Financial support is provided to graduate students through Fellowships, Teaching Assistantships, Project Assistantships, and Research Assistantships. Students who hold a fellowship or an assistantship receive a stipend. Additionally, tuition is waived for students who hold a fellowship or an assistantship of at least a 33% appointment. Students are encouraged to complete the financial support questions on the supplemental portion of the HSRP graduate application; such information will be helpful in making decisions on teaching assistantships, fellowships, and other types of graduate student support among those students who are admitted. Segregated fees (charges, in addition to tuition, assessed to all students for student services, activities, programs, and facilities that support the mission of University of Wisconsin System institutions, including UW-Madison) do apply to full-time HSRP graduate students who are TAs or RAs and are not covered by these appointments. HSRP graduate students on fellowship may have to pay segregated fees. Learn more about segregated fees.
Graduate Student Appointments
There are four main appointments for eligible graduate students, each with a corresponding stipend. Tuition waivers, teaching assistantships, research assistantships and select miscellaneous stipends are awarded each year to incoming and continuing graduate students based on need and availability. Graduate students earn a monthly stipend when they hold a research assistant (RA), teaching assistant (TA) appointment, project assistant (PA) appointment, or receive a fellowship.
Research Assistantships (RA)
Faculty conducting independent research generally have competitive research positions for graduate students that include tuition waivers, health benefits and a stipend. Research Assistant (RA) appointments may be available fall, spring, and/or summer semesters. New projects may start at any time of the year. Thus, prospective students should contact the professors who have research related to their interests to determine RA position availability.
The standard appointments are at 33% or at 50%, which is equivalent to 13.2 hours or 20 hours of work per week, respectively. Graduate students who hold RA appointments must adhere to the specific enrollment requirements outlined by the graduate school.
Graduate students with RA appointments must check in with the School of Pharmacy payroll & benefits coordinators prior to their start date and submit the necessary documents available online at https://hr.wisc.edu/benefits/new-employee-benefits-enrollment/ . Stipends are paid biweekly. Research assistants do not accrue paid vacation or sick leave. Arrangements for leave are made through the person with whom students have their appointment.
Teaching Assistantships (TA)
The Social & Administrative Sciences Division has a limited number of Teaching Assistant (TA) appointments to award each year. Teaching Assistant appointments are effective fall and spring semesters. The standard appointments are at 33% or 50%, which is equivalent to 13.2 and 20 hours of work per week. If a TA is exceeding 20 hours per week, they should notify the supervising faculty member, who should make appropriate adjustments. If satisfactory resolution is not achieved, the TA should notify the Director of Graduate Studies. Graduate students who hold TA appointments must adhere to the specific enrollment requirements outlined by the Graduate School.
FERPA training is required – learn more and register at https://registrar.wisc.edu/ferpa-training/
Typical TA duties include assistance with the conceptual design of a course; preparing examinations; grading of written assignments; holding office hours for students; some formal teaching of class via leading discussions or short presentations; facilitating a small group session as part of a course. Written evaluations of TA performance are completed each semester by the course coordinator and students enrolled in the course, and are distributed to the TAs, for their review and comment.
Teaching assistant appointments are made by the DGS in consultation with the rest of the faculty. Please be certain to describe any prior teaching experience and classes you would be a good candidate to teach. UW System policy requires non-native English speakers to demonstrate proficiency in spoken English before they are assigned classroom duties as a TA. Get information on spoken English requirements and the SPEAK test from the English as a Second Language Program at https://esl.wisc.edu/ita-training/speak/
The department has adopted the School of Pharmacy’s policy on the continuous improvement of teaching assistants. New TAs are required to attend TA training organized by the School of Letters and Sciences held during the week before the first semester they teach: https://lss.wisc.edu/services/ed-tech-consulting/ta-support/. New HSRP TAs are required to attend the HSRP TA training. Current students are highly encouraged to attend the HSRP training so that they can continue to receive continuous training in their TA duties. Further questions about the HSRP training should be directed to the DGS and teaching instructor, Kate Rotzenberg.
Teaching Assistant Awards
Each year HSRP Teaching Assistant Award(s) are bestowed on graduate students in the program. The award recognizes excellence in teaching. There are no restrictions based on year in the program or previous TA experience. Decisions are rendered in June. There is no formal application process. Faculty members will have an opportunity to nominate their TAs at the end of each semester when completing their teaching evaluations. Student evaluations of TA’s will be included in the decision process. These nominations, as well as the evaluation, will be forwarded to the GPM and DGS.1 Students are only eligible to receive a TA award once in the program.
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1 The DGS and GPM have discretion to select a subcommittee from SAS faculty members, non-SAS faculty members, teaching staff, and previous award-winning alumni. The subcommittee will review the student and faculty evaluations and nomination forms. The subcommittee will invite nominators to provide further information. The rotating subcommittee, which will exclude academic advisors and course coordinators, will make a recommendation to the full faculty.
Project or Program Assistantships (PA)
These titles designate graduate or professional students employed to assist with research, training, or other academic programs or projects. The standard PA appointments in the SAS Division are at 33% or at 50%, which is equivalent to 13.2 hours or 20 hours of work per week. Fall and Spring enrollment requirements for PA appointments follow the same minimum total credits required for TA appointments. There are no summer credit requirements for PAs.
Much of the language guidance related to TA and RA appointments is applicable. Contact the employing department directly for more information. Graduate Assistant Policies and Procedures (GAPP) outlining employment-related practices for graduate student project assistants are available from the Office of Human Resources. Graduate students who hold PA appointments must adhere to the specific enrollment requirements outlined by the Graduate School.
Other Financial Support
Dissertators may be eligible for additional financial support through the Sonderegger Research Center Dissertator Awards (which provide direct costs for dissertator research). For further information, please consult with your advisor and the DGS. Award guidelines can be found on the School of Pharmacy website. For further information, please consult with your advisor and the DGS. Additionally, all students are eligible to receive $1,000 a year in Wiederholt funding. This funding is to be used to support conference travel expenses. See further information in the next section.
Funding for Conference/Research Travel/Equipment
Graduate students enrolled in the HSRP program are eligible for up to $1000 per year (September through August) in Wiederholt funds to present their research (poster or podium) at a conference. Graduate students can use the money to pay for flights, conference registration, hotel, poster printing, food, etc. Some students can stretch the funds to present at multiple conferences in one year. Once your abstract is accepted, to request these funds please reach out to the division administrative assistant who oversees and facilitates the distribution of funds.
When receiving Wiederholt funds, students no longer need to follow university policy when booking their travel. For example, you are no longer required to book your flights through Concur and you now can book directly through the airline or third-party sites like Expedia. However, it’s important to remember that if you are using additional school funding (ex. your advisor is covering any expenses over the $1,000 with their own funding), then whatever expenses are being paid by that additional funding must still follow the university travel policies and procedures. It is advised that students check with the division administrative assistant before booking any travel to determine the best way to proceed.
For more detailed travel related information, please refer to the “Travel Training” section of the Appendices of the handbook.