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RA/TA appointments
Instructor-G and teaching
assistants | Research
assistants | Draper Fellows | Terms
of appointment | Tuition and stipend payments
| Termination | Registration
Instructor-G and teaching
assistants
The duties of a teaching assistant include assisting a faculty
member in grading undergraduate homework and quizzes, instruction
in the classroom and laboratory, preparing apparatus or material
for demonstrations, posting web-based materials, and conducting
tutorials and discussion sections.
MIT appoints nearly 800 graduate students each year as part
time or full time instructors or teaching assistants (TAs).
Many students enjoy the new perspectives afforded by a teaching
appointment and find that it provides invaluable experience
in preparation for a career in university teaching. The Institute
offers a prize each year, the Goodwin Medal, for "conspicuously
effective teaching" by a graduate student.
Graduate students with considerable teaching experience may
receive Instructor-G appointments. These appointments are
given only to more advanced students of proven teaching ability.
The rate of compensation for teaching assistants is determined
by the Dean of the School within guidelines approved by the
Academic Council.
Students who receive financial support from
other resources (fellowships, scholarships, research assistantships)
may receive supplementary stipends as teaching assistants
only in accordance with Institute and department guidelines.
Graduate students holding teaching assistant appointments
must register as full time resident students and are charged
full tuition during the period of appointment. The TA appointment
comprises a monthly stipend as well as a full tuition scholarship.
Upon admission to an MIT graduate program, all teaching assistants
who are US citizens or permanent residents are required to
complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Held in strict confidence within Student Financial Services,
the information on the FAFSA is used to determine whether
or not MIT may use federal funds from the Federal Work-Study
Program to pay the teaching assistant's stipend. Tuition payments
can be held until the form is completed.
See also Appointments to teaching and research staffs.
Research assistants
Each year more than 2,500 graduate students at MIT hold appointments
as research assistants and research trainees.
The research assistant is a member of a research group in
a laboratory or on a project, whose principal duty is to contribute,
under supervision, to a program of departmental or interdepartmental
research. Through project work, the assistant gains increased
facility in organizing work, applying new experimental techniques
to real problems, and oral presentation. Most students welcome
the opportunity a research assistantship gives them to participate
as junior colleagues of the faculty in an ongoing research
project; this experience frequently influences their choice
of thesis topic.
Research assistants are compensated on the basis of the time
devoted to their research activities, and pay full tuition.
The RA appointment comprises a stipend as well as a full tuition
scholarship. Graduate students holding research assistant
appointments must register as full time resident students.
Students who receive financial support from other sources
(fellowships, scholarships, teaching assistantships) may receive
supplementary stipends as part time research assistants only
in accordance with Institute and departmental guidelines.
See also Appointments to teaching and research staffs.
Draper Fellows
Graduate students pursuing thesis research in the Draper Laboratory,
Inc., are appointed as Draper Fellows. These appointments
are equivalent to research assistantships.
Terms of appointment
Students who wish to be considered for appointments to the
graduate student staff should contact their departments. Applications
from new students are considered only after their acceptance
to graduate programs. An appointment for the academic year
is for the period September 1 through May 31; a summer appointment
is normally for the period June 1 through August 31. However,
appointments may be made for shorter periods. Only resident
graduate students who are candidates for advanced MIT degrees
may be appointed. Undergraduates, nonresident, and special
graduate students are not eligible; however, in unusual circumstances,
the Dean of the School or the Dean for Graduate Education may
authorize such appointments.
Applications for reappointment are considered individually.
Reappointment depends on academic progress as well as on performance
as an assistant. A student's appointment to an assistantship
may be cancelled at any time if progress in a graduate program
is unsatisfactory, or if the student is not carrying out the
duties assigned.
Assistants are subject to the policies and procedures of
their departments and of the Institute and must respect and
conform to the rules and procedures of the division or laboratory
to which they are assigned. Students who hold full time graduate
student staff appointments normally cannot engage in additional
employment for which they receive compensation from MIT administered
sources.
Students who hold full fellowships, traineeships, or other
awards from MIT, or outside sources, cannot be appointed to
full time graduate student staff appointments. The above restrictions
include payments on hourly payrolls as well as academic, administrative,
or research staff appointments.
Supplementary stipends (exclusive of tuition and fees) exceeding
the guidelines established by the Academic Council must be
approved by the Dean for Graduate Education.
While an appointment specifies either teaching or research
as the primary duty, occasions may arise when it is necessary
to reassign duties in whole or in part. Any assistant may
be called upon to aid in proctoring examinations.
Instructor-G and assistantship appointees observe normal
Institute holidays and are entitled to two weeks of vacation
with pay if their appointments are for the full calendar year.
Their vacation schedules must be approved by their supervisors.
The supervisor and the department head must approve a student's
absence from the Institute during a working period.
Tuition and stipend payments
Research and teaching assistants receive a monthly stipend
as well as a full tuition scholarship. The compensation for
research and teaching assistants is adjusted to make the appointments
equally attractive, taking into account the availability of
tuition scholarships, the opportunities for thesis research,
and other benefits connected with each. Stipend levels are
established each year by individual departments within guidelines
set forth by the Academic Council.
A department may not assign a stipend (exclusive of tuition
and fees) above these guidelines without specific approval
of the Dean for Graduate Education. Graduate student staff
members should recognize that their stipends are not intended
necessarily fully to cover cost of living.
Normally, assistants are paid by direct deposit into their individual bank accounts. In some cases, however, payment by check may be necessary. In such cases, checks should be picked up in person at the Cashier's
Office, Room NE49-3077. The Institute is obliged
to withhold federal and Massachusetts income taxes from the
stipends of teaching and research assistants. Assistants must
file the necessary federal and Massachusetts tax withholding
forms with the Payroll Office. These forms may be obtained
from the Cashier's Office, the Payroll Office, or the student's
departmental graduate office. Failure to submit these forms
will result in the required maximum tax being withheld.
Termination
Prior to termination, assistants must submit a termination
clearance form to the Payroll Office certifying that they
have returned all keys, books, and supplies. Certain laboratories
(such as the Research Laboratory of Electronics) have termination
procedures of their own, and assistants must complete the
requirements of the particular division or laboratory to which
they are assigned.
Registration
The number of academic units for which an assistant may register
each term is determined by the department in light of the
student's assistantship duties, program of study, and compensation.
A department may set a maximum number of units for which its
assistants may register.
Research assistants whose assigned research is part of their
thesis research may be permitted to register for thesis units
without regard to the maximum. In recognition of their research
experience, research assistants in some departments may be
granted credit other than thesis credit toward the master's
or engineer’s degree. This credit will not be counted
against the maximum.
In some departments, teaching assistants may receive limited
degree credit for their teaching, which will not be counted
against the maximum registration they may carry. In addition,
a department may allow assistants to register for one language
subject, or in other subjects as listeners, without the units
being counted against the maximum.
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