Admitted PhD students receive teaching assistantships that consist of responsibility for two undergraduate classes each semester. This involves syllabus creation, lesson planning, class presentation, taking attendance, grading, and providing office hours. The workload is scehduled for 20 hours/week.
PhD students will teach two classes per semester for their four years in the program and will enter the job market with extensive teaching experience. Our goal is to offer a variety of teaching experiences, from Acting 1 (small class) to American Musical Theatre History (large lecture with TA). In return, PhD students receive the following compensation package:
- A salary of $27,000 paid by direct deposit on the last working day of each month from August through May
- A full tuition waiver
- A stipend that covers approximately 90% of the cost of the University’s Gold Comprehensive Insurance Plan
- Student fees are waived
PhD students are responsible for the following costs:
- The balance of the cost of health insurance (approximately $400/year)
Support is available for each of the four years of the PhD degree program, as long as students maintain satisfactory academic progress toward completion of the degree, remain full-time enrolled (5 credit hours/semester) and earn satisfactory instructional reviews.
No application is necessary to be considered for assistantships. Students are notified at the time of admission if they have been awarded an assistantship and are asked to accept or decline admission by the April 15 deadline.
