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Graduate Assistantships

The Department of Health and Human Performance offers a number of research and teaching fellowships to qualified graduate students. Scholarship funds are distributed in a manner designed to enhance our position among the upper echelon of research universities of the world. To that end, we use these funds to recruit and retain outstanding graduate students having the potential to further to the research agendas of our faculty. To aid in achieving the University’s Tier 1 aspirations, our highest priority is to fund PhD students continually throughout their programs (within the time limits set by the university). When possible, we will also support MS students; however, their support is more likely to be year-to-year than continuous.

The Award Process

The GRD Student Funding Subcommittee is responsible for making recommendations to the department Chair to ensure that all available funds are distributed to the eligible students most likely to succeed in their studies and enhance our position among the highest tier of research universities. As graduate student funding awards are generally offered for one-year periods, the Subcommittee follows a similar schedule during each year:

• In January, the Subcommittee estimates the total available funding expected for the coming year, and develops a plan recommending funding packages (full, partial, none/waitlist) for each returning and newly accepted student for the following school year (September-August).

• In February, the plan is reviewed, modified (as required), approved by the GRD, and forwarded to the department Chair. Then offer letters are sent to all accepted students, who are asked to sign commitment letters by May 1.

• In May, the Subcommittee meets again to revise its plan redistributing funds from uncommitted students to waitlisted or newly (since January) accepted students. The revised plan is then reviewed, modified (as required), and approved by the GRD. New offer letters are then sent to the respective students.

• In August, the Subcommittee meets again to revise its plan based on which students have actually enrolled in courses. The revised plan is then reviewed, modified (as required), approved by the GRD, forwarded to the department Chair and new offer letters are sent to all affected students.

Should any new funding become available or a need arises to meet at other times during the year, the Subcommittee will meet to determine how best to distribute it and present their recommended actions to the GRD.

Guidelines

Full awards (salary plus tuition) are preferred over partial awards (salary or tuition). However, individual student factors and total available funding are considered in developing each award package.
When available funding is insufficient to support all eligible, qualified students, the following priorities are considered in developing an overall distribution plan:

1. Ph.D. students should take precedence over M.S. students.

2. Returning students should take precedence over new students.

3. Full-time students should take precedence over part-time students.

4. Students awarded Research Assistantships using funds from agencies that do not allow tuition reimbursement should take precedence over all other students for Tuition Fellowships.

5. Funding one student recruited by each new faculty member (first three years at UH/HHP) having no other funded graduate students should take precedence over all uses for Teaching and Tuition Fellowships, except as noted in 4, above. To be eligible, however, the new faculty member may need to be under the mentorship of a senior GRD faculty member.

6. Teaching and Tuition Fellowship awards should be balanced equitably across the three major research groups and across individual faculty members. That is, no research group or faculty member should be given precedence over any other, except as noted in 4 and 5, above.

7. Students working on projects for which Research Assistant funding is available will not be eligible for Teaching Fellowships unless all available Research Assistant funding for that project has been committed to other students. That is, faculty members must commit all of their Research Assistantship funding on a project before Teaching or Tuition Fellowship support will be made available to students working on that project.

8. Unexpended Teaching or Tuition Fellowship funds allocated to students who fail to commit to our program, complete or abandon their studies, fail to progress toward the degree in a timely manner, fail to fulfill requirements of the funding award, transition to Research Assistantships etc., will become available to the GRD for redistribution.

For more information please contact Mr. Todd Boutte, you can send an email or call at 713.743.0571 (mailing address: Health & Human Performance, 3855 Holman St, Garrison Gym 104, Houston TX, 77204-6015).

Graduate Assistantship Application form (pdf)

Note: This form is not an application to graduate school. A separate application for admission and all associated materials must be submitted directly to the Graduate Admissions Office (713)743-1010.