Student Funding
The Georgetown English MA Program offers a variety of funding packages, including a small number of scholarship-only awards for tuition, and a larger number of awards combining both a tuition scholarship and a stipend or hourly wage for professional development work, to about one-third of its first-year students and a smaller number of its second-year students. Any student offered tuition support for their first year can count on tuition support in their second, depending on their maintaining an excellent academic record. Most of the funding packages involving professional development work are awarded on the basis of applicants’ academic record, appropriate experience and interest in the kind of work entailed by the various positions, and other factors applicants might describe in the Academic Statement of Purpose accompanying their application to the Program.
Applicants to the Program should declare explicitly in the Statement of Purpose if they would like to be considered for any of the positions described below. Furthermore, because these positions are highly competitive, applicants should do their best to present the strongest, most honest case they can in describing their qualifications for and reasons for interest in the positions for which they would most like to be considered.
Graduate Writing Associates Program 1 (GWA-HUMW):
Each year the Georgetown English MA Program selects four of its first-year students to serve as Graduate Writing Associates. These associates (GWA-HUMWs) work closely with the Directors of Georgetown’s Writing Program and Writing Center, and with select English department faculty, assisting in the co-teaching of sections of the University’s first-year undergraduate Humanities and Writing courses (HUMW011--COL), designated as “colloquium” courses.
Students apply for these positions by stating clearly in their applications’ Statement of Purpose that they would like to be considered for them, and by demonstrating both a general record of academic excellence and either experience or a strong interest in teaching, preferably including the teaching of writing, tutoring or other related activities. The positions offer tuition support for a full credit load over both years and stipends of $5,000 per semester for the first year of work in the HUMW011 colloquium courses. GWA-HUMWs prepare for, attend, and assist with class; hold conferences with students; and collaborate with the professor assigned to them in reading, discussing and responding to students’ written work. On average, they work 10 hours per week in these different capacities. GWA-HUMWs must enroll in Approaches to Teaching Writing in the fall term of their first year, and they can expect close mentoring throughout the year from the Directors of both the Writing Program and the Writing Center. Contact Professor Norma Tilden for more information.
Graduate Writing Associates Program 2 (GWA-SCS):
Each year the English MA Program selects three of its first-year students to serve as Graduate Writing Associates who work closely with and receive mentoring from the Coordinator of Writing Services in the School for Continuing Studies and from the Writing Center Director. These students work closely with SCS professors in a variety of courses to offer expanded writing tutoring and writing support to the program. Generally GWA-SCS-funded students are assigned to a particular course each semester and help with various tasks, including offering written responses to student writing, giving short presentations on writing-related issues, and managing draft groups. GWA-SCS-funded students may also work with program faculty and administrators to offer workshops and seminars, and to help assess the needs of incoming students. GWA-SCS funded students develop expertise working with non-traditional students of all ages and all levels of preparation.
Students apply for these positions by stating clearly in their applications’ Statement of Purpose that they would like to be considered for them, and should demonstrate both a general record of academic excellence and either experience or a strong interest in teaching, preferably in the teaching of writing, tutoring, or other related activities. The GWA-SCS positions offer tuition support for a full credit load over both years, and stipends of $5,000 per semester for the first year. On average, GWA-SCS Associates will work 10 hours per week in these different capacities. Students selected to be GWA-SCS Associates must also enroll in Approaches to Teaching Writing in the fall term of their first year. For more information, contact Professor Kathryn Temple.
Community Scholars Program:
The Community Scholars Program provides academic support to exceptional undergraduate students from communities that have been historically underrepresented in US higher education. Many of these students hail from working-class, immigrant and/or minority populations, and many are the first in their families to attend college. The Community Scholars Graduate Associates work for the program over both summers and all four semesters of their matriculation in the English MA Program.
Associates begin the July preceding their first year when they report to Georgetown to work in the four-week “summer bridge” phase of the program. The average workload for the summer (which includes teaching support in writing courses designated Humanities and Writing 009 (HUMW009), as well as a good deal of individual tutoring of first-year undergraduates) is 20 hours per week, for which each Community Scholars Graduate Associate receives a stipend of $2,333.
In the fall Associates work an average of 13.5 hours per week, helping to prepare for class, attending and at times teaching class, helping with the assessment of student writing, and lending individual tutoring support to assigned students. In both the summer and fall semesters, each Associate is paired with a teacher of HUMW-009. In the spring semester, they do not attend class but continue 6.5 hours per week of individualized tutoring with undergraduate students in the program. The average workload for the two regular academic semesters combined is 10 hours per week. Associates receive full tuition support as well as stipends of $5,000 per regular semester. Students selected as Community Scholars Associates are also required to enroll in Approaches to Teaching Writing in the fall term of their first year. Contact Professor Elizabeth Velez for more information.
The Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS):
CNDLS is Georgetown University's center for teaching and learning, and is responsible for a number of projects relating to faculty and graduate student professional development, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and teaching with technology. The graduate fellow will help with the overall operation of CNDLS and work on a variety of projects involving pedagogical and scholarly innovation. The position may include working on writing and communication projects (composing, editing), assessment projects, technology projects, or projects involving research on student learning. The position does not require high technical skill, but some basic technical competency is important. Associates are expected to work 15 hours per week and will receive an hourly wage for their work during the academic year, with the possibility of continued employment during their second year. Students must maintain a full time academic load over the two semesters that they hold the CNDLS Graduate Associate post. Please contact Professor Eddie Maloney with any questions.
The Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice:
The Lannan Center's activities, funded by the Lannan Foundation, include a year-long series of poetry readings and seminars, an active program of community outreach, and a major on-campus literary and scholarly symposium in the spring. Duties assigned to the Lannan Graduate Associate will include providing general academic and logistical support to the ongoing activities of the program, assisting with the Center’s community outreach initiatives, and contributing to the planning and organizing of the spring symposium, whose topic will be in the area of contemporary writing and social issues. He or she will also work with the Lannan administrative assistant in event execution and program development. The Lannan Graduate Associate is required to enroll in 3 courses (9 credits) per semester during her or his first year. In addition to full tuition support for all required coursework in the English MA Program, the position also pays a stipend during the student's first academic year. The student who holds the Lannan Graduate Associate post in his or her first year will work on average 15 hours per week each of his or her first two semesters under the supervision of the faculty director of the Lannan Program. Students holding the Lannan Graduate Associate post in their first year can also expect serious consideration for further employment in a similar professional development capacity in their second year. Contact Professor Carolyn Forché for more information.
For information regarding aid from outside of the English department, please visit the Georgetown University's Office of Student Financial Services site.
