Fellowships & Assistantships

CIIS offers several competitive fellowships and assistantships for students and a small number of teaching and research assistantships each year. Not every academic department offers research assistantship positions every year. On average, CIIS offers 14 Research Assistantship positions and 95 Teaching Assistantship positions per year.

Fellowship Opportunities

The Center for Writing and Scholarship (CWS) Fellowship Program is a year-long program designed to prepare the next generation of scholars and educators for university-level teaching and facilitation. CWS Fellows complete pedagogical training and receive compensation for work as peer writing tutors and instructors in multiple contexts.

The CWS Fellows Program requires that all Fellows enroll in two 3-unit graduate-level pedagogy courses (units can be used as electives toward program requirements and tuition is paid by CIIS each semester). Courses will introduce Fellows to current theories and approaches to teaching academic writing in higher education. Fellows will graduate with the kind of personal experience and professional credentials that will make them more attractive to future employers.

Fall Semester: Fellows provide 5 hours of peer tutoring per week while completing 3 units of coursework on the theory and practice of writing and peer tutoring.

Spring Semester: Fellows provide 3 hours of peer tutoring per week and facilitate a weekly 3-hour academic writing workshop for students while completing 3 units of coursework on pedagogy and classroom facilitation.

Compensation: Compensation for the Fellowship is provided in the form of both tuition reimbursement (6 total units) and an hourly pay rate for tutoring and workshop development and facilitation ($15-$22 an hour depending on teaching context and Fellowship tenure). Research grants and travel stipends may also be available to Fellows. Applications are accepted in the spring semester for a fall start date. All enrolled students (including newly-admitted students) are eligible to apply. Visit CWS for more information.

Teaching Assistantships

Teaching assistantships provide an opportunity for students to gain related experience under the guidance of faculty mentors. The teaching assistant must complete a contract for every class they assist to receive payment of their work.

• Teaching Assistant (TA) positions are for CIIS students currently registered in classes and who are legally able to work in the US.
• Students selected as TAs must be in satisfactory academic standing as defined in the school's catalog.
• The Program Director determines when TA funds are to be used for a TA position and must approve the TA selected by the faculty member teaching the class.
• As a general guideline, teaching assistants should have previously taken the course in which they are going to assist.
• The Program Director determines which courses are to have teaching assistants and must approve the TA selected by the faculty member teaching the course.
• Students cannot concurrently take the same class they will assist.

Teaching Assistants are paid a stipend that varies by the number of units assigned to the course:

Research Assistantships

Research assistantships provide an opportunity for students to acquire experience in diverse areas of research and writing projects. The research assistant must complete a contract per semester or per year, depending on the length of the appointment. The student must also complete a timecard to receive payment of their work. The research assistant may work only up to five hours per week at $14.00/hour.

Contact Us

Please contact our Admissions Team with questions about fellowship and assistantship opportunities at CIIS.