Policy for Funding of Graduate Students
Rationale
The Department feels strongly that, whenever possible, all graduate students should receive funding to allow them to concentrate on their courses and research. In order to achieve this goal, it is imperative that we distribute available funds as equitably as possible. To this end, we will use funds at the disposal of the department to supplement the funds that students are able to obtain through other sources.
Policy
As long as financial resources permit, all full-time students in good standing will be funded as follows: MA students for 20 months (from September of MA1 through April of MA2); PhD students for five years (PhD1 through PhD5 or PhD2 through PhD6).[1][2] Qualifying year (QY) students are not eligible for funding. Amounts awarded are based on standards set by SSHRC.
PhDs (minimum, per year)[3]
$20,000, in addition to tuition and fees. The amount to cover tuition and fees will depend on a student’s residency status (Quebec resident, non-Quebec Canadian, International). Rates are available at http://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-charges/fallwinter-term-tuition-and-fees/graduate-fees).
MAs[4]
$17,500 for 12 months in MA1; $11,667 for 8 months in MA2. Tuition and fees for both years are also covered. The amount to cover tuition and fees will depend on a student’s residency status (Quebec resident, non-Quebec Canadian, International). Rates are available at http://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-charges/fallwinter-term-tuition-and-fees/graduate-fees).
Funding comes from a variety of McGill sources, including:
Faculty of Arts Fellowships
Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Fellowships
Department of Linguistics Cremona Fellowship
TAships
Research stipends (‘RAships’)
Students are expected to apply for any external fellowships for which they are eligible (SSHRC, FQRSC, Rotary Fellowships, Commonwealth Fellowships, etc.). External funding will count towards the student’s total funding package. Students must inform the department IN WRITING about any external funding that they have obtained. Failure to apply for external funding (if eligible) or to inform us of any funding obtained can result in deductions to subsequent funding from the department.
As part of their overall funding package, PhD students are expected to TA for four terms, MA students for two.[5] In other words, the money earned as a TA is included in the funding package and students who fail to apply for TAships or who refuse TAships will have their funding reduced accordingly. Students who choose to TA for additional terms will receive their TA salary in addition to their funding package, as will students who are fully funded by external fellowships, or equivalent.[6] All allocations of TAships are subject to the requirements set down by AGSEM (go to http://agsem.ca/ for further information).
Students who teach linguistics courses during the summer or during term time will receive these salaries in addition to their funding package.
Students who receive research stipends will join research teams associated with professors within the department. Specifically, students may be required to spend some time during the summers working for one or more professors in the department.
[1]In some cases, students will be asked to serve as graders instead. Grading for two courses (60 hours x 2) is equivalent to one TAship (120 hours).
[2] A student who has served as a TA while fully funded on an external fellowship (or equivalent) will still ‘owe’ the department up to 4 TAships if they require departmental funding once the fellowship has expired. In other words, money earned as a TA after the end of a fellowship will count towards the funding package and students who choose not to TA at that time may have their funding reduced accordingly.