Assistantship Positions

An assistantship is a paid appointment, awarded for one year to a qualified graduate student. This appointment requires the student to work part-time in one of the following types of positions:

Associate Instructor: A graduate student who is employed as a teacher and engages in activities as a teacher. Teaching consists of the activities of teaching, lecturing, tutoring, instructing, laboratory assisting in an instructional role, and the like in the activity of imparting knowledge, providing the employee has responsibility for assigning grades for at least a portion of a course and has direct contact with students.

Graduate Assistant: A graduate student who, in an academic department or in an administrative office, assists in work associated with the duties of faculty members or administrators, such as library searches, curricular development, or paper grading, and who is not an Associate Instructor, Research Assistant, Student Counselor, or Faculty Assistant.

Research Assistant: A graduate student who is engaged in or assists with original, professional-level research.

Applicants for admission to graduate degree programs and current students may apply for assistantships at publichealth.indiana.edu/student-portal/financial-support/fellowships/index.html. Most assistantships are awarded in the spring semester of each academic year for use toward the following year's expenses. Financial support is not guaranteed with admission to a graduate program, but the School of Public Health—Bloomington has an excellent record of supporting graduate students. In most cases, assistantships that are awarded to masters students are granted for only one year.

Eligibility Any graduate student who is officially admitted to a master's or doctoral degree program in the School of Public Health-Bloomington is eligible to apply for an assistantship. However, a student whose first language is not English must pass the Test of English Proficiency for International Associate Instructor Candidates (TEPAIC) before being appointed as an associate instructor. For this reason, this type of assistantship is not normally granted to a student whose first language is not English, unless the student has passed the TEPAIC before the assistantship is awarded. The TEPAIC is not to be confused with the Indiana English Language Proficiency Examination (IEPE), which is required of all new School of Public Health-Bloomington students whose first language is not English. The IEPE is different from TEPAIC, in that the IEPE serves to test the readiness of such students to take Indiana University classes. The TEPAIC tests the ability of such students to teach as associate instructors.

Criteria Criteria for selection are experience, departmental needs, scholarship records, and recommendations.

Duties Students may be appointed as associate instructors, research assistants, or graduate assistants. Students are normally assigned to the department in which they are majoring. Duties may involve assisting faculty with teaching, research, or other departmental duties; teaching classes; or working in the Division of Campus Recreational Sports. Other special assignments may also be made.

Stipend The stipend for the academic-year assistantships vary based on whether a student is a master's or doctoral student. Master student assistantships are for only one year.

Fee Remission Limited or full fee remission may be awarded to any student enrolled in at least 6 credit hours per semester and working between 15 and 30 hours per week as a graduate student academic appointment. At departmental discretion, a fee remission may be awarded if a student is appointed to work for fewer than 15 hours per week. A fee remission may be awarded for a maximum of 30 credit hours per 12-month period, beginning with the start of the fall semester, with at most 12 credit hours in any semester or combined summer session. Fee remission does not cover dedicated fees, mandatory fees, and course-related fees or audit hours. Additional information is contained in the “Handbook For Student Academic Appointees” for the Bloomington Campus, a copy of which is located in the School of Public Health-Bloomington Dean’s Office and at vpfaa.indiana.edu/doc/graduate-student-academic-appointees-guide.pdf.

School of Public Health-Bloomington Research and Travel Grant-in­-Aid

The purpose of School of Public Health-Bloomington Student Research and Travel Grant-in-Aid support is to encourage students to become actively engaged in research-related activities. The Research Grant-in-Aid Awards provide support for inquiry for doctoral dissertations, master’s thesis, and research project work. The School of Public Health-Bloomington Student Travel Grant-in-Aid provides funding for the dissemination of research results at professional conference. This is a companion to the Research Grant-in-Aid. For more information visit publichealth.indiana.edu/student-portal/financial-support/fellowships/index.html.

Graduate Student Federal Work-Study (GFWS) 

Graduate Federal Work-Study is a need-based award that enables eligible students to acquire work-study jobs, the wages for which are largely funded by the federal government. The Graduate Student Federal Work Study typically takes the form of an assistantship offered by the student’s academic department. Graduate students can learn more at studentcentral.indiana.edu/pay-for-college/funding-options/work-study.html. 

The FAFSA must be filed by the March 1 priority date each year a student is interested in Federal Work Study. Additional information regarding the eligibility requirements of this award can be found at studentcentral.indiana.edu/financial-aid/apply/fafsa.shtml.

Please note, our office recommends filing the FAFSA by the March 1 priority deadline to guarantee that the option of all possible awards is available, even if the student is unsure as to whether he/she will need financial aid. If financial aid is not required after filing the FAFSA, then students may request to cancel it with our office.

School of Public Health-Bloomington Awards and Fellowships

A variety of awards and fellowships are available for admitted graduate students in the School of Public Health-Bloomington. Eligibility criteria for these awards vary. Some of these considerations include demonstration of academic excellence, leadership in extracurricular activities, and financial need. Students are encouraged to discuss these award and scholarship possibilities with their academic advisors. Award amounts vary, based on funding availability. For more information visit publichealth.indiana.edu/student-portal/financial-support/fellowships/index.html.