The Department of Writing & Rhetoric awards a limited number of students in our program Graduate Teaching Assistantships each year; the number of new assistantships we can award in a given year depends on several factors, including 1) how many assistantships we are given by Graduate Studies/College of Arts and Humanities; 2) how many current assistantship students graduated that year; 3) department budget and staffing needs.
Generally, new assistantships are awarded to incoming students, who undergo a separate assistantship application process involving an interview. Depending on department needs, assistantships can also be awarded to students in years two or three who have performed well in ENC 5705 and who have 18 hours of graduate credit.
Typical Terms of Graduate Teaching Assistantships
- Students who remain in good standing, perform well in ENC 5705 (and, if applicable, ENC 5276), and meet all assistantship requirements typically maintain their assistantship through their third year in the program
- Do not include Summer terms
- Are accompanied by tuition waivers
- Include a stipend of $5K each regular term
- Require student to be full-time and therefore take 9 regular hours or 3 thesis hours per term
- Require approximately 20 hours of work per week, either as a peer consultant/tutor in the University Writing Center (UWC), a first-year writing instructor, or some combination
Types of Teaching Involved
In the first year of their assistantship, students typically work as consultants in the University Writing Center, which requires them to take ENC 5276 and participate in all other required training. In addition to working one-on-one with writers (or groups of writers) on an appointment or walk-in basis, consultants may also give presentations about the UWC, lead special topic workshops, work with small group projects, develop pedagogical or publicity materials, and consult with writers via telephone or the Internet. All consultants are also expected to perform office duties. Because the UWC collaborates with the Writing Across the Curriculum program, writing consultants might also be asked to work with students and faculty as part of this program.
Starting in the second year, after completion of ENC 5705, students typically teach two sections of either ENC 1102 or ENC 1101 each term as part of the First-Year Writing Program. Doing well in ENC 5705–which will provide you with the theoretical and pedagogical training to teach composition at UCF and elsewhere–is crucial. GTAs teaching first-year writing also complete additional training from the program (e.g., teaching circles and workshops), Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, and Graduate Studies.