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Financial Opportunities

Home > Graduate Program : Financial Opportunities

Graduate School Fellowships for New Students

Program Description

The purpose of the Graduate School Fellowship program is to assist directly in the recruitment of outstanding students to our graduate programs by providing the incentive of an academic-year merit fellowship. The award includes a stipend of around $22,000 plus academic-year tuition at regular Graduate School rates for full-time status, plus health insurance for the academic year and for summer. (Note: Fellows are responsible for all other fees or charges and tuition to non-Graduate School colleges, such as University College.)

Support Beyond the Fellowship Year

The Graduate School views this fellowship program as a partnership with graduate programs in recruiting and supporting outstanding students. Programs are urged to guarantee the support of their successful nominees for the duration of their graduate work at the level of a half-time teaching or research assistantship, or at the level of support normally provided their best doctoral students—subject, of course, to satisfactory progress and performance. The Graduate School is most interested in supporting fellows whose programs will provide or arrange continuing financial support.

Eligibility

Prospective students who will enter the University of Minnesota Graduate School for the first time in the coming academic year may be nominated. While students need not have been admitted by the Graduate School at the time of nomination, they must have a formal fee-paid application on file at the Graduate School by the February deadline.

Review/Selection Criteria

The review will be conducted by the Graduate School Fellowship Committee, composed of faculty from across the University, which will select the awardees based on the following criteria: the strength of the nominee's career statement; the extent and the level of the nominee's preparation and suitability for the proposed program; and the overall effectiveness of the nominating program's presentation. Except for terminal master's nominees, preference will be given to prospective doctoral students, all other factors being equal.

Application Process

Please complete the tan colored "Application For Financial Aid" and return it to the Department of Communication Studies. The Director of Graduate Studies along with the Department Chair make final decisions on who they will nominate. As stated above, Graduate School Fellowship Committee makes the final decisions.

Communication Studies Prize for Convention Presentation of Research

This prize is designed to encourage active graduate students to present the results of their research at scholarly conventions. An applicant for this prize must be a graduate student in the Department of Communication Studies and must have had a paper or papers accepted for presentation at a scholarly convention. Estimated value for 2008-2009 academic year: $500.00 to each applicant who qualifies.

Note: No one currently holding an academic position at some other institution but has not quite finished the degree is eligible for this award.

Departmental Awards

In the spring if each year, students are encouraged to apply for four departmental graduate awards. A four-member departmental committee, comprising of faculty members and a graduate student representative, will review the application materials and select the award winners. Winners will be announced at the annual awards ceremony held in late April of each year. The awards are:

Frizelle-Reid Memorial Award

This award provides financial assistance for expenses related to the completion of a doctoral degree in communication studies. The award is based on overall academic excellence and the quality of the dissertation proposal. Estimated value: $1,000.00.

Marguerite Garden Jones Graduate Award

This award is presented to a graduate student majoring in communication studies who demonstrates ability to apply what was learned in departmental courses to activities outside the classroom. Relevant evidence might include published articles, conference papers, descriptions of community projects or extracurricular activities, videotapes, reports of observers, etc. Estimated value: $2,000.00.

The Old Buffalo Award: An Award Honoring Retired Communication Studies Professors

This award is given to graduate students currently active in the department. Each year at least one student may be selected for recognition; the department's Awards Committee may choose to split the award between several applicants. There is no specific criteria attached to this award. The award is intended to recognize students who give evidence of becoming independent scholars which is the aim of all graduate study. Evidence of such scholarly achievement includes research into the problems and promises of human communication, communicating the results of that research into the classroom and to graduate student and faculty colleagues, and presenting research to fellow communication scholars at conventions and conferences and in journals. Estimated value: $2,500.00 - $4,000.00

(Reminder: this amount can be split between several applicants.)

Supplemental Graduate Student Research Funds

The purpose of these awards are to assist a few M.A. and Ph.D. students in conducting research for their thesis or dissertation. Funds are to be used to offset the costs of research (e.g., coders, transcription, photocopying, etc.) Estimated value: $300.00 - $600.00.