How Your Assistantship Works

Congratulations! You have been selected for a competitive assistantship position within the Dept. of Educational Psychology!  So, now what?!

As stated in the offer letter, assistantship positions are usually awarded for three years and cover the fall and spring semesters only. A fourth year is possible pending available funding, only if you are defending your dissertation to graduate within that (fourth) year. Summer employment is not guaranteed, but we do try to fund as many students as possible. **Depending on availability of funds and current status in the program some positions are for less than three years**

Students will receive two 10 hour/week assignments as a Teaching Assistant, Teaching Fellow, or Graduate Services Assistant. The exact combination of these three appointments is decided each semester based on department need, while working to maximize the diversity of experiences/mentorship provided to students. Students’ personal preferences for assignments are considered, but not guaranteed, and departmental needs will take precedence. Assistantship positions are contingent upon your status as a full-time student (i.e., enrolled in 9 hours each fall and spring semester), positive reviews by faculty mentors and Dr. Henson following each semester, and successful academic progress in the program.  

Students are paid a salaried amount once a month, and this can be set up as direct deposit through Payroll Resources (https://www.untsystem.edu/hr-it-business-services/payroll/payroll-resources). There are three levels upon which salaries are based: (1) students without a completed Master’s degree who have completed less than 18 graduate hours towards the doctoral degree, (2) students who hold a completed Master’s degree or have completed at least 18 hours of graduate level work toward the doctoral degree, and (3) students that have successfully completed the Qualifying Exam and are considered ABD (All But Dissertation). These levels are updated annually before each fall semester. The UNT Tuition Benefit Program covers 6 hours of tuition in both fall and spring. This is a part of your assistantship and the department sets that up for you (paper or online forms may be required of you and will be sent). Once you have successfully passed the qualifying exam and only have dissertation hours to take, you can take 3 hours instead of 9 and have tuition covered (students are allowed to take up to 9 hours each semester in consultation with major professor). 

• Teaching Assistant (TA) - Teaching Assistants are graduate students who do not have primary responsibility for teaching a course for credit; they work under the direct supervision of the course instructor to whom they are assigned and provide general assistance to the instructional process, such as grading, tutoring, etc.  Teaching assistants may not be listed as instructor of record. It is the student’s responsibility to work with the instructor and be prepared to teach the course in a future semester.
  • With instructor support, guest lecture or teach at least once. 
• Teaching Fellow (TF) - Teaching Fellows serve as the Instructor of record for a course.  Consequently, they have direct student contact in a formal instructional setting and are charged with primary responsibility for teaching a course for credit under the direct supervision of a faculty mentor or department chair, receiving regular in-service training and planned and periodic evaluations. 
  • With few exceptions, students are not assigned as a TF to a course for which they have not previously served as a TA. 
  • In order to TF, you must have a completed Masters in a related field or have completed at least 18 graduate hours in a related field. 
  • Graduate courses are reserved for department faculty/adjuncts. However, in special circumstances and with approval, ABD (all but dissertation) students are allowed to teach a 5xxx level course. 
• Graduate Services Assistant (GSA) – GSA’s are graduate students who are engaged in research or other support activities under the direction and supervision of a faculty working on research.
  • GSA assignments must be approved by the department Chair. 
  • Each faculty member is different. The GSA should make sure to meet and discuss their expectations regarding schedule, when to meet, timeline, goals to accomplish to stay on track with research/project. 
  • Authorship- If you submit a conference proposal or manuscript based on the work you are doing with your research mentor/major professor, it is customary (required) to include this person as an author. All authorship issues should be negotiated prior to the start of the project. 
  • Students in the RMS concentration area may be assigned to work in the Office of Research Consulting (ORC).