Departmental Funding
Teaching Assistantships
Graduate students can be appointed to a .5 Teaching Assistantship (TA) in Communication Studies.
TA duties within the Department are normally of two types:
- assisting a faculty member teaching a large multi-section course;
- teaching a smaller stand-alone lower level course.
To the extent possible, TAs without previous teaching experience are asked to assist a faculty member in teaching; stand-alone teaching comes after you have developed some experience teaching at the University of Iowa.
TAs may also be assigned as graders for faculty members or may coordinate other TAs, act as demonstrators or be given other assignments that assist in the Department’s ability to offer a first-rate undergraduate curriculum.
Graduate students may be appointed to a .5 TAship in another department, most typically the Rhetoric Department. TAs in Rhetoric are involved in the education of students in critical reading, writing, and speaking skills, typically in small stand-alone lower level courses or in speaking and writing tutorial labs.
Research Assistantships
Graduate students can be appointed to a .5 Research Assistantship (RA) in Communication Studies. Responsibilities of RAs will vary depending on the professor(s) to whom they are assigned, but typically will involve helping faculty with their research projects, including primary and secondary research, data collections and analysis, and other research activities.
More Information
The normal practice of Communication Studies is to provide a range of experiences for its graduate students. In general, we strive to have graduate students funded for two years in Rhetoric and two years in Communication Studies. Some students enter with their initial TA appointment in Rhetoric, and these students move to TAships in Communication Studies in their third year. Other students enter with their initial TA appointment in Communication Studies and move to TAships in Rhetoric in their third year. This pattern is not absolute but a general description of our preferred practice. TA and RA positions can be discontinued for failure to meet contract obligations.
The Department normally arranges assistantship support for incoming students who have been promised such support. Sometimes, incoming students are eligible for fellowships awarded by the Graduate College at the time of initial application. Once you are enrolled at Iowa, you may find out about other forms of support that would interest you and, in consultation with an academic advisor, may try to arrange such support in future years. Graduate assistantships are available in other departments or units on campus, such as foreign language departments, the radio station, or the Information Arcade. In addition, depending on interest area, graduate students may be eligible for fellowship support through the Crossing Borders Program.
Communication Studies issues assistantship contracts by April 15th of each year, with assignments detailed as soon as feasible after this date. If you wish to appeal your assignment, submit your request (and your rationale) no later than three working days after receipt of your assignment to the following three-member committee: Troy Fitzpatrick, the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), and the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS). Check with the main office to find out which faculty members are serving in the DGS and DUS roles.