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New Mexico State University
College of Engineering
Klipsch School of Electrical & Computer Engineering

 

Graduate Student Financial Support

GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIPS

Graduate assistants are either teaching assistants (TAs) or research assistants (RAs).

Support for students working on master's degrees shall ordinarily not exceed two years.

Support for doctoral students shall ordinarily not exceed five years. The fifth year of support shall be contingent upon successful completion of the doctoral comprehensive exam.

Before students can be hired as either a TA or RA, they must complete an application for financial support and obtain three confidential letters of reference.  This material should be sent directly to the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, not the Graduate School.

Teaching Assistantships

1. The NMSU Graduate School provides the Klipsch School with support for teaching assistants. The Klipsch School uses teaching assistants to teach laboratories and for classroom support, such as paper grading and tutoring. 

2. Teaching assistants are selected by the Graduate Studies Committee, approximately 2-4 months prior to the beginning of the semester. 

3. Nominations for TAs are made strictly by the advisor after a student has received admission.   Thus, any requests directly from students for a TA position will be ignored.  An advisor may recommend a student for a TA position, by emailing the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee.  The recommendation should include:

  1. the  name of the student, email address, degree sought, and expected graduation date
  2. a description of how this student is supporting the advisor's research program
  3. a list of undergraduate classes the student would be suitable to TA
  4. an assessment of the student's oral communication skills.  Note that if English is not the student's native language, the student must be able to pass the ITA screening or course, described below.

4. International students for whom English is a second language must take the International Teaching Assistant Screening Test before they can become teaching assistants. Students unable to pass the screening test must take the ITA Development course (COMM485) which is administered by the Communications Studies Department.

ECE Department Teaching Assistantship Limits

1. For MS students, ECE Department teaching assistantships are limited to four semesters.

2. For Ph.D. students, ECE Department teaching assistantships are expected to conform to the following time-table:

  1. Pass the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam within 2 semesters
  2. Pass the Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam within 4 semesters
  3. Pass the Dissertation Defense within 5 semesters

Research Assistantships

1. Externally supported research programs provide the Klipsch School with support for research assistants. Unless an entering student has a unique background which enables the student to contribute directly to the externally supported research project, the student needs to spend one or two semesters in the Klipsch School working under his/her advisor prior to becoming a research assistant.

2. Students need to contact research program directors directly to establish support for research assistantships.   Students should begin by contacting their initial advisors about the possibility of research support.

FELLOWSHIPS

The Klipsch School's Electrical Utility Management Program (EUMP) provides a limited number of fellowships for students interested in pursuing master's degrees in the electrical energy systems specialty.