Graduate Teaching Assistantships

Most of our PhD students are supported as Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs). The starting salary for a nine-month GTA appointment is about $19,594. Students teaching during the summer months receive additional stipends.

Position Description

Our teaching assistantships are half-time (20 hours/week) positions. New GTAs generally teach in situations with a lot of support structure: discussion sections in the Kansas Algebra Program (KAP) or teaching lab sections as part of large lecture calculus classes; or an individual section of precalculus. More advanced GTAs usually teach one to two sections of business calculus (3 hours each) or one-two sections of engineering calculus (4 hours each). GTAs within a year or two of the PhD may also be given more challenging teaching assignments or a higher level course in the summer.

Teaching Support and Training

Our GTAs receive substantial support for their teaching duties. KAP holds regular meetings and training sessions through the semester. Faculty teaching large lecture sections coordinate closely with their GTAs. In calculus courses with common exams, the course coordinator meets regularly with the teaching staff. During their first semester, new mathematics GTAs take a seminar on teaching. Both faculty and more experienced GTAs are always available for consultation.

The week before classes start, an university-wide all-day mandatory seminar for GTAs is held by the Center for Teaching Excellence. Within the mathematics department, we hold a general orientation and teaching training workshops.

Graduate Research Assistantships

Academic-year GRAs are sometimes available, typically depending on individual faculty members' grants. GRAs are generally given to students already working on their dissertations.

Required Enrollment

GRA/GTA must be enrolled in at least six credit hours in fall and spring. Non GTA/GRA international students must be enrolled in nine hours.