Economic crisis attracts teaching assistants

MU provides teaching assistants a full tuition waiver and small salary.

By Victoria Guida

Published April 9, 2009

In today's struggling economy, jobs are more coveted than ever. At MU, graduate students have the opportunity to be employed as graduate teaching assistants.

Teaching assistants receive full tuition waivers in addition to their small salary, the former of which is especially attractive for students pursuing masters and doctoral degrees.

"The pay is not enough to support an individual, let alone a family," said T.J. Tomlin, a teaching assistant for the history department and recent father of twins. "However, I've been able to earn a Ph.D. without going into debt."

School of Journalism teaching assistant Laura Evans said she was initially attracted to the job because of the full tuition waiver, but she gets her income from other sources.

"The pay is good because it pays for school, but the stipend that I receive on top of my fee waiver is not enough to survive on," Evans said. "I had an internship during the first half of the semester, and I am currently living off of my savings until I can find a new job."

Joe Beilein, a teaching assistant with the history department, said being a teaching assistant is really a means of paying for graduate school.

Minimum stipend levels for 2008-2009 for graduate assistantships in eligible titles are $19,610, or $12.57 per hour for full-time nine-month appointments. Full time, 12-month appointments receive $26,146, or $12.57 per hour, according to the MU Budget Office.

"My wife's income has been essential to keeping the two of us, and now our family, financially afloat throughout my time in graduate school," Tomlin said.

Evans also added the economy has had an impact on the teaching assistant job market.

"I'm not sure that my specific position is more difficult as a result of the economic climate, but I know that Mizzou had to cut a lot of positions and it was unknown whether or not they were going to be able to offer all the positions they had originally planned to offer," Evans said. "I was hired right before the hiring freeze, and the J school didn't know if the hiring freeze was going to effect TA and RA positions."

Tomlin says this isn't particularly surprising, though.

"The academic job market is intensely competitive even when the economy is booming," Tomlin said. "The 'great recession,' as I heard it called recently, has caused a number of full-time job searches to be canceled, but I think those that choose to pursue a life in the humanities are, for the most part, at peace with the financial realities in graduate school."

The job is also time-consuming. Tomlin said he spends at least 20 hours on average per week doing teaching assistant work for courses he has previously taught. For courses he has never taught, he takes considerably more time.

Evans said she spends approximately eight to 10 hours a week on her teaching assistant duties, in addition to the 30 hours she spent over spring break grading.

"I suspect that these skills are valuable in a variety of professional settings," Tomlin said.

Beilein described it as a great hands-on experience.

"It's almost like being a professor-in-training," Beilein said. "You get a chance to work closely with the professors, work with the kids, and get feedback on teaching."