Financial support in the English graduate program, beyond the first quarter, usually takes the form of TAships; however, there are other opportunities as well. Financial support is linked to a student’s progress toward the completion of their degree. Provided they remain in good academic standing, departmental support is guaranteed for the first five years of an English graduate student’s time in the program. Beyond their fifth year, graduate students will be offered these positions on an as-available basis. English graduate students are encouraged to pursue external funding opportunities throughout their time in the program.

For up-to-date, extra-departmental financial support information, consult Graduate Division’s Student Financial Support. Here, you can find links to national fellowship awards, UC-wide (or campus-specific) competitions and deadlines, and links to funding databases.

The English department is able to cover the additional cost associated with out-of-state tuition for first-year graduate students. Incoming students are expected to take immediate steps to establish California state residency for the purposes of tuition, so that they will not be required to pay extra tuition after their first year. This process is handled by the UCSB Office of the Registrar; however, the English Department Staff Graduate Advisor is able to advise students on this process as necessary.

For international students, the process of establishing residency is different; please get in touch with the UCSB Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) for up-to-date information on how to navigate the visa process. UCSB also has an office for Undocumented Student Services.

Funds for department fellowships and stipends are limited, and vary according to several factors including the administrative budget allotted to the English Department each year, faculty research grants, and collaborative research projects. Applications for internal awards are reviewed by the Graduate Committee, whose recommendations are then sent to the Department Chair for final acceptance.

Central Fellowship applications (see below) are evaluated on the basis of the student’s past academic record, Graduate Record Examination (GRE) results, the writing sample, letters of support, and professional promise.

Here is more information on funding and support available to English Graduate students.

English Department Travel Grants
Applications are considered based on a number of factors including number of prior travel grant awards (limit of 2 awards in 3 consecutive years) and availability of funds within the specified time-frame. Applicants will be accepted for each pool until the funds are expended; however, priority will go to applicants who are  presenting their work at a conference. PhD English students who entered with an MA (or who have completed their MA requirements), and are registered in good standing, are able to apply. The award application can be found on the SASC website.

Allowable expenses include the actual cost of the airline ticket (or equivalent ground transportation) to and from the conference, conference fees, lodging and related travel expenses. Applicants will be asked to provide itemized receipts for expenditures. Even if students are presenting/traveling as a group, the application process is individual. Awards will be disbursed in the form of a stipend directly into a student’s BARC account: up to $500 for travel within California, or $750 for all other locations. The Staff Graduate Advisor can provide guidance for this process.

In addition to fellowships awarded by the department, a number of other fellowships administered centrally by Graduate Division are available to incoming students on a competitive basis, on the nomination of the department. These include the Chancellor’s Fellowship; Humanities Special Fellowship, the Regents Special Fellowship, Doctoral Scholars Fellowship, Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship, and Graduate Opportunity Fellowships. The last three named are merit-diversity fellowships. All applicants for incoming admission to the program are automatically reviewed as possible candidates for these awards; no special application is required.

Central Campus Continuing Fellowships

These fellowships are administered through Graduate Division, and only available to those within what the Graduate Division defines as time-to-degree (7 years). Central Fellowships are awarded to doctoral students following departmental nomination of candidates to the Graduate Division. Details and application forms for most of the following fellowships are generally made available by the department early winter quarter, and due back to the department in late March or early April.

Interdisciplinary Humanities Center (IHC) Dissertation Fellowship
The Interdisciplinary Humanities Center offers dissertation fellowships to support UCSB doctoral candidates whose research facilitates dialogue across the traditional disciplinary boundaries within the arts and humanities and/or between the arts and humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Each fellowship carries a stipend of $7,000, with payment of full resident-level fees and health insurance for one quarter of the academic year.

Other Opportunities

Students should be proactive in monitoring the Graduate Division website, other UCSB Fellowships and Funding, and other extramural funding databases for additional opportunities.

There are a number of part-time, on-campus positions available for interested students; these postings are generally maintained by UCSB Career Services, but are also announced on various email listservs and by word-of-mouth. However, if you are seeking additional employment, please be aware that in-residence graduate students cannot be employed above 75% (30 hours/week). For international students, this limit is capped at 50% (20 hours/week). See below for more details.

A Teaching Assistantship (TAship) is the most common form of financial aid for English department graduate students. TA appointments usually involve teaching literature courses within the department (though students may also apply for TAships outside their home department). TAships include a required program of training at the beginning of the academic year, hosted by both the UCSB Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL), as well as a separate training run by graduate students in the English department.

The position of Teaching Assistant is crucial to the English Department; this is where graduate training, the undergraduate curriculum, and faculty teaching responsibilities intersect.

16.5.1 Teaching Assistant Duties and Workload

A TAship at the University of California is usually a half-time position (50%). The UC system’s contract with Academic Student Employees (ASEs) defines this as “a workload of up to 220 hours per quarter.” The contract further specifies: “Workload is not measured strictly by actual hours worked. Rather, it is measured by how many hours the University could reasonably expect it to take a TA to satisfactorily complete the work assigned.” This contract is the product of collective bargaining, occurring every four years, between UAW 4811 and the UC Office of the President.

TAs in the English Department are usually assigned to large lecture courses. Actual tasks may vary, depending on whether the courses are upper- or lower-division, and on the pedagogical decisions of the individual supervising faculty. However, in no case may the number and distribution of these hours exceed the limits laid out in the contract. Duties include preparing for and attending lectures for the course, leading two discussion sections per week of twenty-five students each, doing the required grading for students enrolled in those sections, holding weekly office hours, and meeting regularly with the faculty instructor and other TAs. TAs may also be asked to participate in formulating exam and paper topics, give or contribute to lectures, provide assistance with learning technology, conduct review sections, or support the course in other ways. If questions arise that can’t be resolved by consultation with the supervising faculty member, TAs should consult the department’s TA Advisory Panel.

16.5.2. Terms of Employment and Length of Service

Teaching Assistantships may be made for one, two, or three quarters per academic year. The total length of service will usually not exceed five years (15 appointments). In order to hold a TAship, a student must be in good academic standing: enrolled in-residence, maintain a 3.0 GPA, and have no more than 8 units of Incomplete coursework at one time. The University of California sets a limit of 50% time (~20 hours/week) on graduate student employment for it to count toward full remission of tuition and fees. In some cases, TAs may choose to take on a secondary assignment, including an extra discussion section or work as a research assistant/reader, up to a limit of 75% (~30 hours/week) of employment. Note that university regulations limit international students to a 50% employment rate.

16.5.3. Selection of Teaching Assistantships

Openings for Teaching Assistant positions for the subsequent academic year will be posted in late winter or spring, and shared with graduate students via the English department listserv. Opportunities to TA outside the English department are listed and maintained by Gradpost; however, employment percentage caps apply regardless of department.

TA appointment decisions take into consideration the applicant’s academic record, areas of expertise, previous teaching and graduate school experience, and preferences. Reappointment depends on satisfactory progress toward the degree (see Sections 3 and 4), as well as evaluations by the graduate faculty, teaching supervisors, and students. Students who have secured extra-departmental funding (such as fellowships, or TAships outside the English department) should inform the Staff Graduate Advisor in a timely manner. TAship applications beyond a student’s fifth year in the program are considered on an as-available basis, but not guaranteed. If a vacancy occurs during the academic year, the files of all eligible students will be considered in filling the position.

For students who have received their MA and passed their first qualifying exam, a limited number of Teaching Associate positions are sometimes available for the summer. A Teaching Associate serves as the Instructor of Record for their course, and does not generally teach more than one course during the summer.

Summer sessions appointments are a separate application process, generally filed during winter quarter. Interested candidates are recommended to the Summer Sessions administration by the Department Chair in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. The following factors will be considered in the selection process: quality of the candidate’s teaching record, area of programmatic need, progress toward the degree, seniority, and fairness. Nevertheless, regardless of status in the program, graduate students are never guaranteed a summer teaching appointment. Moreover, it is rare for a graduate Teaching Associate to have the opportunity to teach more than three summer courses total.

Faculty members or the department’s various centers and projects who have grants may employ students as research assistants. Students who are interested should give their names to the Staff Graduate Advisor, and pay attention to open positions announcements on the English department graduate listserv.

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