Graduate Teaching Assistantships

The Department of English offers a number of teaching assistantships each year for funded graduate students. Assistantships provide an annual stipend and a tuition waiver of up to 9 credits per semester. Full-time assistantships require 20 hours of work per week and enrollment in at least 6 graduate credit hours per semester, not including summers. All new teaching assistants participate in an intensive orientation held the week before Fall classes begin.

Teaching assistants are assigned as instructors of record in the English department’s First-Year Writing program. This program is comprised of three courses: 

• ENGL 1050: Foundations in Written Communication (3 credits)
• ENGL 1060: Writing, Research, and Inquiry (3 credits)
• ENGL 1040: Writing Studies Lab (a 1-credit co-requisite for specifically designated sections of ENGL 1050 for students who identify as needing additional college-level writing support)

Funded MA and MFA students teach three courses each academic year. First-year students typically teach one section of ENGL 1050 in Fall and two sections of ENGL 1050 in Spring. Second- and third-year students are assigned to teach ENGL 1050 (possibly with a section of ENGL 1040) or ENGL 1060; these students often teach two sections in Fall and one in Spring. 

Funded PhD students typically teach two classes each academic year. In the first two years of their funding, PhD students typically teach in the English department’s First-Year Writing program (see courses above). In the second two years of their funding, PhD students may teach other courses for the English department, depending on enrollment and staffing needs. 

Funded MA students are offered assistantships for two years; funded MFA students are offered assistantships for three years; funded PhD students are offered assistantships for four years. 

To apply for an assistantship, be sure to submit a teaching assistantship statement with your graduate application materials. Your statement should respond to the following prompt: If you have taught before, write a 700-1000 word essay explaining your teaching philosophy and experience. If you have not taught write a 500-word essay in which you imagine your own approach to teaching. 

The application deadline for all English graduate programs is January 15. For questions, contact the Director of Graduate Studies at engl-graduate@wmich.edu.