Teaching Assistantship

The CRDM Program offers a few Teaching Assistantships each year to newly admitted students, with a stipend of $15,500 (first two years) and $16,000 (final two years), and payment of health insurance (approximately $688 per year) and tuition (approximately $10,000 for out-of-state students prior to becoming a resident by the second year; approximately $4,000 for in-state residents). Students are responsible for the approximately $1,000 per academic semester University fees (see Cashier's Office for current rates). Financial support, through the Graduate Student Support Plan (GSSP), requires the student to be registered for a minimum of 9 credit hours each semester. Course hours over 9 hours must be paid by the student. Teaching Assistants in a doctoral program are eligible for the tuition support and health insurance for a maximum of eight semesters.

NC State’s regional accrediting association requires that Teaching Assistants have 18 credit hours of graduate coursework in the department in which they teach in order to be given responsibility for their own course. TAs who do not meet this requirement will be assigned other duties until they have enough coursework, and will also be required to take a training course (COM 585 or ENG 511) to prepare them for a specific teaching assignment (this course usually fulfills the Professional Preparation requirement).

Graduate Assistantship

The availability of Graduate Assistantships will vary from year to year. Students may be assigned to work along with faculty as graduate assistants or administrative assistants. In the past, our students have held graduate assistantships at:

In addition, students have worked with several faculty members as research assistants on sponsored grants. Normally a graduate assistant stipend matches or exceeds that of TAs, and provides support for tuition support and health insurance provided by the Graduate Student Support Plan. Graduate assistants will provide support for the Professor’s ongoing research and have the opportunity to develop their own related research projects.

Other Funding Opportunities

1. Supplemental and Emergency Financing [Financial Aid]

2. NCSU Job Board
   Students who are looking for additional temporary or part-time work should check the NCSU Job Board. It is updated frequently and contains job postings from every department on campus.

3. Grading
   It may be possible for you to work as a grader for a distance education course. Check with your department head for potential openings.

4. Tutoring
   There are opportunities for employment with Writing and Speaking Tutorial Services. The WSTS is NC State’s writing center. They hire consultants to work one-on-one with undergraduate and graduate students. The Academic Support Program for Student Athletes regularly hires tutors to help student athletes with their coursework. Summer work is also available.

5. Working as an Adjunct Instructor
   Students who are unable to teach courses through NCSU may be interested in teaching or tutoring at other colleges in the area. The following colleges regularly hire adjunct instructors for communication, humanities, and English courses: William Peace University, Durham Technical Community College, Wake Technical Community College, Johnston Community College, Vance-Granville Community College. Other NC community college job postings are available here. Many community colleges in the area offer evening, weekend, and summer classes.

6. College of Humanities and Social Sciences student CV database
   The College helps faculty find qualified Graduate Assistants. To that end, they have created a listserv that students can subscribe to. The mailing list will send out job openings from faculty who are looking for qualified students. To join the listserv and receive emails about GA opportunities, students should send an email (from their NCSU address) to mj2@lists.ncsu.edu, leave the subject line blank, and type “Subscribe hssgradjobs” in the body. Next, they can also make their CV available via their new CV Bank. To do this, they should send a PDF file of their CV to tabirkla@ncsu.edu with the subject “CV Bank.”

7. Short-Term Emergency Loans
   Loans of up to $400 to meet emergency expenses may be obtained on short notice at the Financial Aid Office, 2005 Harris Hall. These loans are designed for short term emergency use and should be repaid within about 30 days.

8. Summer EmploymentThere are several options available to CRDM students interested in summer employment. Some examples of summer employment opportunities available to students are teaching summer course on campus, teaching online classes, grading for online classes, and TA/RA positions. There are two summer sessions, summer 1 (May/June) and summer 2  (June/July). The class schedule and dates can be found here.
   CRDM students are not limited to the English and Communication departments. For example, previous CRDM students have had teaching positions in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and the College of Education, as long as they meet the teaching qualifications. Summer teaching assignments are NOT made through the CRDM program.

   If you are interested in teaching a summer class, you should contact the Department Heads directly. CRDM students will also receive emails from both the English and Communication departs towards the end of the Fall semester asking who is interested in teaching over the summer. Typical summer opportunities are required courses and DE versions of required courses. In the past, students have taught COM 110, COM 112, COM 211, COM 201, COM 202, COM 257 (DE), COM 250, COM 327 (DE), COM 267, COM 307, COM 357, COM 226, COM 456, and COM 367. It is most likely that students will have an opportunity to teach one section of a course during the summer (both summer sessions are not likely and more than one section/course is also not likely). Students affiliated with the Department of English may request to teach any course they are qualified for, but in general, opportunities to teach upper-level and graduate courses are small. The opportunities available for summer employment within the university change each year.

In addition to the opportunities at NC State, CRDM students have successfully found work at other colleges and universities in the area.