Teaching Assistantships

Teaching assistantships are competitively awarded. These awards require you to do work for the department in exchange for a full tuition waiver (fall and spring semesters) and a monthly stipend. Teaching Assistantships require approximately 20 hours of work per week. 

Teaching Assistantships are yearly assignments; students must apply for renewal of these awards every year. Renewal depends on successful progress in the degree program and successful work performance, whether in the office, the classroom, the Writing Center, or as a Research Assistant to a faculty member. Masters students can apply for a maximum of two years of funding, PhD students for three years. We offer an occasional fourth-year of support to literature students who are working to complete their dissertations; fourth-year support is highly competitive. Please note that the number of Teaching Assistantships granted to the department is designated by the Office of Graduate Studies and varies from year to year. 

The work students do for the department is important. We need and we expect excellent, responsible teachers and tutors, office workers and RAs. It matters to us that students do their jobs well and take them seriously. This work is also a crucial part of professional development and will serve students as they develop their C.V.s, their teaching portfolios, and their academic credentials more generally. We expect and we will enforce the highest level of professionalism from our students. 

Teaching assistants who will be teaching at Southern Miss for the first time (regardless of previous experience elsewhere) will be required to take a teaching practicum, ENG 690. The practicum focuses on ENG 101 the first semester, and ENG 102 the second, and provides TAs with syllabi, readings and assignments for their classes. It is a 6-credit course, but the credits do not count towards degree requirements.

Enrollment Requirements for TAs

 

Paperwork

The following paperwork must be completed and returned to the Student Employment Office, located at 125 McLemore Hall, before you can receive your first paycheck:

• Federal Form W-4
• Mississippi Employee's Withholding Exemption Certificate 
• I-9 Employee Eligibility Verification
• State Directory of New Hires
• Direct Deposit Form
• Election to Discontinue Printing Direct Deposit Advice
• Drug Free Workplace

All required forms can be found here.

Those students who have been assigned one or more courses to teach must also fill out a Verification of Faculty Credentials form, and must have official transcripts sent to:

Student Employment Office
118 College Drive #5014
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001.