Graduate Assistantships

Financial assistance is available to graduate students through assistantships, fellowships, and scholarships awarded by the School and the University, and through programs administered by the Office of Student Aid and Scholarships (http://www.lsu.edu/financialaid/). A limited number of assistantships are available on a competitive basis through the School each year. The deadlines for applications and supporting credentials for all financial aid, unless specifically noted otherwise, are 30 September and 25 January for the following spring and fall semester, respectively. To be eligible for financial aid you must be in good academic standing.

LSU classifies graduate assistantships (GA), and the following categories are used in the School of RNR.

All students on a full-time assistantship receive a full tuition waiver. However students are responsible for all university fees. 

As soon as the assistantship appointment begins, the graduate assistant must report to the main office (Room 227, RNR) to fill out the various personnel and withholding forms. Appointments are normally for 12 months and do not provide paid vacation or sick leave. The salary of the graduate assistant is subject to both state and federal income taxes.

If you were offered any of these assistantships before you arrived at LSU, you should have already signed a letter of appointment and a copy of the job description of the position to which you are appointed. If you have not signed these documents, contact your major professor.

Your job duties will be specified in an official job description. Your signature on this document signifies that you have read the job description and that you are aware of what is expected of you. Half-time graduate assistants are expected to work 20 hours per week and to be available for duty on all University work days (including those between semesters). Your performance in relation to your graduate assistant duties will be evaluated by your supervisor on at least an annual basis. You will be asked to sign the evaluation and include your comments concerning the evaluation.

As a graduate assistant, you are a salaried employee of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. This position is not entitled to benefits such as group medical coverage or retirement contributions. Although you are not subject to leave tracking (i.e., filling out papers to request leave), you must obtain permission to take leave from your major professor or faculty member funding your assistantship.

Graduate teaching assistants (TA's) will be required to understand and comply with University policies covering such issues as sexual harassment and the Code of Student Conduct. To meet this requirement, graduate TA's will be required to attend University-wide teaching assistant workshops at their first opportunity. The course instructor has certain responsibilities in preparing graduate TA's for their course assignments.

Assistantships should not pose an impediment to your progress toward a degree. Likewise, assistantships are not meant to provide semi-permanent employment. Therefore, the Graduate School imposes the following time limitations for holding an assistantship:

(1) maximum of 30 months for students pursuing an M.S. in programs requiring up to 36 hours (2.5 years);

(2) maximum of 72 months (6 years) for students pursuing a Ph.D.; and maximum of 78 months, including support while in the Master's program, for students pursuing a Ph.D. after earning an M.S. in the same field at LSU. The School of RNR further limits School-based Ph.D. assistantships (e.g., McIntire-Stennis, Forest Products assistantships, teaching assistantships, etc.) to 4.5 years (13 semesters).

Time limits are calculated from the initial appointment date and will not be altered. We expect you to complete your degree well before these limits become an issue. Therefore, you must petition the Graduate Committee to continue a graduate assistantship past the normal time period for completion of the M.S. or Ph.D.

In addition to the time limits, assistantships terminate under the following circumstances:

1) the date the candidate receives his or her degree;

2) the date the candidate stops working;

3) academic probation; and

4) failure to adhere to the Code of Student Conduct or to adequately perform assigned duties.

If the dates for (1) or (2) do not coincide with the termination date of the appointment, the assistant must submit a written resignation.

Fellowships

Fellowships differ from graduate assistantships in that they do not require a work commitment other than actively pursuing the degree and maintaining good academic standing. Consequently, they do not require a job description. However, time limits for fellowships are typically more rigid than for assistantships.

Gilbert Foundation Fellowships are available to students planning to conduct forestry research. Entering stipends are $18,000 and $22,000 per year and renewable for up to two and three years for M.S. and Ph.D. students, respectively. To be considered, your undergraduate GPA must be greater than 3.00 with 3.25 for the last two years, and your GRE must be greater than 1200 (verbal plus quantitative) with each above 500. Students pursuing a Ph.D. must have a graduate GPA > 3.6 to qualify for a Gilbert Foundation Fellowship. 

Scholarships

This is a half-time assistantship and is awarded by a faculty member who is selected by the Louisiana Wildlife Biologists Association (LWBA) based on competitive proposals. The recipient must be a full-time student working toward a graduate degree in either wildlife or fisheries, or both, and must maintain a 3.0 GPA. Any publications by the recipient will acknowledge that the work was supported by this scholarship. The LWBA sends a request for proposals to the School when funds are available, selects the proposal for funding, and the successful faculty member selects the scholarship recipient.

Scholarships will be granted for a maximum of $1,000 annually and are available to any graduate student in RNR. Preference is given to Louisiana residents. To be eligible for scholarship assistance, applicants must comply with the requirements of ACT 807 of 1980, which states that recipients must: (1) major in forestry, wildlife, fisheries, or marine science in a curriculum ending in a degree; (2) have a 2.5 or better overall grade average for high school as well as college; (3) have a 2.0 GPA or better in courses from the major field of study; (4) be a full-time student; and (5) attend a public Louisiana University. The University will certify hours and grades of each recipient at the end of each semester, and upon certification, the scholarship will be renewed automatically. The deadline for submitting an application is 1 April.

To obtain an application contact the Office of Student Services (Room 223, 578-4188). Completed applications must be notarized and returned with two letters of recommendation to the Scholarship/Grant Division of the Louisiana Office of Financial Assistance (GSCES) along with an official copy of at least a second-semester senior high school transcript or, if in college, an official current college transcript. A check or money order in the amount of $2.50 must be included for processing. The GSCES will send award checks to the University student aid officer, who will distribute them to recipients. Each applicant must sign a promissory note stating that the applicant will repay the full amount received from the scholarship if the applicant does not graduate.

Graduate students in forestry who are scheduled to present a paper or poster at a professional meeting may apply for reimbursement from the Gilbert Foundation Travel Fund. Application is made to the Gilbert Foundation Oversight Committee. Contact your major professor for more information.

Graduate students in wildlife or fisheries may apply for Glasgow Travel Grants to attend professional meetings. Grants vary from $150-$200, depending on the number of applicants, and may be used to pay for travel, lodging, meals, and registration fees. Students with less than two semesters (including summer) of graduate study, or students who have previously been awarded a Glasgow Travel Grant are not eligible to apply. Applications for Glasgow Travel Grants are taken at the beginning of the fall semester.

Graduate student travel grants are also available through the Graduate Research and Development Support (GRADS) program of the Graduate School. More