for policy-related research.

“Externally funded policy research not only gains visibility and recognition for our faculty, but it also allows us to contribute the expertise at GW to the national policy debate,” says Wolman, also noting public policy and public administration’s recent top 20 ranking in US News & World Report. “In addition, externally funded research frequently includes funding for graduate research assistance that provides both needed funding and experience for our graduate students.”

Sigelman says not only have GW graduate teaching assistants benefited from additional health plan contributions, increased stipends, and full tuition, but also from new ways to develop their teaching abilities.

Sigelman, in partnership with Kristin Williams, director of graduate student enrollment management, initiated a plan for GTAs to participate in an orientation session and then take a one-credit online preparation course taught by Lisa Rice, assistant professor of teacher preparation and special education.

“The online class is a big step forward in being able to offer GTAs more ideas in making the classroom more interesting, stimulating discussion, and grading assignments,” Sigelman says. “We’re hoping it will help make them more competent in the classroom, help them see how important their role is in supporting the education of undergraduate students, and contribute to their own professional development.”

Lehman, who is executive vice president for academic affairs and the Gamow Professor of Theoretical Physics, says he has enjoyed graduate students who were intellectually strong, permitting them to work together with him as true collaborators.

“You want to have a graduate student who can come in and have a real dialogue with you, one who has the ability to critique ideas with you on an equal basis,” Lehman notes. “That’s why it’s so important to have intellectually and academically strong graduate assistants. We are very proud of our graduate assistants and look forward to attracting an even stronger group in the future.”

 

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