Bravo! This is a great move for our College. Rosalind Horowitz From: Norma Morales <norma.morales(a)utsa.edu&gt; Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2022 4:25 PM To: COEHD(a)lists.it.utsa.edu Cc: Mario Torres <mario.torres2(a)utsa.edu&gt;; Linyi Zhou <Linyi.Zhou(a)utsa.edu&gt; Subject: [Coehd] Attention COEHD Importance: High Sent on behalf of Dean Torres. Dear COEHD Faculty and Staff, With UTSA's newly acquired status as a Carnegie R1 institution with NRUF eligibility, graduate education has become even more vital to our mission and strategic vision. Graduate students provide intellectual support to faculty in their dual mission of research and instruction and acquire the knowledge to become leaders across a variety of careers that positively impact San Antonio and beyond. Recognizing this key role, the campus-wide Graduate Student Task Force (composed of faculty, students and staff from all units) stated in their recommendations<https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=ht... issued in 2019 that, in order to recruit, retain and graduate the highest caliber of graduate students, UTSA should appoint doctoral students as full-time, fully funded graduate assistants in defined categories with funding packages that are nationally competitive with our R1 peers. UTSA respects and embraces these recommendations, and we in the College of Education and Human Development wholeheartedly support them, too. Thus, effective Fall 2022, full-time doctoral students (defined as enrolled in 9 SCH in Fall and Spring semesters and 3 SCH in Summer) will be offered fully funded graduate assistantships at 19 hours per week (0.475 FTE). These appointments can be as GRA, GTA, GSA or a combination of these categories and can combine multiple funding sources. The funding package for full-time fully funded GAs will include stipend, full tuition + fees, as well as health care. To ensure uniformity and fairness, each doctoral program has established stipend rates at which GAs must be paid; students within that program cannot be paid below or above their published rate. For complete transparency, funding packages for each doctoral program have been published and can be accessed on the Graduate School website and on individual college websites. * Stipends will be paid as Contract Pay which means that students are paid in a timely manner on a regular cycle without requiring completion of time sheets. This consistency allows students to be able to plan and budget their finances better. Colleges can start submitting eforms for GAs as early as 7/18. * Tuition and fees will be paid directly by the college on behalf of their students by set dates, obviating any financial holds and undue stress for students. * Full-time fully funded GAs will be auto-enrolled in the UT System's SHIP health insurance plan and their premiums at single subscriber rates will be paid by the college directly to the provider. Students can choose to opt-out of this coverage or add additional coverage and additional dependents at their own expense. To help with these changes, documents providing guidance, details of each step in this process, as well as resources have been developed and posted on the Graduate School website<https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2...;. The revised offer letter templates state the type of appointment (fully funded or partially funded), the requirement that full-time fully funded students must enroll for the 9/9/3 SCH sequence every academic year, and that by signing their acceptance students acknowledge all requirements. This language should also be included in the Doctoral Program Milestone agreement so that the student views and acknowledges this information in two different documents. I thank you all in advance for supporting this tremendous effort on behalf of our college's Ph.D. candidates. We hope that with these changes to reducing financial barriers, our current doctoral students will be able to focus more fully on their program of study, leading to more successful outcomes and degree completion in a timely manner. Also, we expect these changes will make UTSA all the more attractive to prospective candidates as we look to grow our doctoral enrollment here in the College of Education and Human Development and across the university. Please contact Dr. Heather Trepal, Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success, or the Graduate School if you require additional information or have questions. Mario Norma Jean Morales Administrative Associate I The University of Texas at San Antonio College of Education and Human Development | Office of the Dean One UTSA Circle, MB 3.304 San Antonio, Texas 78249 O: 210.458.5200 F: 210.458.4487 norma.morales@utsa.edu<mailto:norma.morales@utsa.edu>