Funding Information and Policies on Maintaining Good Standing

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 an 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 taken count towards a student’s 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 All funding is contingent on a student’s successful progress toward degree and can be withdrawn if a student does not meet minimum GPA and progress requirements (see Eligibility below).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, which also play a central role in providing a student training and experience as a teacher. Research assistantships are less common, as funding from them depends on grants won by individual faculty or programs to hire students for specific projects. The department endeavors to supplement the standard CLA TA and RA stipend with an additional grant. This is always dependent on the continued performance of endowment funds and CLA support, but for the coming academic year we estimate the combined stipend and supplement amount for assistantships to be ca. $19,500. Incoming students' offer letters will specify the exact amount of the stipend and detail all elements included in the funding package.

• 1. 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. The appointment is generally on a half time basis (780 hours per semester). A half-time TA position for two semesters pays approximately $18,213, 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. The stipend amount is supplemented by the department to bring it to ca. $19,500.

  2. Students who receive a research assistant (RA) award are employed by a 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 benefits as a TA-ship. A half-time R.A. position for two semesters pays approximately $18,213, 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. The stipend amount is supplemented by the department to bring it to ca. $19,500. 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.

Fellowships

Outstanding incoming students may be nominated by the Department for a highly competitive CLA Graduate Fellowship or DOVE Fellowship. These awards covers 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 write-up fellowships, like the GRPP, Stout-Wallace and IDF, that require departmental nominations. Please consult the Graduate School's grants and fellowships website for a more extensive list and information on each competition, and a listing of fellowship deadlines.

RESEARCH AND TRAVEL FUNDING

Every semester 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 early in the semester. All proposals must be submitted using the department's application form (available below and in the documents and forms tab above). The fall semester call includes proposals for the winter break; the spring semester call includes proposals for summer projects, though if funds remains, we will invite an additional round of proposals for late developing projects at the end of the semester. Funding can be applied for in advance contingent on acceptance to a conference. The department gives priority to applications that support conference presentations, but, if funds allow, may also support attendance. In addition to departmental support, we encourage students to apply for UMN and external travel funding as well (e.g. short-term library/research grants at the Getty Research Center, Library of Congress, Newberry Library, Dumbarton Oaks et al.). See the Graduate School's grants and fellowships website and information on external funding information below.

Please fill out the appropriate webform to submit a funding request:

Conference Travel

Research Travel

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 (eg. 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 (see the Useful Links tab) and here. To be considered for a fellowship that requires departmental nomination, please fill out this webform. 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: https://www.grad.umn.edu/funding-tuition-fellowships-grants/bridgingfunds

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 RA-ships and Employment

Administrative, teaching, and research assistantships throughout the university are often available for students beyond funding. Programs like the CSPW, 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.

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 review all students' progress to degree. In advance, the Director of Graduate Studies will review 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. 

The Student Conduct Code can be found in full here: https://regents.umn.edu/sites/regents.umn.edu/files/2022-07/policy_student_conduct_code.pdf