Communication Degrees Online

Financial aid
Teaching Assistantships

The CRDM Program offers six to eight Teaching Assistantships each year to newly admitted students, with a stipend of $14,500 and payment of health insurance and tuition (but not fees, which the student must pay; see Cashier’s Office for current fees). Some appointments for Research Assistantships may also be available. The financial support, through the Graduate Student Support Plan, requires the student to be registered for 9 credit hours each semester. Teaching Assistants in the doctoral program are eligible for the tuition support and health insurance for a maximum of eight semesters.

Duties for Teaching Assistants will be assigned by the director of the program in which they work, usually the First-Year Writing Program, the Professional Writing Program, the Campus Writing and Speaking Program, or the Basic Course in the Department of Communication. Other teaching assignments may be given to advanced students. Work assignments are 8-9 credit hours or approximately 20 hours a week.

NC State’s regional accrediting association requires that Teaching assistants have 18 credit hours of graduate coursework in the department in which they teach in order to be given responsibility for their own course. TAs who do not meet this requirement will be assigned other duties until they have enough coursework. TAs may also be required to take a training course to prepare them for a specific teaching assignment (this course usually fulfills the Professional Preparation requirement).
Research Assistantships

Faculty may have grant support for their research projects, and such grants may include support for a graduate Research Assistant. A Research Assistantship pays a stipend determined by the sponsoring faculty member or the granting organization and also provides payment of health insurance and tuition through the Graduate Student Support Plan. Fulltime RAships require the student to be registered for 9 credits each semester. Like TAs, RAs are eligible for tuition support and health insurance for a maximum of eight semesters.

The availability of RAships will vary from year to year. Applicants who indicate interest on their application forms by checking the “Research Assistantship” box will be contacted by the sponsoring faculty member or by the Director of the CRDM Program if they are eligible for any available RA positions.

SAS Institute Research Assistant: The SAS Institute Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric and Technical Communication provides support for one or more Research Assistantships each year, with a stipend matching that of TAs, along with tuition support and health insurance provided by the Graduate Student Support Plan. RAs will provide support for the Professor’s ongoing research and have the opportunity to develop their own related research projects. Contact Dr. Carolyn R. Miller, SAS Professor.

Digital Libraries Intern: The NCSU Libraries supports one CRDM student each year to work with library staff on projects to support the instructional and research mission of the library. The library is a leader in digital library services and has a staff of innovative professionals who are actively interested in supporting student learning and faculty research.

PCOST (Public Communication of Science and Technology): PCOST supports research on the factors that affect the public perception and acceptance of scientific and technological developments in the 21st century. One current project is the Nanotechnology Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT), exploring intuitive toxicology and risk perception associated with nanotechnology. Contact Dr. David Berube, Director.

Certificate in Corporate Written Communication

This professional writing program focuses on courses which will enhance communication skills at the workplace. The Certificate in Corporate Written Communication is comprised of three graduate courses selected from an existing menu of courses already offered as part of the Master of Science in Written Communication Degree. The three-course sequence can serve as a gateway to the Master’s Degree, since graduate students are allowed to take three courses before declaring themselves as part of the Master’s Degree Program. The entrance requirements for the Certificate are the same as the entrance requirements for the Master’s in Written Communications. If they choose to continue beyond the Certificate, students may do so seamlessly, without any additional testing or application requirements.

The writing program offers imaginative and creative students a unique opportunity to develop their talents and prepare themselves for challenging careers in a variety of fields.

Students majoring or minoring in writing are given a solid background in literary study, exposure to the theory and practice of writing at a professional level, and a workshop environment that provides immediate feedback from peers and professors in order to assist students individually in their growth as writers.

Typical areas of student interest include poetry, fiction, screenwriting, journalism, and public relations. Professors in the writing program are themselves professional writers actively engaged in their craft. In addition, students often enroll in film classes and experimental courses created with the writing student in mind. Some writing students choose to join the staff of The Mirror, Lakeland’s student newspaper, and The Spectrum, the electronic year disc. Some also gain practical experience as interns for local newspapers, radio stations, and non-profit organizations and corporations. The international literary magazine Seems is published at Lakeland College, and outstanding writing students are often invited to serve as assistant editors for an issue.

Graduates of Lakeland’s writing program are presently employed in advertising, book store management, business, college teaching, communications, counseling, computers, editing, education administration, international business, journalism, law, retail management, mental health, public relations, radio, sales, and travel. The program has also served as outstanding preparation for graduate school.

Students who major in Writing will be able to:
understand the key terms, histories, forms, and structures of several significant genres of writing;
present their work clearly and professionally when writing within different genres;
use language and literary devices in creative and unique ways;
work both independently and within a community of writers; and
appreciate and engage the rigors necessary for successful careers within the writing profession.

LSU’s master’s program is broadly based in British and American literature. As a graduate student, you will be expected to take forty-eight hours, twenty-four of which must be at the graduate level (click here for complete degree requirements). A class in research methods and proven facility in a foreign language are required; the rest of your program will be individually designed according to your background and interests.

Many of our students consider their experience as a teaching assistant to be the most important part of the MA program. If you apply for and receive a teaching assistantship, you will teach one class of college writing per quarter under the supervision of Dr. Elissa Kido, director of the writing program and Dr. Mary Wilson, our department chair . Teaching assistants are also required to take the class, Composition Theory, in their first quarter on campus.

Again, thank you for considering graduate study at La Sierra University. Please browse through our English department web site to learn more about our program. For news about what our current MA students and recent graduates are doing, click here. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lora Geriguis
Graduate Student Advisor