TAMU graduate students regularly serve as teaching assistants for large undergraduate survey courses. Many have the opportunity to be instructors of record for their own classes, typically during their fifth year. In addition, the Department offers “History Teaching Endorsement,” a program to mentor our graduate students in the classroom and help them develop a dynamic teaching portfolio. Students work with a faculty mentor to develop a statement of teaching philosophy, receive feedback on their lecturing and discussion-leading techniques, and keep up-to-date on the latest classroom technologies. Our Graduate Placement Director also provides professional development workshops on teaching.
Graduate Assistant Teachers (GATs)
The History Department offers graduate students enrolled in the PhD program either four or five years of financial support by becoming Graduate Assistant Teachers (GATs). GATs assist a professor teaching an undergraduate course and are expected to work up to 20 hours per week grading and performing other duties for their assigned course, including keeping regular office hours for students.
Graduate students who become GATs have their tuition and mandatory fees paid by the department and receive a $2,500/monthly stipend for the 9 months of the regular semester. They also receive the option to enroll in the university’s graduate student health and life insurance plans at no additional premium.
Some exceptions apply. Self-funded students are not eligible to receive a GAT position. Students enrolled in 2-year terminal MA or BA/MA 3+2 programs can sometimes receive GAT assignments if extra positions are available on a case-by-case basis. 2-year terminal MA or BA/MA 3+2 students who do accept a GAT position receive the same stipend and health benefits as GATs in the PhD program, although their tuition and fees are not paid by the department.
Graduate Assistant Lecturers (GALs)
History Department graduate students in the PhD program who have completed their comprehensive exams are eligible to become Graduate Assistant Lecturers (GALs), in which they teach their own undergraduate course. GALs are expected to work up to 20 hours per week and perform all of the same duties as a regular professor teaching a course, including preparing their own lectures and grading, as well as keeping regular office hours for students.
Graduate students employed as GALs have their tuition and mandatory fees paid by the department and receive a $2,750/monthly stipend for the 9 months of the regular semester. They also receive the option to enroll in the university’s graduate student health and life insurance plans at no additional premium.