The application period for AY22-23 is closed.

Award recipients will be new PhD students and the award is implemented as a GTA appointment, i.e., the recipient is expected to teach. The program does not need to know which student will be appointed at the time the program submits an application for this award. Each award will include an $18,750 10-month stipend and will include tuition waivers. The appointment will be as a GTA with an expected average of 19 hours of teaching per week. Fees are not covered by this award.

Priority will be given to:

  1. Newer PhD programs (those started since 2016; Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Indigenous and Rural Health) to help develop a critical mass of students as the faculty strengthens research funding.
  2. Established PhD programs who have small numbers of PhD students and want to grow, e.g., programs in the “needs improvement” part of the PhD prioritization study, but not strictly limited to these four.
  3. Programs that plan to recruit PhD students who already have a master’s degree in the field and have not typically recruited this category of students before.

 

For AY 2022-23, we anticipate having funding for ~12 PhD Enhancement awards. However, depending on the number of applications, some awards may be made for a single semester rather than the full academic year.

Interested programs need to submit a short proposal (less than ~ 500 words) to the Graduate School that includes a description of the following:

  1. Recent PhD enrollment trends in the program.
  2. Retention and time-to-degree initiatives for PhD students.
  3. If applicable, how the program plans to recruit PhD students who already have a master’s degree in the field.
  4. How the programs provide PhD students with a quality teaching experience through a teaching professional development program.
  5. How future assistantships appointments for the enhancement award recipient will be covered in subsequent terms/years.

Proposals should be submitted electronically to Lauren Cerretti ([email protected]) in the Graduate School by December 10, 2021, with a cc to the program’s academic dean(s). University Graduate Council members will review proposals and make recommendations to the Dean of the Graduate School.

In order to assist department recruiting efforts, the Graduate School will notify programs of the Enhancement awards before the spring semester starts.