Graduate Student Handbook: Mechanisms for Funding Graduate Students

The ECE Department uses two different mechanisms for funding graduate students. One is the Department-offered assistantship that is normally offered at the beginning of a student's enrollment at Clemson. The offer for this assistantship comes from the ECE Department Chair. This assistantship is subject to the four or six semesters time limit as described in the first two bullets below (depending upon the degree being pursued) and is contingent upon satisfactory performance and progress towards the degree by the student.

The other type of assistantship is a research assistantship offered directly by a faculty member. In this case, the funding commitment is from the faculty researcher, and the Department is not obligated to sustain the support if the faculty member withdraws support.

In many cases, an entering student is offered an assistantship both by the Department and by a faculty researcher. In this case, if the student elects to accept the research assistantship and the research funding ends, the Department's offer will still be available if the time limit of the original offer has not expired. Some students have a joint assistantship consisting of both a part-time teaching assistant position and a part-time research assistant appointment.

In addition to financial support from within the department, there are also various fellowships available from the College of Engineering and Science, the University, industry, philanthropic organizations, and from several U.S. government agencies. Information is available through the graduate program office in Riggs Hall or from the Graduate School office in Martin Hall. Many of these fellowships are restricted to U.S. citizens.

Note the following additional information:

• Assistantships for Master's students will normally be awarded for a maximum of 4 regular (Fall/Spring) semesters. The same time limit applies to fellowships controlled by the Department.
  
  
• Assistantships for Ph.D. students will normally be awarded for a maximum of 6 regular (Fall/Spring) semesters beyond the Master's degree. The same time limit applies to fellowships controlled by the Department.
  
  
• Some assistantships are available in the summer but are not guaranteed. Efforts will be made to distribute summer support equitably, based on needs of the Department and on the qualification and seniority of students.
  
  
• Continuation of assistantships and fellowships is contingent upon satisfactory academic performance, as well as satisfactory performance of assigned duties associated with the assistantship.
  
  
• Students are encouraged to work with faculty on sponsored research projects. If a research project is terminated before a student has completed his/her degree program, the Department will endeavor (on an individual basis) to provide financial support to allow continuation of the student's program. This might involve a teaching assistant assignment, if appropriate. The foregoing statement should not be construed as an assurance of funding. The student is expected to complete his/her degree program in a timely fashion.
  
  
• Each year, the Department establishes fixed rates for state-supported assistantships. The rates are a function of the type of assistantship, the number of hours per week assigned, and whether the student is a Master's or Ph.D. candidate. Rates for externally funded assistantships are at the discretion of the individual faculty providing support.
  
  
• If the Department has committed an assistantship to a student at a particular biweekly rate, and a faculty researcher offers the student partial support, the Department reserves the right to reduce the level of support from state funds so as to maintain the same total biweekly or semester rate. (This reduction of state funding may be necessary due to overall budgetary constraints of the Department.)
  
  
• Individual faculty members are not empowered to offer teaching assistantships or grading positions to graduate students.
  
  
• The department maintains a list of all current students who have been awarded an assistantship by the department and of all non-supported students who have requested assistantship support. Faculty researchers will normally review this list and consult with the Graduate Program Coordinator before committing assistantship support to a student.