|
Financial
support
Guidelines
for Research Assistants
Types
of Research Assistantships
Seeking
Outside Funding
Contract
Teaching
Student
Loans
Students can
obtain financial support for their doctoral study in several ways.
Research Assistantships
There are
several kind of research assistantships: a) Merit Assistantships, which
come through the university; b) research assistantships in which the
student works for pay on a grant or contract; and c) assistantships
provided by the program from school or program funds, for example, from
or endowed funds. Students may receive funding from more than one source.
Research
assistantships, in which a student works under a faculty member's direction
and supervision in various research related tasks, are one means by
which we can help prepare students for careers of research performance
and productivity. For this reason, we recommend that all doctoral students
in social work have opportunities to serve as research assistants. The
following guidelines are recommended to help inform the design and implementation
of these opportunities.
- The primary intent of the research
assistantship is educational, supporting the development of research
scholars who are capable of producing and disseminating knowledge
for the profession and the field of social welfare.
- All research assistantships, both
paid and unpaid, represent voluntary relationships on the part of
both faculty members and students.
- If either the faculty member or the
student feels that the assistantship is not meeting his or her respective
needs, they should first try to deal with this with one another;
if unable to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement, they should
then consult with the student's adviser; if still unable to reach
a mutually satisfactory agreement, they should then consult with
the doctoral chair; if all else fails they should ask the Dean to
help in reaching a solution.
- With the approval of their adviser
and committee, students may receive academic credit for work performed
under a faculty member's supervision as an unpaid research assistant.
This work may qualify for credit as a research practicum if it meets
the criteria for the research practicum.
- Under most circumstances, students
will not receive academic credit for work performed as a paid research
assistant.
- Although both full time students (registered
for 9 or more hours of academic credit) and part time students (registered
for less than 9 hours of academic credit) may qualify to serve as
either paid or unpaid research assistants, priority for paid assistantships
will be given to full time students.
- In order for students to give priority
to their academic program of study, it is recommended that all assistantships
be limited to no more than 20 hours per week during the academic
year. Students who receive paid assistantships through funds from
the Graduate School or from the pool of discretionary resources
available within the School of Social Work will be limited to 15
hours per week for first year students and 20 work hours per week
for other students during the academic year unless approved by the
student's adviser and committee. Faculty who are funding first year
assistantships are urged to limit the actual work to 15 hours per
week, if it is at all possible.
- Flexibility of hours to accommodate
time crunches in either the student's coursework or the research
project will be at the discretion of the student. Students will
fill out time sheets documenting the number of hours worked, to
be signed by the research supervisor and submitted to the doctoral
administrative secretary at the end of each month for review by
the Doctoral Chairperson. While any one month may require more or
less than the allotted number of work hours, at the end of the semester,
the total number of hours worked shall not average than 20 (or 15
in the case of first year students) hours per week for the total
number of weeks of the semester.
- Students are responsible for keeping
their advisers and the Doctoral Chair informed of their involvement
as either paid or unpaid research assistants. Advisers and students
are encouraged to examine together how research assistantships fit
or can be made to fit with the student's educational and career
objectives.
- Before beginning their work together,
the research supervisor will provide the student with a written
contract that states what are the sources of funding, how much is
the student to be paid, and what are the expected working hours.
- Students will submit biweekly time
sheets to the Doctoral Chair, in addition to, or copies of, time
sheets they submit for getting paid. In addition to time sheets,
students working as research assistants, both within the School
of Social Work and within other academic units of the university,
should submit the Form for Research Assistantships to keep their
adviser and the doctoral chair informed. Information requested includes
the proposed work activities, the educational benefits of these
activities in helping to prepare the student for a career of research
performance and productivity in social work, the number of work
hours required per week during the academic year, the duration of
employment, and plans for supervision and direction of the student's
work. The adviser will share the completed form with the student's
committee and will file a copy in the student's record.
Faculty members within the School of Social
Work who wish to request a research assistant and/or who wish to receive
financial assistance from school or university funds to help cover the
cost of employment will, at the time it is requested, submit their proposal
for the assistantship to the Doctoral Chair. Information requested includes
the required work activities; the educational benefits of these activities
in helping to prepare the student for a career of research performance
and productivity in social work; the number of work hours required per
week during the academic year; the duration of the assignment, and if
the assignment involves more than one year, plans to continue support
for the student and/or to help the student apply for support; the availability
of funds in the present academic year, if any, to provide financial
support for the student; and plans for supervision and direction of
the student's work. The chair of the doctoral program will work with
faculty members to try to make a good match with prospective students
and students will be encouraged to make appointments with faculty members
to discuss proposed research assistantships.
There are two types of employment delineated
into two levels of research assistantship (Research Assistantship I
and Research Assistantship II). Below are the guidelines for the two
types of assistantship. The first level has some flexibility, the expectations
for the second level are more like paid employment.
Types of Research
Assistantships
| |
RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP I |
RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP II |
|
nature of the tasks |
geared to the student's learning
needs to the degree possible |
dictated by the demands of the project |
|
flexibility of hours |
constrained by the academic schedule |
constrained by the schedule of the
project (within limits)** |
|
maximum expected number of hours |
15-16 for first year student; 20
hours for advanced students taking full course load |
15-16 for first year student; 20
hours for advanced students taking full course load |
|
minimum expectation of faculty |
time for mentoring |
time for instruction on needed program
tasks |
|
level of payment |
$13,000 for first year and returning students, with fourth year students receiving an additional $500 |
negotiated by faculty member and
student in relation to student expertise and to the responsibilities
required of the student |
|
how pay allocated |
UNIFORM MONTHLY CHECK |
UNIFORM MONTHLY CHECK |
|
time sheets |
for faculty mentor only if requested |
for faculty mentor only if requested |
|
health insurance |
the funding source for the doctoral
student will be charged $1,790 for the premium; the $13,000(+) stipend
does not include this fee |
the funding source for the doctoral
student will be charged $1,790 for the premium; presumably, the
agreed upon pay for the student does not include this fee unless
agreed otherwise |
Seeking Outside Funding
There are
programs to support doctoral study and dissertation research. As the
student develops his/her dissertation topic, s/he should be working
as well on a proposal to get support for carrying out this research,
if s/he will not have funding as part of a grant or contract.
Carolina Social
Work Doctoral Students have successfully competed for support from the
National Institute of Mental Health, the National Association of Social
Workers, the Council on Social Work Education, and university competitive
research grants.
In addition to
the Doctoral Program Office and individual faculty members, the University
Office of Research Services will assist students to locate potential
sources of funding.
Contract
Teaching
Students
with teaching experience, and those who have completed the Teaching
Practicum and Teaching Seminar, may be hired as contract faculty to
teach masters level courses, under faculty supervision. This arrangement
provides you the experience to develop teaching skills, helping you
to compete for academic positions when you complete the Ph.D.
 UNC
Scholarships and Student Aid |
