Financial assistance is available to all graduate students on a competitive basis. Most aid comes in the form of a teaching assistantship. All teaching assistants are given a full tuition waiver. First-year students normally do not teach their own sections but help with grading and lab sections. The College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School have additional merit-based fellowships. Teaching is usually available in the summer and summer research fellowships worth up to $2000 may also be available, especially for Ph. D. students. Students who have less than 18 hours of graduate work in mathematics can not be in charge of teaching their own sections. International students with teaching assistantship are required to participate in the international teaching assistantship program (ITAP); only after satisfactorily completing the ITAP Course and passing the ITAP Proficiency Exam will international students be allowed to teach.
The current graduate stipend is $11,557 for a 9-month teaching assistantship. All students who are allowed to teach their own sections, after removing the above restrictions, will receive an extra $250 per course taught during the fall and spring semesters (up to a maximum of $1000) in addition to the 9-month stipend. Students who have passed one exam in the Qualifying Examination in Mathematics will receive an additional stipend of $1000; students who have passed both exams in the Qualifying Examination in Mathematics will receive an extra $2000 stipend. Students who have passed the Joint Program Examination will receive an additional stipend of $2000; students in the Joint Program will receive an additional stipend of $1000 when they pass the Comprehensive Qualifying Examination. The maximum additional amount of money that any one student can receive from the Department of Mathematics, on top of the regular teaching assistantship, is $5000 per year. The additional money that teaching assistants may receive comes from the Henry Miller Fellowship Fund. All additional money, above and beyond the regular graduate stipend of $11,557, is subject to availability of funding, continued good progress towards obtaining a degree and a good teaching record.
Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA's) require students to teach classes in addition to studying. The University measures the amount of work expected of student in terms of 40-hour work weeks. A student who is expected to work for 40 hours each week is said to be assigned a 1.0 FTE (standing for Full Time Equivalency); a student working for 20 hours each week has a 0.5 FTE, and so on. In the Mathematics Department, every employed graduate student is assigned a 0.5 FTE, which allows for half of the time to be spent working, and half studying. Of course, work loads vary during the semester, and you may find yourself working 25 hours some weeks and 15 during others.
Any student with an assistantship of 0.5 FTE or greater is awarded a tuition grant, which pays the full amount of that student's tuition. You will never see this money; it just means that you won't have any pay base-rate tuition fees at the beginning of each semester. Graduate Assistants are eligible for a variety of other benefits, including health services (not insurance, however), and membership in the Alabama Credit Union. You should consult the booklet, Graduate Assistant Guide (put out by the Graduate School) for a listing of all benefits.
Typically, GTA's teach undergraduate courses chosen from among Remedial Mathematics (Ma 005), College Algebra (Ma 109), Precalculus Algebra (Ma 111 and 112), Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning (Ma 113), Introduction to Finite Mathematics (Ma 118), Mathematics for Calculus (Ma 119), Introductory College Mathematics (Ma 120), or Introduction to Calculus (Ma 121). Your duties may consist of teaching your own section of a course, or of conducting problem sessions for courses that are taught in large lecture sections. If you are teaching your own sections, the normal load is two courses; assignments for problem sessions may vary. Courses are assigned to each GTA by the Undergraduate Director; for teaching duties, he is your immediate supervisor, and will be happy to help you whenever possible. You should take note of the fact that there are minimum and maximum course loads for graduate assistants; if you have an award of 0.5 FTE, you must enroll for a total of between six and nine hours of academic subjects --- that is, either two or three courses of three hours each. You must maintain a minimum of 6 hours of graduate course work each semester to be eligible for continued support. There is one exception to the six-to-nine rule: if the Department offers a one-hour Graduate Seminar, you may enroll for up to ten hours.
Graduate Teaching Assistants normally have responsibility for the mathematical education of somewhere between forty and eighty undergraduates, depending on enrollment. Undergraduates often relate well to GTA's, partially because GTA's tend to be closer to them in age. You can have a very positive influence on your students, and you should take the responsibility seriously. Sometimes, however, teaching duties can start to interfere with your own studies; this is particularly likely toward the end of the semester, when everyone is giving important exams. GTA's must learn to divide their time between their duties as a student and as a teacher, and not allow one responsibility to conflict with the other.
International Students
Students from other countries often have slightly different problems from American students. Visa difficulties can sometimes crop up, for example. There are many different ways that this can happen, and you should always speak immediately to the Graduate Program Director or the Chairman if there is any question about your visa.
If your native tongue is not English, you have the added burden of taking courses, and (probably) teaching courses in an unaccustomed language. The University has established certain guidelines and procedures to ease the problems of non-native English speakers. All international students are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) before being admitted; the Graduate School has established a minimum of 550 (as of August 1991) on the TOEFL for admission. Furthermore, a student will not be considered for financial aid unless the TOEFL score is 575 or above. These guidelines are not intended as roadblocks or filters for graduate students, but are primarily to protect prospective students. Graduate study in mathematics is hard enough without the added problems of trying to cope with an unfamiliar language!
The English Language Institute (ELI) was established on the University of Alabama campus a number of years ago to help international students to master English, and to certify their proficiency in the language. Before accepting a GTA appointment, every non-native speaker must take and pass the appropriate test given by the ELI. Before the fall semester begins, the ELI conducts a training program for prospective graduate teaching assistants. The program focuses on three main areas of study: pronunciation, teaching methods, and U.S. culture. Every non-native speaker must complete the appropriate course and pass the proficiency exam in order to be awarded a GTA; this is a University requirement. [In very exceptional cases, the examination may be waived by the Graduate School, for example, if a student has spent two or more years studying at another American university.] The ELI gives two kinds of passing grades: full and conditional. A student who receives a conditional pass will normally be assigned problem sessions by the Undergraduate Director. Normally, before students arrive at the University, they will have received a letter offering them a Teaching Assistantship. The award is contingent upon the completion of the ELI course and the appropriate grade on the proficiency examination. In order to qualify for the introductory course, students must have a TOEFL score of 575 or above. The ELI course usually begins during the last week of July (you will be informed of the date), so international students should expect to arrive in Tuscaloosa well before that time.
In addition to the required courses, the ELI also offers a number of (non-required) short courses during the school year, intended to help students improve their spoken English, writing skills, and cultural knowledge. The ELI will be glad to provide you with a schedule of these opportunities.
