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TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIPS AND COMPETITIVE FELLOWSHIPS
The Department of Art History guarantees all of its admitted students five years of funding. The department offers two main types of financial aid for a maximum of five years of UMN funding toward the PhD. Our standard funding package supports students through a graduate assistantship. In addition, every year the department nominates students for competitive CLA or Graduate School fellowships awarded through collegiate or university competitions. If the nominee is successful, these fellowships may be taken in lieu of an assistantship as one of a student's years of UMN funding. Any CLA or UMN fellowship that a student takes will count towards their five years of guaranteed funding. All funding is contingent on a student’s successful progress toward degree and can be withdrawn if a student does not meet minimum GPA and progress requirements (see Eligibility below).
Assistantships
The majority of a student's five years of funding will likely be provided by teaching assistantships (TAs), which also play a central role in preparing our students for future academic careers. Research assistantships (RAs) are less common, as the funding used to support them usually comes from grants won by individual faculty in support of their own scholarship or from departmental discretionary budgets to hire students for specific projects. The stipends and benefits provided for both RA and TA positions (referred to collectively under the umbrella term "graduate assistanship" or GA) are dictated by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the University and Graduate Labor Union–United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (GLU-UE). Please consult the current CBA to find specific up-to-date information about stipends and benefits.
Students who receive a teaching assistant (TA) award are employed as assistants for professors for specific courses. In exceptional cases, advanced graduate students might lead their own section or teach independently. The appointment is generally on a half time basis (780 hours per semester). A half-time TA position for two semesters includes a full tuition fellowship, and qualifies the student for resident tuition rates. There are additional health insurance benefits for graduate assistants. Consult the Graduate Assistant Employment Office webpage for further details.
Students who receive a research assistant (RA) award are employed by a department, program, or individual faculty member generally on a half time basis (780 hours per semester). Students under their five year years of university funding will receive the same salary and benefits as a TA-ship. A half-time R.A. position for two semesters includes a full tuition fellowship and qualifies the student for resident tuition rates. There are additional health insurance benefits for graduate assistants. Consult the Graduate Assistant Employment Office webpage for further details. Because they are in a cheaper tuition category, most programs and faculty tend to hire students as graduate RAs only once they have finished their coursework and thesis credits.
ABD students are eligible to apply to serve as the instructor of record for ArtH3971W/V, the undergraduate capstone class required for our majors. This position is classed as a 50% TAship, but is considered a graduate assistantship under the terms of the CBA, and carries the same pay and benefits as that role. The student who takes on this role must:
have passed their prelims by the start of the fall semester for which they are appointed
be willing and able to make a two-semester commitment to the course
have no other year-long forms of funding
Because the outcome of preliminary examinations may not be known until the end of the summer, and the fact that some fellowships and grants are not awarded until the end of spring semester, the call for applications for the position usually doesn't go out until late March with a deadline in April, and decisions are sometimes made after the close of the academic year. Applications are submitted via an email in which the student must describe their:
past experience grading and mentoring undergrad writing
past experience leading discussion sections, designing assignments, serving as an instructor of record
perspective on the role of the capstone in our undergraduate major
familiarity with WEC (Writing Enriched Curriculum) in the department, including fluency with the criteria and/or writing resources website
views on writing in the discipline, as an instructor and practitioner of that craft
Fellowships
Outstanding incoming students may be nominated by the Department for a highly competitive CLA Graduate Fellowship, a fellowship with the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC), or DOVE Fellowship. These awards cover all tuition costs and include a stipend. In addition, the Department is normally allowed to nominate at least one or two qualified students for the annual Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship award. This award also covers all tuition costs and includes a stipend. There are also a number of other dissertation fellowships offered through the Graduate School. Consult their website for more information. CLA and UMN offer several other competitive pre-dissertation and dissertation writing fellowships, such as the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship (IDF) and the Harold Leonard Memorial Fellowship in Film Study, that require departmental nominations. Please consult the Graduate School's grants and fellowships web page for a more extensive list, information on each competition, and a listing of fellowship deadlines.
Research and Travel Funding
DEPARTMENT FUNDING
Each academic year the department invites students to apply for departmental travel funds to present papers at conferences, conduct pre-dissertation museum and field research and pursue non-credit language training for languages not offered at UMN. The DGS will solicit proposals at the start of fall semester, and applications can be submitted throughout the academic year for review on a rolling basis. All proposals must be submitted using the department's application form (available below and in the Forms, Policies and Links tab).
Funding can be applied for in advance, but awards for conference travel will be made contingent on acceptance of the student's paper by the conference organizers. With respect to conference travel, the department gives priority to applications that support student presentations, but, if funds allow, may also support attendance.
To apply for departmental funding, please fill out the appropriate webform to submit a funding request:
Please also attach a detailed budget using the current per diem figures from the GSA. Copy this spreadsheet template, fill in the information, and attach it to your application. Make certain to hit "submit" at the bottom of the form and that you receive a copy of your submission in email. If the request is urgent or if you haven't heard a response after two weeks, please email the DGS.
In addition to travel funding, the department offers summer research support of up to $5,000, depending on the available balances in endowed funds. The DGS sends out an email in spring semester soliciting applications for these funds. Students are not required to submit a budget, as the funds are meant to support summer research in whatever form that might take. Since students may use the funds to support travel if they wish, no additional travel requests should be submitted for the summer.
To receive any of these types of funding, students must maintain full-time registration. ABD students must register for at least one credit of GRAD 8440 and not GRAD 999, which does not satisfy the requirement.
Federal Law requires that graduate students who receive research funding in the summer must maintain full-time registration. The college has created an asynchronous, online one-credit course for this purpose, CLA 8000. Please consult with the DGS about whether you will be required to register for and complete this course.
UNIVERSITY AND EXTERNAL FUNDING
In addition to departmental support, we encourage students to apply for UMN and external travel funding as well. For example, the Graduate School offers Judd Travel Grants to support international travel and Research Travel Grants, funded by a number of university endowments, to support student research.
In addition to these university sources, there are a variety of short-term library/research grants available such as those at the Getty Research Center, Library of Congress, Newberry Library, and Dumbarton Oaks. Most scholarly conferences such as those sponsored by the College Art Association, the Association of Historians of American Art, the Renaissance Society of America, and the 19th Century Studies Association offer travel stipends for graduate student participants. Students are encouraged to apply for these resources whenever possible. See the Graduate School's grants and fellowships website for more details.
International Travel
International Travel
UMN Travel Registry Requirement for International Travel Related to Employment
UMN Travel Registry Requirement for International Travel Related to Employment
University policy requires all faculty, staff, and students traveling abroad for University purposes to register their travel through the GPS Alliance International Travel Registry. This required action is part of the University's efforts to ensure that all travelers are prepared and educated about safe and healthy travel abroad. When you register your travel, you will also become covered by the international health, security, medical, and evacuation insurance.
Finding and Applying for Internal and External Funding Sources
All students about to reach or currently in doctoral candidacy are expected to research and apply for external funding. While the department regularly alerts students to the larger pan-disciplinary and art history-wide competitions, graduate students are expected to conduct their own research on external fellowships and grants in their field in consultation with their advisor. Note that most deadlines are in the early fall. Throughout the year, the Department receives notices of funding opportunities from private institutions and foundations. Information on applications is distributed on the listserv and often posted in the T.A. office (320 Heller), and on the graduate bulletin board (next to 320 Heller). In addition, the university offers several competitive dissertation research and writing fellowships (e.g., the DDF, IDF etc.). The department will alert students via the listserv when a departmental nomination is required and the departmental deadline for submission of materials. The department maintains an editable list of external funding sources that graduate students are encouraged to augment and update here. To be considered for a fellowship that requires departmental nomination, please fill out the webform linked below. Submit one form for each nomination request.
Nomination Request for UMN and External Fellowships
BRIDGING FUNDS
When a student receives a prestigious external fellowship that does not include full tuition and health insurance benefits, the University has made available a source of funding to help bridge the gap. If you receive a fellowship that does not fully cover your tuition and insurance, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies upon receiving your award letter. The DGS will then begin a bridging funds application on your behalf. More information is available here:
INTERNAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Sample Successful Funding Proposals by UMN Graduate Students
Colonial Dames of America Scholarship for International Students
EXTERNAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship Fund for International Students
CLA List of Resources (including SPIN, Pivot, and the Foundation Directory Online)
Funding Eligibility and Maintaining Good Standing in the Program
GPA
To be eligible for funding and thus continue in the program, graduate students must maintain at least a 3.5 GPA, remain in good standing with the department and make satisfactory progress towards degree, meeting major milestones as outlined in the doctoral program timeline (e.g. incomplete coursework, qualifying papers, exams, completion of dissertation etc.) in a timely manner. Failing to meet program milestones in a timely manner will result in probation and, if unrectified, constitutes grounds for termination. Students with outstanding coursework and thesis credits can only progress through the program if they are eligible for the tuition scholarship that comes with the assistantship. Because of this, if a student's GPA falls below 3.5 they risk immediate termination. Any decisions on probation, the conditions for being removed from probation, or termination will be communicated in writing. All classes taken to fulfill the minimum coursework requirements must be taken for a letter grade and passed with a grade of B or better (see GPA above).
GRADING BASIS
All program requirements must be taken for a grade. The S/N ('pass/fail') cannot be used as a grading basis for any ARTH doctoral program coursework requirements (i.e. the primary art historical concentration, secondary art historical concentration, global distributions, minimum minor/external program coursework, 8001 and the two seminars). While UMN general policy limits the proportion of classes taken S/N to 1/3 of coursework applied to a degree, apart from circumstances judged truly extraordinary by the DGS, students in the PhD program in Art History may only use the S/N grading basis for elective courses.
INCOMPLETES
The Department of Art History strongly discourages students from carrying incompletes on their transcripts: a maximum of one is allowed; any more can be grounds for probation, especially if the other milestones are not met. Incompletes should be removed from the transcript prior to the start of the next semester. The Graduate School issues biannual reports to the DGS regarding students who have incompletes on their record. These students are contacted by the DGS in order to set a timetable for completing the work and removing the incomplete. Students who do not respond to the DGS or who do not remove incompletes risk being placed on academic probation and losing eligibility for department funding, or termination.
ANNUAL REVIEW
Each year, as part of the required annual review, the faculty meets to assess all students' progress to degree. In advance, the Director of Graduate Studies will review student files to ensure that students are meeting the appropriate milestones and criteria to remain in good standing. If a student is found to be in violation of any one of these criteria or missing milestones, the student’s advisor along with the rest of the faculty will be informed at the annual review meeting. They will review the student’s file and discuss whether the student should be placed on probation, with the final recommendation coming from the Director of Graduate Studies. If students are placed on probation, the terms and length of the probation will be decided upon jointly by the faculty advisor(s), the Director of Graduate Studies, and the department chair. Students will be notified of their probationary status in writing, and a copy of the probation letter will be included in the student’s departmental file. The letter will include conditions for release from probation. If at the end of the probationary period the student has not met the terms outlined in the probation letter, the student may be subject to dismissal from the graduate program and the university.
STUDENT CONDUCT CODE
UMN graduate students are also held to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents Student Conduct Code . Students who are found to have committed any one of the disciplinary offenses outlined in the policy (e.g. plagiarism, sexual harassment, falsification of records/documents etc.) may be subject to sanctions, including probation, or immediate dismissal from the program and the university. The Department of Art History supports the efforts of the University of Minnesota towards prevention of sexual assault. We encourage all students to participate in the free online training that has been established for undergraduate students and graduate students. The training highlights pertinent issues regarding sexual assault, including, but not limited to: defining healthy relationships, consent, bystander intervention, and gender roles. Additionally, to learn more about how you can help reduce sexual assault at the University of Minnesota, please visit the Aurora Center.
Further Resources after Funding is Exhausted
If the departmental curriculum requires additional TAs beyond available graduate students under funding, assistantships are sometimes available for students who have already taken their five years of university funding. If a student would like to be considered for such an assistantship in their sixth year, they should submit a request to the department administrator via email once they have heard the result of any external grants they have applied for, but at latest by the end of June. In an effort to keep students on track and to reward efforts to finish on time, students who are in their sixth year and who have made a good-faith effort to apply for extramural fellowships are given priority over those who have been in the program longer.
EXTRADEPARTMENTAL RASHIPS AND EMPLOYMENT
Administrative, teaching, and research assistantships throughout the university are often available for students beyond funding. Programs like the CPS, CEMH, CMS, the Winton Chair, or in rarer cases, individual faculty members who have won research grants, may hire graduate research assistants, sometimes at a 25% or 10% appointment. These are normally only available for students who have finished their thesis credits and are thus in a lower funding category. The department endeavors to alert qualified students when they are posted.
Students interested in these or other on-campus or off-campus positions should contact the Student Employment Center:
100 Donhowe Building
319 - 15th Avenue S.E.
(15th Ave. and University Ave.)
Minneapolis, MN 55455
EMERGENCY LOANS
Short term emergency loans are available from the University of Minnesota to cover unexpected emergency expenses. For more information on the program, refer to the SELFund program.
While students who keep to the department timeline will not need to take out student loans, these resources are available, though not recommended, for students beyond funding. Students applying for loans to cover educational and living expenses should obtain the forms from:
One Stop Student Services Office
West Bank Skyway
University of Minnesota
219 19th Avenue S.
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Application materials are available in January. Students should complete the forms as soon as possible, as this will facilitate processing. Call the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid at 612-624-1111 with questions.
Financial Advice and Assistance
The university offers financial advice and assistance from a few sources, including:
Financial Wellness from the Student Services Office (including financial counseling and information on budgeting, loans, credit, and identity theft)
Financial Aid Counseling through the Office of Student Finance; for information, email onestop@umn.edu
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