Financial Aid Information
Both the Office of Graduate Admissions and Records and the Financial Aid office offer various fellowships to graduate students, as outlined in the Graduate Admissions Guide. To obtain more information from the Office of Graduate Admissions and Records, contact them at 218 Student Services Building, Knoxville TN 37996-0220 or (865) 974 - 3251. To obtain more information from the Financial Aid office, contact them at 115 Student Services Building or (865) 974 - 3131.
The Philosophy Department awards three kinds of aid: graduate assistantships, graduate teaching associateships, and scholarships.
Graduate School Fellowships
The Graduate School offers a variety of Fellowships for which we urge eligible applicants to apply. All require that you have a minimum of 3.7 GPA. The deadline for application is February 15 th. Details can be obtained HERE.
Graduate Assistantships or "GA"
A GA assists a faculty member with his or her teaching or research responsibilities. Assistantships are awarded to outstanding applicants who hold at least a Bachelor's degree, normally but not always with a Philosophy major. In awarding GAs, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, and your overall record of academic achievement are taken into consideration.
Work load: You will be expected to work 1/4 time (no more than 10 hours per week). You will be assigned to one or two faculty members who will ask you to grade papers, tutor students, do library research and/or lead discussions in class. Assistants will also be available for small tasks the staff requests and for proctoring exams for faculty members.
Application
To apply for a Graduate Assistantship, you must fill out and submit a Philosophy Department Financial Aid form. Also, have a transcript from every university/college you have attended sent to the Director of Graduate Studies by the university/colleges' Registrar. The application deadline is February 15th. If you have not already been admitted, you must also apply, as described in the Graduate School Catalog or in the departmental Graduate Student Procedures for degree status admission to the Graduate School and the Philosophy Department.
Graduate Teaching Associateships or "GTA"
A GTA teaches an undergraduate course in philosophy or leads several discussion sections. Normally, associateships are awarded to outstanding applicants who have a Master's degree in Philosophy, or who have had at least one semester prior teaching experience, or who have served for at least a year as a Graduate Assistant in exemplary fashion. In any case, an Associate must have completed a minimum of 18 hours of graduate work in philosophy to be eligible.
Work load
You will be expected to work 1/3 time (no more than 14 hours per week). You will be assigned to teach your own class, which will normally be a section of Introduction to Philosophy: Value and Reality (Philosophy 110) or Introduction to Philosophy: Knowledge and Reality (Philosophy 111). Experienced GTAs may be assigned to teach other courses such as Ethical Theories and Applications (Philosophy 242), Critical Thinking (130), or Formal Logic (135). Your class will have 40-43 students. You are responsible for designing the course, teaching and grading. You will be invited to participate in a GTA workshop, offered by the Learning Research Center, to help prepare you.
Application
To apply for a Graduate Teaching Associateship, follow the same procedure as that for applying for a Graduate Assistantship and include letters of recommendation from those who know of your teaching abilities and performance.
Selection Process
Following the February 15th deadline, the Graduate Committee provides the Department Head with a ranked list of accepted applicants for GAs and GTAs, based on your transcripts, GRE scores, and letters of recommendation. In some instances, a personal interview may be required prior to a final decision being made. The Department Head then informs all applicants by letter concerning their chances for an Assistantship or Associateship, and makes offers and appointments as funds become available.
Renewing a GA or GTA
You must file a Philosophy Department Financial Aid form at the department each year by February 15th and attach an up to-date student progress sheet (a template of which the department provides you during your first semester). At this point, the department will take into account the number of years of prior aid, philosophical promise, departmental need, progress toward your degree, and past performance as a GA or GTA.
Scholarships
There are three scholarships from the department: the Bacon-Beard scholarship, the Beard scholarship and the Rolf-Dieter Hermann scholarship. These scholarships involve a lump-sum payment; a tuition fee waiver is not included. If you want to be considered for one of these scholarships, you should make such a request in the cover letter you send to the Department of Philosophy when you send in all your application materials. There is no need to specify which scholarship you are interested in.
