EMU Graduate Studies in English

Graduate Studies in English > Financial Aid > Graduate Assistantships

Graduate Assistantships

Graduate assistant applications are due February 15, for the following fall. Students will be notified of awards by April 1.

If you are applying for a graduate assistantship, complete the Graduate Financial Aid Form and the Departmental Graduate Assistant Application Form. Send the Departmental Graduate Assistant Application Form and your personal statement for the graduate assistantship to the following address (electronic submission is also acceptable):

Dr. Russ Larson
Graduate Coordinator
Department of English Language and Literature
Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
rlarson@emich.edu
(734) 487-2670

Please make sure all program application materials have been submitted to Graduate Admissions. Only one set of recommendation letters is needed; ask persons writing letters to address your qualifications for both admissions and for a graduate assistantship.

Graduate Assistant Positions

The Writing Center
Graduate Instructor, First-Year Writing
Bathhouse Editor
Children's Literature Teaching Assistant
Literature Teaching Assistant
LinguistList

The Writing Center
The Writing Center is a free resource for all EMU students and offers both part-time (10 hours a week) and full-time (20 hours a week) consultant positions for graduate assistants. Consultants work one-on-one or in small groups with students during all stages of the writing process. Consultants work on an appointment basis and address student writing concerns such as finding a topic, gathering research, drafting essays, audience awareness, and writing conventions. Preferred experience for these positions includes a background in writing, good communication skills, and an interest in a broad range of subjects.

Graduate Instructor, First-Year Writing
Graduate instructors teach English 120 (Composition I: Writing and Reading the College Experience) and English 121 (Composition II: Research and Writing the Public Experience) in EMU's First-Year Writing Program. They also work with other FYWP instructors to collaboratively develop curricular frameworks, assignments, and activities for ENGL 120/121 classes. All new graduate instructors must take English 596 (Teaching Composition at the College Level) during the first semester of their assistantship; the class begins two weeks before the beginning of fall term and meets every day until the term begins, then reverts to a weekly class (typically late Monday afternoons). For more information, see the First-Year Writing Program site.

Bathhouse Editor
This half-time graduate assistantship requires the student to act as editor-in-chief of the EMU Creative Writing Program's online journal of hybrid arts, Bathhouse. Duties involve full responsibility for on-time production and editing of the journal in consultation with the faculty advisor, organization of the graduate student staff roster and meeting schedule, and design and editing of the journal. Candidates for this position will have some experience or knowledge of graphic design and Web design. Editing experience and an interest in New Media writing and hybrid arts are also a plus.

Children's Literature Teaching Assistant
The graduate assistant in children's literature functions as a TA for the professor teaching the large undergraduate lecture (LITR 207). The duties of the TA are many and varied. She or he must attend all classes and take notes. Class notes are placed in the literature center for students and distributed through email if need be. The teaching assistant usually assists in other teaching-related matters: the presentation of overheads, the grading of quizzes and term papers, the maintenance of grade records, and so forth. Sometimes the TA teaches a class at the professor's discretion. Like faculty, the TA must hold regular office hours (3-5 hours per week). Candidates should have a thorough, rather than passing, knowledge of children's literature: ideally they will be in their second year of children's literature studies at Eastern and will have taken at least LITR 516: Major Genres of Children's Literature and LITR 517: The Teaching of Children's Literature.

Literature Teaching Assistant
Graduate assistants assigned to work with a professor who is teaching a large-lecture (250-325 students) version of an introductory literature course have a variety of responsibilities and opportunities. The courses themselves typically include the 100-level series of survey courses in poetry, fiction and/or drama, as well as the 200-level courses in Native American and African American literatures. Graduate student teaching assistants in this position attend all lectures, take notes, and (in office hours) help students develop their own note-taking skills. Depending on the professor to whom a GA is assigned, additional duties may include some or all of the following: conducting study sessions prior to and/or following exams, drafting and distributing study guides, proctoring exams, posting and recording grades (and/or other general book-keeping), and helping students assess their own performance on exams and/or writing assignments. All GAs also hold office hours in the Literature Center for 3-5 hours per week. The Literature Center is a drop-in site providing supplemental instruction for undergraduate students enrolled in large-lecture introductory literature courses, with the goal of bolstering student confidence with reading and performance in the course. Working for a single professor for one course, including holding weekly office hours in the Literature Center, constitutes a half-time GA appointment.

LinguistList
Three main tasks are expected of LINGUIST List staff: editing and public relations, Web programming, and software development.

Required skills are common sense, good judgment in making both editorial and interpersonal decisions, sense of responsibility, ability to work independently, good organizational skills, and attention to detail. Computer experience (at least Microsoft Word, Internet browsers, and email) is desirable, as is willingness to learn more advanced computer applications. Applicants need not know how to program. Preferred skills include knowledge of linguistic classification; experience with, or serious interest in learning, database structure and management, SQL, and programming languages (ColdFusion, Java, ASP); and knowledge of HTML or serious commitment to learning it. This job is best suited to graduate students in linguistics. Those with some computer background are particularly encouraged to apply.

Department of English Language and Literature
612 Pray-Harrold | Ypsilanti, MI 48197
Phone: (734) 487-4220 | Fax: (734) 483-9744