Graduate Financial Support

Fellowships | Financial Aid | Writing Consultant Positions | Research Award | Research Assistantships | Teaching Mentorships | Editorial Internship | Conference Grants

Fellowships

Three full-time and eight part-time fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis to students of exceptional promise. The three full-time fellowships, renewable until completion of the degree, provide a tuition waiver and a stipend of $5,000 per semester. Students holding full-time fellowships must ordinarily take three courses each semester until their last semester. As full-time fellowship students receive a living stipend in addition to their tuition remission, they should view their studies as a full-time commitment. Therefore, recipients will not maintain full-time employment during the course of their studies.

Part-time fellowships offer a tuition waiver for one course per semester until completion of the degree.

Fellowships are competitive.  Students are advised to prepare their application materials carefully.  The completed fellowship application for new students includes the same requirements for regular program admission with the addition of a two page fellowship essay.  This is a personal statement of approximately 500 words in which applicants should discuss clearly and concisely their eligibility for a fellowship, academic plans, and reasons for pursuing a Master of Arts in English degree. Students re-applying are encouraged to revise their personal statements in the light of intervening experience.  Applications are due March 1 for Fall 2008.

• Students already enrolled in the M.A. program are eligible to apply for any fellowships as they become available provided they meet the same criteria listed above. In addition to the personal statement, current students are asked to supply at least one letter of support from a St. Thomas faculty member with whom they have studied and a writing sample from a course taken in the program. 
• Students who fail to maintain a 3.5 GPA or receive more than one grade of "Incomplete" forfeit their fellowships.
• Completed applications are October 1 for the following spring semester and March 1 for the following fall semester. 
• The Department of English will notify fellowship recipients by mid-March preceding the fall semester, and by mid-October preceding the spring semester of matriculation into the Master of Arts in English program.
• It is assumed that, once awarded, both full-time and part-time fellowship recipients will continue their degree progress without hiatus (that is, inconsecutive semesters excluding summers) until their degree requirements are complete.

Financial Aid

For information about costs, scholarships and grants, student loans, and other resources available to graduate students, please vist Graduate Financial Aid.

Writing Consultant Positions in the Center for Writing

Writing consultant positions last for one academic year - from September through mid-May. The workload is 10 hours per week. Peer consultants earn $4,500 for the year and choose their hours. They must be enrolled in a course in the Master of Arts in English program both semesters of the academic year. All new consultants take a special section (for graduate credit) of English 300: Writing Theory and Practice. Applications are available in February for writing consultant positions the next academic year. Call the Center for Writing at (651) 962-5601 for more information, or email writing@stthomas.edu

Luann Dummer Center for Women Research Award

The Luann Dummer Center for Women offers an annual award of $3,000 to a St. Thomas graduate student conducting research on a topic related to women. Full-time and part-time students in all graduate programs are invited to apply. The research may be conducted as part of a course, a thesis, or a dissertation. It may consist of a credit or non-credit independent study. The research must take place during the grant period, and the researcher must agree to present the results in a forum sponsored by the women's center at the end of the grant period. For additional information, contact the Luann Dummer Center for Women at (651) 962-6118.

Teaching Mentorships

The Master of Arts in English Program funds four Teaching Mentorships each year for students interested in teaching.  These Mentorships carry a stipend of $500, paid at the end of the semester, but they do not carry course credit. Applications are due March 1.

Application Criteria:

• Students must have completed at least nine credits (three courses) with grades of "B" or better before the semester in which their Mentorship is to begin.
• Students must submit a Teaching Mentorship Application Form. 
• Students must submit a letter of application indicating how the Mentorship fits their program of study.
• Students must give the Teaching Mentorship Recommendation Form to a St. Thomas faculty member who can comment on your qualifications for a teaching mentorship.  The faculty member should be someone with whom they have studied. The form, sent to the graduate English program coordinator, must address the student's potential as a teacher. The form will be forwarded to the Graduate Committee. 
  Note: Priority will be given to students with no previous full-time teaching experience.

Program Requirements:

• Students will be assigned to a faculty mentor and will observe and participate in a section of English 111, 112, or 190.  Note: Very few sections of these English courses meet in the evening.
• Students will observe most of the course sessions. They will also meet at least every two weeks with the faculty mentor to discuss teaching strategies.
• Students will teach at least three sessions during the semester.  These teaching sessions should be prepared in consultation with their faculty mentor.
• Students will meet in conferences with the students at least once. 
• Students will design at least one writing assignment in cooperation with the faculty mentor. 
• Students will evaluate at least one set of papers. These evaluations will not substitute for those of the faculty member. They are an opportunity for students and mentors to disuss the important issues involved in the feedback, evaluation, and grading of student papers.
• Students will write a brief analysis of their experience within one month of completion of the mentorship.  The analysis can be submitted to the director of the program. 
• Faculty mentors will submit a written evaluation of the student mentor to the Master of Arts in English Graduate Committee within one month after completion of the mentorship. The evaluation should contain a detailed description of the activities performed by the student as well as a statement about the student's potential as a teacher.

New Hibernia Review Editorial Internship

The Center for Irish Studies at St. Thomas, which publishes the quarterly journal New Hibernia Review, offers a yearlong editorial internship to one Master of Arts in English student each year. The student intern works during the academic year with the editor and the managing editor on all aspects of producing the journal. Tasks include proofreading, copyediting, editorial review, and author relations. Responsibilities increase as the intern gains familiarity with scholarly publishing. There is no academic credit accompanying this position. Applicants must have completed at least two courses in the Master of Arts in English program. A research interest in Irish studies is desirable, but not essential. Student interns with Web site creation and maintenance or database skills will have an opportunity to use those skills. Availability to work on the internship during the summer is a consideration, but not a requirement.

Benefits of the internship include the following:

• Hands-on experience in scholarly publishing appropriate for a resume or portfolio.
  A $400 stipend per semester.
• Financial support for professional development opportunities in publishing or in Irish studies
• Recognition on the masthead of New Hibernia Review
• Opportunities to establish professional contacts within the interdisciplinary field of Irish studies

Applicants should send a letter outlining their interest, qualification, and hopes for this position to the graduate program director by June 15 with a list of courses taken in the master's program enclosed. Applicants will be informed of the decision by July 1.

Research Assistantships

Research assistantships allow graduate students to work with faculty members on scholarly projects. Assistantships are designed to offer students a specific learning experience and to help faculty members accomplish necessary tasks. The research assistant aids faculty members with completing projects such as looking up sources in the library or on the Internet, collecting and summarizing research materials, preparing materials for and communicating with publishers, and discussing the project with the faculty member. Research assistantships pay a stipend of $500. Because typical projects take about 50 hours, compensation is equivalent to $10 an hour. Research assistants are paid at the end of the project, which typically lasts a semester. Work hours fluctuate with the needs of the project.

Research projects already funded include work on the following books: Catholic Women Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook, A Bibliography of the Works of John Montague, An Edition of the Short Stories of Edward Bellamy, and Gender and Literary Fame in Nineteenth-Century England.

Students interested in pursing an announced research assistantship should submit a one-page (250 words) statement to the graduate program director explaining their desire to work on the project. This statement is due three weeks before the semester in which the assistantship begins.

Conference Grants

Students are encouraged to present papers at academic conferences. Calls for papers are frequently posted in the English department. Students attending conferences and presenting a paper may request a modest conference participation grant once a year from the graduate program director after delivering a paper at a conference and submitting receipts.  Conference Participation Grant Application forms must be submitted to the director of the program for prior approval.  A list of the paper titles and a copy of the acceptance to the conference must be attached to the form.  The participation grant will be disbursed after the paper/s have been delivered at the conference and a Student Reimbursement Request form with the original receipts has been submitted to the program coordinator for processing.  The maximum amount of Conference Participation Grant Award per academic year per student is $500 pending director's approval.