Terms and Conditions for Assistantships in the Department of Computer Science at Illinois Urbana/Champaign
Acceptance and Resignation of Appointments
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a member of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and supports the resolution which states that students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15 (Fall/Summer admission offers) or December 1 (Spring admission offers). Earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this resolution which is meant to allow students the opportunity to consider more than one offer with ample time to make final decisions. After the April 15 deadline, an offer by the institution and its acceptance by the student constitutes an agreement which both parties expect to be honored. You can read more about this resolution and see a list of schools that abide by this agreement by visiting www.cgsnet.org (Resource for Student Link).
Admission to the University/Graduate College
The department makes the recommendation for admission and final approval comes from the Office of Graduate and Professional Admissions. If you wish to accept the offer of admission but decline the financial aid offer, please notify Laura Baylor (lherriot@illinois.edu) in the Department of Computer Science.
Assistantship Time Commitment
A student who is on a 50% graduate assistantship works an average 20 hours per week for their supervisor. Students need to report to work on the start date and work through the end date that is listed on their RA or TA contact.
Graduate Student Course Load Requirements
All CS @ Illinois graduate students are required to be registered as a full-time student. For students on a research or teaching assistantship, 8 hours of graduate level coursework is considered full time by the department. For students on a fellowship or scholarship, 12 hours of graduate level coursework is considered full time by the department and is required to receive their tuition waiver. For students not an an assistantship, 12 hours of graduate level coursework is considered full time by the department.
For students who hold a research or a teaching assistantship are required to register for at least 8 hours of of graduate level coursework. For students who are an a fellowship or scholarship are required to register for at least 12 hours of graduate level coursework. These are required to ensure your tuition waiver.
Students should be aware that there are other situations which require full-time registration and should take care to maintain their status or they will receive a bill for tuition. The following are some instances that may require full-time registration, but may not include all situations: International student on a visa, student who has a previous education loan in deferment, student who receives medical insurance coverage from parent or spouse that requires the student to be registered full-time, etc.
Waiver of Tuition
Assistants who hold from 25% to 67% appointments from the Department of Computer Science are exempt from paying the full tuition (regardless of Illinois residency) and service fee. Appointments in a department other than Computer Science may only qualify for in-state tuition waiver.
Specific Assignments
It is often impossible to inform a new assistant of the specific assignment with their offer. It is only when the department has reasonable certainty which positions are available that the assignments can be made. The assignment procedure requires consultation with academic faculty and staff. Although the department would like to know the assignment desired by a student and will attempt to match this desire with the assignment, there can be no guarantee.
Summer Appointments
Summer employment for research assistants is dependent on the availability of funds for the project to which the assistant is assigned. Summer employment may also be contingent upon the presence locally during the summer of the project supervisor. Summer employment for teaching assistants is limited to the amount of the summer teaching budget. In recent past there have been more requests for summer TAs than positions available.
Renewal of Funding
Renewal of an assistantship or fellowship is based solely on the academic progress of the student, performance of the work of the student, and obligation by department as determined by original letter of recommendation. The award of funding is based on the degree program to which you applied. Renewal and/or continuation of funding may be affected if a change to the degree program is approved by the department during the period of time of the award.
Proficiency in English
Applicants whose native language is not English are required to submit a minimum score of 50/60 on the Test of Spoken English (TSE or UIUC campus SPEAK) exam or a score of 24/30 on the TOEFL iBT spoken section to be awarded a Teaching Assistantship. Also, International non-native English speakers who have not completed a degree in an English speaking country are required to submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) as a requirement of admission. The minimum score must be 570 (paper exam score) or 230 (computer based exam score), 79 on the TOEFL iBT or 6.5, including a minimum subscore of 6 on all four modules of the IELTS exam. The Department of Computer Science has no authority to waive these requirements.
Appointment Dates
Dates of appointments of assistantships for a fall term are August 16- December 31; for a spring term January 1 – May 15. The acceptance of an appointment requires the student to be present and available to your supervisor during the appointment dates. This is most important. If you must be away from your responsibilities you must get prior approval from the supervisor, and in ALL cases, the Academic Office. Failure to be present may result in the termination or non-reappointment of the appointment.
Academic Progress
Continuation and/or renewal of an assistantship appointment is subject to academic progress and evaluation of your assistantship duties as indicated by departmental and supervisor's reviews. Academic progress includes, but is not limited to:
- Maintaining a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 for each semester as a CS graduate student
- Taking and passing the campus SPEAK exam within the first year of study. Passing is 50/60 and is required for students whose native language is not English regardless of US citizenship and has not passed the TOEFL iBT (24/30), TSE (50/60) or IELTS (8) prior to first semester on the UIUC campus.
- Securing a Coursework Committee and submission of a Program of Study form by the end of the first semester on campus(seeProgram of Study site for more information).
- Maintaining full-time registration (12 semester hours Fall/Spring semesters, 4 semester hours if required for summer registration) for students on fellowship or who must be full-time if required to maintain student loan deferment, coverage of insurance by parent or spouse, etc. Evaluation of your assistantship duties as indicated by departmental and supervisor's annual reviews.
Orientation Programs
The Department of Computer Science makes guaranteed "Open Offers" to highly ranked applicants. They may or may not specify what type of assignment the student is to receive, but all who receive these offers are qualified for either a Teaching or Research assistantship. A large number of these open offers will be assigned as teaching assistants. In accepting an open offer the student must be aware that if the assignment is to be a teaching assistant the student will be required to attend a TA orientation program prior to the first term as a TA. These programs are administered by the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) on this campus. The program for the spring 2010 term will be held January 13-14, 2010. Those who are assigned as a TA will be sent specific information regarding dates, times and locations of required attendance. Follow-up sessions are required during the first term as a TA. This orientation is mandatory. Non-attendance may result in immediate termination of the teaching assistantship. Note that assistantship appointments begin prior to the training sessions. See the "Arrival on Campus" section for more information on when incoming students must arrive on campus.
Arrival on Campus
All incoming graduate students, especially International students new to the United States, must arrive on campus well before the beginning of classes for their first semester in order to complete various activities. As per current Homeland Security legislation, however, International students may not arrive more than 30 days prior to the beginning of a term. Therefore it is strongly suggested that new international students arrive on campus no later than 2-3 weeks before the beginning of the term or the first day of the assistantship including required orientation dates, whichever comes earliest. When making plans to arrive, the student should be aware that university housing should be arranged well in advance and may not be available as early as you need to arrive. Living expenses prior to the term are the student's responsibility. The department recommends that new international students visit the web site of the International Student and Scholar Services Office (ISSS). This site contains extremely useful information for incoming international graduate students.