Students
interested in assistantships should file an application
with the department chair. New students in the doctoral
program are automatically sent application forms
with their letters of acceptance.
In
general, students’ applications should reconstruct
their previous education and experiences; outline
the contributions they might make to the department’s
instructional efforts (for example, what courses
they might be able to teach, whether or not they
could provide field instruction to teacher interns);
and indicate how much time (hours per week) they
could devote to work under the assistantship. These
applications are filed in a book in the department
office which can be used by anyone seeking graduate
assistants.
However
filing an application is not sufficient.
Students
should take the initiative by exploring the
assistantship
listings on the College web page, which is the
primary source for information about assistantship
opportunities in the College of Education.
After
identifying possible assistantships from the web
page, students should get in touch with the specified
contact person for each listing via e-mail or phone.
It is helpful to send a resume along with a cover
letter describing how the applicant’s interests,
knowledge, and experience fit the posted position.
In
addition, students may want to get in touch with
the heads of the various teacher preparation teams
in order to express interest in working with these
teams in a number of different possible roles.
A
student’s academic advisor can offer additional
suggestions regarding assistantships. In addition,
it pays for students to convey their interest in
finding an assistantship to faculty members they
get to know (e.g., through participation in seminars)
and to fellow students.
