VSE Faculty:

There has been a lot of discussion over the past several months about 
the fact that VSE needs to improve significantly both the quality and 
quantity of doctoral students if we are to achieve our aspirations for 
significant research growth.  There are a number of dimensions to 
addressing this problem, some of which will take time to implement.  For 
example, at this late date, we cannot realistically increase the size or 
quality of the pool of doctoral candidates for fall 2017.  However, we 
can immediately raise the stipends we offer. By doing this, we may be 
able to improve the yield from the current pool of applicants and 
attract more of the best students in that pool. With this in mind, the 
Volgenau School will make the following changes to stipends and tuition 
credits for _doctoral_ GTAs/GRAs:

Stipend Levels

  * Beginning in fall 2017, the minimum stipend for doctoral GTAs (not
    masters GTAs) will be $21,000.
  * Beginning in fall 2017, the minimum stipend for school-funded
    doctoral GRAs (typically associated with tenure-track faculty start
    up packages or project cost-sharing) will be $21,000.
  * As of today, all new proposals for sponsored research should budget
    a minimum of $21,000 for doctoral GRAs.
  * All existing doctoral GTAs and GRAs will receive stipends of at
    least $21,000 as of fall 2017.  If a sponsored project has GRAs who
    earn a lower stipend, and the PI does not have project funds to
    cover the difference, the PI may present a proposal to Kim
    Goodwin-Slater, the School's Director of Finance, for financial
    support from VSE.  Kim will take into account the size of the
    indirect pool available to the PI when evaluating the proposal.
  * Departments are free to offer stipend levels higher than $21,000 if
    they have funds available, such as through Provost awards.

Tuition Credits

  * Beginning in fall 2107, tuition credits will be increased from 6 per
    semester to 9 per semester for doctoral GTAs and school-funded
    doctoral GRAs.
  * As of today. all new proposals for sponsored research should budget
    9 credit hours per semester for doctoral GRAs.
  * If a GRA is supported by an existing grant, and if the increase in
    tuition credits cannot be supported by the grant, the PI can make a
    proposal to Kim Goodwin-Slater for financial support from VSE.  As
    above, Kim will take into account the size of the indirect pool
    available to the PI when evaluating the proposal.

If you have questions about this, please contact me or Kim 
Goodwin-Slater ([log in to unmask]) for more information.

Stephen Nash

-- 
===============================================================

Stephen G. Nash
Senior Associate Dean
Volgenau School of Engineering
George Mason University
Nguyen Engineering Building, Room 2500
Mailstop 5C8
Fairfax, VA 22030

[log in to unmask]
Phone: (703) 993-1505
Fax: (703) 993-1633
https://volgenau.gmu.edu/profile/view/10248