Academic Advisors

If you advise graduate students, you can find a wealth of information in our Graduate Director's Field Guide related to successfully guiding graduate students through their studies.

Download the Guide

Other resources you will need include:

Looking to apply for graduate faculty status? You’re in the right place.

There are three main categories: full, associate, and assistant. Full graduate faculty may also be approved for the doctoral chair endorsement to chair doctoral committees and guide dissertation research and writing. All tenured, tenure track, and full-time contract faculty are eligible to apply for either full, associate, or assistant membership. Part-time contract faculty may be considered for associate or assistant membership only. Please review our procedures (PDF) and the graduate faculty application cover sheet (PDF).

The complete graduate faculty policy regarding responsibilities, prerogatives, and eligibility is in the Faculty and Professional Personnel Handbook.

Download the Handbook

Submit a current vita. (It can be full or abbreviated, although abbreviated covering the last six years is encouraged.) The vita must list your educational history, including the highest degree you’ve earned. If you submit a full vita, please indicate evidence of scholarly competence during the last six years by listing the most recent entries first with a bold or italicized font or by highlighting the appropriate evidence.

The department chair then submits the graduate faculty application cover sheet describing how you meet the criteria for membership to their college dean. This form should be concise with bullet points and contain signatures for the departmental representative (department chair or chair of the committee that evaluates graduate faculty applications), the college dean, and the Graduate School’s dean.

Note: Department chairs (or committee chairs) and deans must not sign their own applications.

This endorsement is required if you are chairing a doctoral committee.

If you are applying for this endorsement, you must have earned a doctoral degree.

Follow the steps for full membership and add a sentence to the graduate faculty application cover sheet indicating you’re seeking this approval.

The department memo should specify how you meet the criteria for this endorsement.

Submit a current vita (full or abbreviated). The vita must list your educational history, including the highest degree you’ve earned, and address your qualifications in your area of expertise as they relate to graduate education and the specific role you’ll fulfill if approved.

The department chair then submits the graduate faculty application cover sheet describing how you meet the criteria for membership to their college dean. This form should be concise with bullet points and contain signatures for the departmental representative (department chair or chair of committee that evaluates graduate faculty applications), the college dean, and the Graduate School’s dean.

Submit a current vita (full or abbreviated). The vita must list your educational history, including the highest degree you’ve earned, and address your qualifications in the area of expertise as related to graduate education and the specific role you’ll fulfill if approved.

The department chair then submits the graduate faculty application cover sheet describing how you meet the criteria for membership to their college dean. This form should be concise with bullet points and contain signatures for the departmental representative (department chair or chair of committee that evaluates graduate faculty applications), the college dean, and the Graduate School’s dean.

Note: Department chairs (or committee chairs) and deans must not sign their own applications.

Graduate Assistantships

To post available graduate assistantships, contact John Knox at the Career Center. (All the forms below are PDFs).

Waiver of Application Fee

McNair Scholars can receive a waiver of application fees by providing certification from their local McNair program director.
The Graduate School has funds to support graduate assistant positions for previous McNair Scholars.

If your department admits a McNair Scholar, you can submit the scholar’s credentials to request one of these awards.

This award does not count as part of your department’s assistant allocation.

You’ll need to provide the following information to have an applicant considered:

  • a brief letter from the program advisor highlighting the candidate’s strengths and duties as an assistant; if you can show how these duties fit with the applicant’s personal career goals, you’ll have a stronger case
  • a copy of the student’s credentials including transcripts, scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or other standardized tests, personal statement, copies of reference letters originally submitted for application, and verification the student is a McNair Scholar

McNair graduate assistants receive the same stipends as other graduate assistants in the department and must attend school full-time.

The award is for one year and can be renewed for one additional year.