Student Funding Goal of Department
Our goal is to offer support according to merit, subject to funding
restrictions, for all students who request
same. Preference will be given to students making the best progress
towards their degrees. M.S. students
requiring more than 2 1/4 years of support and Ph.D. students requiring
more than 5 years will drop to
a lower priority group. This means that support may terminate after 2
1/4 years for M.S. students and
5 years for Ph.D. students.
Application for TA/RA Appointments
Graduate students in the Graduate Program in Biostatistics who wish to
be considered for a TA/RA
position must file an Assistantship and Fellowship Application and
three letters of recommendation in the
program office (F664, Health Sciences Building).
The application must be renewed annually (in Spring) by a simple request in writing, stating that a TA/RA position is still desired.
Appointments are made for varying time periods. TA appointments are typically for either one or three quarters. RA appointments ordinarily are for four quarters or more, depending on budget. Most initial assignments are made in the summer quarter to begin in fall.
At the time of the initial appointment the faculty supervisor and RA/TA should agree on duties, time commitment, vacations, etc. Selection is based on the following criteria: prior academic achievement, GRE scores, letters of reference, relevance of completed courses, prior work experience, and fluency in English to the extent required by the position.
Renewals
Renewal decisions are based on the student's progress toward a degree
as well as teaching/research
effectiveness. (See definition of satisfactory progress below). The
Department maintains a system for
evaluating teaching effectiveness. Effectiveness in a research
assistantship is determined by the faculty
supervisor. Most TA renewal decisions are made in Spring for the
following academic year. Most
research assistantships are expected to continue for at least a year; a
faculty member or student is asked
to give at least one month's notice if they wish to terminate early.
Promotion
Initial appointments are at the TA/RA level. TA/RAs are promoted to
PDTA1/PDRA1 after they have
been working for one full year or after they complete their Master's
degree, whichever comes first. (TAs
or RAs who enter with a Master's degree are placed at the PDTA1/PDRA1
level initially). Promotions
to PDTAII/PDRAII are granted at completion of the General Exam.
Promotions take effect in the next
pay period following the date the departmental requirements are
satisfied. Promotions may be subject to
availability of funds.
Satisfactory Progress
A full time graduate student in Biostatistics is considered to be
making satisfactory progress if he/she:
Progress for each student is reviewed annually by the faculty.
Supplementation
Students holding regular 50% (20 hours/week) assistantships may
supplement up to the equivalent of an
additional 50% quarter per year. That is, each year they may serve as
assistants for three quarters at 50%
and one quarter at 100%, or two quarters at 50% and two quarters at 75%
etc. All supplementation
arrangements are subject to the constraints that academic progress is
not impeded and that the extra
positions are available. Moreover, supplementation requires prior
approval of the Graduate Program
Advisor and a successful petition to the Graduate School (with
the
exception of Summer quarter).
Remuneration
See the UW Graduate Service Appointment Schedule at:
the
Grad School web site
State Residency
All students who are U.S. citizens or are permanent residents are
strongly encouraged to take steps
immediately upon arrival to become Washington State residents. (This
entails registering to vote, changing
driver's license, transferring vehicle plates.) Otherwise they may
be charged the difference
between in-state and out-of-state tuition after their first year.
This is because traineeships and assistantships cover in-state
tuition only (for in-state and out-of-
state students) unless a special nonresident differential (NRD) tuition
waiver is granted. In our department
most of these waivers are committed to incoming out-of-state and
international students.
The faculty of the Department of Biostatistics approved a prior version of this document at its meeting on November 19, 1992; only minor changes have been made since that time. The original version was approved on August 3, 1989.