Graduate Support Regulations
Categories of Appointments
In the Computer Science graduate program, there are several kinds of graduate
appointments: three
types of service appointments (GA, RA, and TF), and two types of non-service
appointments (UF and TS):
- Graduate Assistant (GA):
Available to both Master's and Doctoral students, a GA appointment
caries a monthly stipend, and a fee waiver that covers up to 12
credits of graduate courses per semester in computer science (plus additional
credits for any courses required by the university, such as College
Teaching of Computer Science). GAs usually perform duties such as teaching or grading, although some
GAs have specialized duties such as computer or library support.
- Research Assistant (RA): Available to both Master's and Doctoral students, an RA appointment is
generally supported by a research grant from some extramural source
(government or industry).
An RA's duties consist of assisting in the research of
the graduate faculty member who is the principal investigator of the
grant, or who sponsors the student for a departmental RA. The stipend
and fee waiver is the same as that of a GA.
- Teaching Fellowship (TF): Similar to a GA, TFs are limited to students
in the Doctoral Program who have passed the Candidacy Exam and are
known to be effective and reliable teachers. The stipend is the same
as that of a post-Candidacy GA.
- University Fellowship (UF):
The Department has one such appointment for full-time
study with no service obligation. A University
Fellow must be a Doctoral student who is working
on his or her dissertation.
- Tuition Scholarship (TS):
Tuition scholarships, providing a fee waiver to cover tuition and
fees for up to 12 credits of graduate courses per semester in computer science,
are sometimes given to a limited number of graduate students, in
particular to those who may also hold a Part-Time Instructorship.
Service Assignments
A graduate appointee holding a full-time service appointment has a service requirement of 20 hours per week. The service
requirement for a GA is satisfied by teaching, grading, or systems work, and is based on the needs of the department, which may vary
from semester to semester.
In general, GAs in computer science who teach are assigned to teach one lecture section of a CS introductory course.
For qualified graduate appointees, teaching assignments may be made to other courses in
extenuating circumstances.
Graduate appointees who do not teach may be assigned other duties of 20 hours per week. Typically these appointees satisfy the service
requirement during a semester by grading one or two courses, depending on the level and nature of the course. Other graduate appointees may
be assigned to do systems work or a similar duty to satisfy the service requirement.
Students who accept a graduate appointment involving a service requirement are required to be in residence during the entire time
period over which their duties extend. Thus, students will not be released from their duties because of vacation plans. Students who
need to be released from their duties for a short period of time due to academic reasons, such as attending a conference, should make a
special request to the person supervising their appointment.
Time Limits on Aid
To make fair and effective use of departmental assistantship funds, the amount of departmental aid that a particular student may receive
is limited as described in this section. These limits apply only to
departmental Graduate Assistantships (GAs),
Teaching Fellowships (TFs), University Fellowships (UFs), and Tuition Scholarships (TSs) -- collectively referred to as "departmental
assistantship funds" in the rest of this section. These limits specifically do not
apply to, or consider time funded by, Part-Time Instructorships and RAs funded by research grants.
The maximum number of academic-year semesters that a graduate student may be supported on departmental
assistantship funds is:
- 4 academic-year semesters as a Master's (M.S. or M.A.) student (referred to as "MS/MA-level support")
- 5 academic-year semesters as a Doctoral student who has not yet passed the
MA/PhD Preliminary Examination (referred to as
"PhD-level support")
- 4 academic-year semesters as a Doctoral student who has passed the Preliminary Examination,
but has not yet passed the Ph.D. Candidacy Examination
(referred to as "PhDP-level support")
- 5 academic-year semesters as a Doctoral student who has passed the Candidacy Examination
(referred to as "PhDC-level support")
In addition, there is an overall maximum of 11 semesters of support at the PhD + PhDP + PhDC levels, and 13 semesters of support at the MS/MA
+ PhD + PhDP + PhDC levels.
Students who fail to make progress sufficient to meet the limits described above can appeal to the Graduate Studies Committee for one
academic semester of additional aid per request, but are warned that such appeals may not be granted. Appeals must be submitted to the
Graduate Coordinator by the student and the student's research advisor, and must include (1) a statement by the student explaining
why her or she did not make progress by the expected dates and specific plans for the additional semester, and (2) a statement by
the advisor supporting that explanation and those plans. Appeals submitted by a student without the research advisor's support will be
automatically rejected. Appeals for additional aid for the fall semester are due by July 1 of that year; appeals for additional aid
for the spring semester of a year are due by December 1 of the previous year.
Course Load Requirement
All graduate appointees must comply with course load requirements. During
the academic year, those requirements are as follows:
- Full-time Appointment -- student must register for 8 to 15 hours of graduate credit
per semester, from courses within computer science.
- Half-time Appointment -- student must register for 6 to 7 hours of graduate
credit per semester, from courses within computer science.
- Quarter-time Appointment -- student must register for 4 to 5 hours of graduate credit
per semester, from courses within computer science. (A Quarter-time Appointee is one who devotes up to ten
hours per week in service time and is not expected to have primary instructional responsibilities for
courses).
During the summer, a graduate appointee must register for 6 hours of graduate
credit, from courses within computer science.
Regular Course Requirement
During each semester of the academic year, a Master's-level graduate appointee is required to take at
least two regular courses, excluding individual study, seminars, research, or
College Teaching of Computer Science. Students registered
for Thesis I or Thesis II can replace regular course hours
by thesis hours. Exceptions must be approved by the CS Graduate
Coordinator prior to the student registering for the courses.
During each semester of the academic year, a Doctoral-level appointee who has not achieved
Doctoral candidacy is required to take at least one regular course, excluding individual study, seminars, research, or College Teaching of Computer Science. Exceptions must be approved by
the CS Graduate Coordinator, prior to the student registering for the courses.
Preparation for College Teaching
All new graduate students holding graduate appointments are required to attend
and participate in an orientation and training program the week prior to the
beginning of fall semester classes. In conjunction with this program,
students are also required to attend departmental orientation meetings.
During the initial term of a GA or TF appointment, the department also requires special
training in college teaching. Graduate students may register for this
training under College Teaching of Computer Science. No more than 2
credits of College Teaching may be applied for degree requirements.
Other Employment
Full-time service appointees may not accept any other
paid employment within the University during the tenure of their appointments.
Eligibility
All graduate appointees must be in good standing in the
Division of Research and Graduate Studies, and be enrolled in a
specific degree program and making good academic progress in that program.
Furthermore, students with a Conditional Admission are
not eligible to hold a graduate appointment.
Residency Requirement
Graduate appointees may fulfill residency requirements for degrees in one of the following ways:
- Master's degree students will automatically meet residency requirements by complying with
course load requirements for graduate appointees.
- Doctoral students will meet residency requirements
- in the normal way by enrolling for at
least 11 hours in each of two successive semesters
prior to being admitted to candidacy.
- by successfully completing 22
semester hours over three successive semesters.
The Summer Session (ten weeks) may be one of the
three semesters.
139/173-Hour Rule
Students who have entered graduate study at Kent with a Master's
degree from another institution and who have elected 139 Kent State
University semester hours are no longer eligible for graduate appointment
support, including graduate assistantships, teaching fellowships, research
assistantships, and University Fellowships. Students who have entered
graduate study at Kent without a Master's degree from another
institution and who have achieved 173 Kent State University semester hours
are no longer eligible for graduate appointment support. Tallying the total
number of hours should include courses with letter grades, and courses with
``grades" of Incomplete, In Progress, and Not Reported. Hours withdrawn
do not count in this total.
A full-time program of study is eight to sixteen graduate-level credits per
semester. Every student who uses University facilities and faculty expertise
must be registered. Also, a student who has passed the Candidacy Examination
is required to maintain continuous registration for Fall Semester,
Spring Semester, and
Summer Sessions until his or her degree is completed. A graduate student who
has entered into Doctoral candidacy and is within the University's maximum time
limits for completion of the degree, may carry a program of one or more
graduate-level credits involving research, under the direction of the
candidate's dissertation advisor, and be considered as full-time.
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