• Graduate Home
• Prospective Students
• Current Students
• Programs
• Graduate Handbook
• my.emich Group
• Faculty Directory
• Deadlines
• Financial Aid
• Graduate Assistantships
• Events & Awards
• FAQ
• Program Contacts
• EMU Grad School

Graduate Assistantships in the English Department

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, you need to complete the following:

• The Departmental Graduate Assistant Form
• Reference Form
  • note you need to make two copies of this form and give them to your references to include with their recommendation letters.
• Background Check Waiver Form

Submit all of the above forms, along with your personal statement for the graduate assistantship, to the following address (electronic submission is also acceptable):

Christine Neufeld
Graduate Coordinator
Department of English Language and Literature
Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
cneufeld@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

University Writing Center
The University Writing Center offers part time (10 hours/week) and full time (20 hours week) positions for graduate assistants. UWC consultants provide support for student writers at all stages of the writing process in two different capacities: 1) Work in in the Academic Projects Center, a collaboration of the UWC, Halle Library, and EMU's Division of Instructional Technology. UWC consultants working in the APC provide one-to-one consulting with students on writing projects. 2) Work in the University Writing Center, which offers small group workshops for writers in general education and writing intensive courses across the university curriculum. UWC consultants develop and facilitate these workshops, which are offered multiple times each week throughout the term. For more information, visit the University Writing Center home page.

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
Graduate assistants in children's literature function as teaching assistants for the professor teaching the large undergraduate lecture (CHL207: Introduction to Children's Literature). T.A.s must attend all classes, take notes, and lead study sessions for undergraduates. The teaching assistants usually assist in other teaching-related matters: conducting research for lesson plans, the grading of quizzes and term papers, the maintenance of grade records, supervising online discussion boards, and so forth. Sometimes the T.A.s teach a class at the professor's discretion. Candidates should have a thorough, rather than passing, knowledge 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.

1. The first and perhaps most important task involves the editing and posting of the more than 87,000 email messages that are sent out from LINGUIST List each day. These postings include book announcements, conference calls for papers, discussions, and job announcements.

2. Web programming requires that each LINGUIST help create and edit new Web pages and database interfaces to keep the website running smoothly.

3. Software development relates to externally funded projects. Through E-MELD and other projects, LINGUIST RAs have the opportunity to develop state-of-the-art software and Internet facilities.

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.