Information Regarding Departmental Awards for New Students
Graduate School Fellowships and AwardsNominations by Department due Feb. 15th
  1. Graduate School Honors Fellowships: four year fellowships for work towards the doctorate awarded (by nomination process) to outstanding new students; the Honors Fellowships for the first year presently carry a stipend of up to $12,000 and payment of all tuition and fees. The Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowship is for 4 years with an annual stipend of $18,000 plus $2,000 for educational expenses. First Year Doctoral Fellowships have a stipend of $12,000 for 1 year and guarantee of GTA support for 3 years.

    Candidates for Graduate School Honors and Self Fellowships should submit their verbal and quantitative scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). (If GRE scores are not available, scores on some comparable nationally administered test, e.g. the LSAT, should be submitted). Candidates who do not submit GRE scores (or scores on comparable tests) may be at a competitive disadvantage.

  2. Dissertation Fellowships: one-year fellowships for dissertation year awarded to students who have completed their comprehensive examination and have been successfully nominated by their department.

  3. Summer Fellowships: awarded to students successfully nominated by their department, intended principally for students who have been Teaching Assistants in the previous fall and spring semesters.

  4. Minority Fellowships: used normally to support minority students in areas in which they are underrepresented; Available only to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

    Direct Exchange Scholarships: these awards provide institutional and living costs at foreign universities with which the university maintains a direct exchange program. Students can apply for these awards.
Assistantships in Philosophy
The Department employs qualified graduate students to teach logic, introduction to philosophy, and introduction to ethics. Half-time Teaching Assistants receive a nine-month student salary of approximately $10,300, and a 100% remission of fees.

Recommendations concerning Assistantships in Philosophy are made to the Chair of the Department by the Committee on Recruitment, Admissions and Awards. In making its recommendations, the Committee is especially concerned to maintain or enhance the quality of undergraduate instruction and to provide funding for, as well as recognition of, qualified graduate students.

Students wishing to maximize their chances of securing aid should inquire about the possibility of teaching assistantships in Western Civilization, mathematics, foreign languages, English, applied English, and so on.

Normally, in appointments for Assistantships on Philosophy, preference will be given to Ph.D over M.A. students. Ph.D students may normally expect their GTA positions to be renewed upon making satisfactory progress and performing satisfactorily in the program for 4 additional years, M.A. students for two additional years. The University allows graduate students to be supported as GTAs for no more than 5 years.

In making appointments, special attention will be paid to evidence of teaching ability, philosophical ability, and, as appropriate, the quality of the student's progress in his or her graduate program. Criteria for assessment of progress will include such things as performance with respect to degree examinations and the satisfaction of other degree requirements. Teaching positions are made on a one-year basis and are not automatically renewed.

Graders and Research Assistants
Faculty members do their own grading in all upper-level, honors, and small-enrollment courses. There is some money for graders for large sections of Philosophy 140, 148, 160, 288, 292 (usually more than 50 students). Graders are chosen by the faculty member, usually from among the graduate students who are not teaching or on a fellowship (other than Templin). Application for a position as a grader should be made directly to the course instructor, and should be made at the start of the semester in which the course is offered. The appointment of the student is made by the Chair only after enrollment. Grading in a course currently pays approximately $700 a semester. Occasionally, the Department has funds for the appointment of a few Research Assistants who assist certain faculty members with a research project.

Faculty members who have been approved for a Research Assistant typically choose their own Research Assistant. Currently, such assistantships pay approximately $700.

The Olin Templin Fellowship in Philosophy
Any graduate student of philosophy is eligible to receive the Templin Fellowship, which pays a stipend of up to $1000 for the academic year (or $500 for a semester). The fellowship is awarded on the recommendation of the departmental Committee of Recruitment, Admission, and Awards. Applications are normally required before the beginning of the semester for which the award is sought.

The Edward S. Robinson Fellowship in Philosophy
The Admissions and Awards Committee on occasion will award a $500 Robinson Fellowship, typically to excellent new students admitted to the graduate program to help defray moving and tuition expenses in their first year.

Tutoring in Logic
Apart from departmental aid and awards, it is also possible for qualified students to earn small amounts of money by tutoring students from introductory logic courses. Students interested in such tutoring should communicate their interest to the Admissions and Awards Committee, which assembles a list of qualified tutors each year. Tutors set their own fee schedules. Demand for tutors varies, of course, unpredictably.

The University of Kansas is a signatory to the following resolution adopted by the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States:

"Acceptance of an offer of financial aid (such as graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by an actual or prospective graduate student completes an agreement which both student and graduate school expect to honor. In those instances in which the student accepts the offer before April 15 and subsequently desires to withdraw, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer from an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer. It is further agreed by the institutions and organizations subscribing to the above Regulation that a copy of this resolution should accompany every sholarship, fellowship, traineeship, and assistantship offer."
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