Although the University is recognized as having strong graduate program students, its financial aid packages do not receive such high commendation.
The University lags behind its peer institutions on giving money to graduate students, according to a report released last week by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Aware of the problems faced by graduate students at the University, the Faculty Senate has made graduate student funding one of its top priorities this year, Faculty Senate Chairman Robert Grainger said.
Working with the Offices of the Provost and College Dean, Grainger said he hopes to raise more funding for graduate students, a project which he said is challenging for a variety of reasons.
Normally, a state school could ask the state for increased funding, but there is "not a lot of optimism" that the University's request would be granted, he said.
At the University, "the problem is exacerbated because out-of-state students pay an enormous amount of tuition," making it especially difficult to acquire adequate funding for graduate students' tuition fees and living stipends, Grainger added.
Grainger said one of the best alternatives is to ask alumni for support, something the Alumni Association already has begun to do. This year, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation provided three stipends to graduate students equivalent in value to full tuition and living expenses.
"I am overjoyed that Alumni Hall has taken an interest in raising money for graduate students," said Todd Price, president of the Graduate Students of Arts and Sciences Council.
Grainger said he hopes to provide more graduate student scholarships through a joint project of the Faculty Senate and College.
Grainger and College Dean Edward Ayers have brought the Faculty Senate and College together to create scholarships for graduate students who excel in their scholarly pursuits and in teaching. The awards, which each would be worth between $15,000 and $20,000 per year, would be called "Outstanding Teacher and Scholar Dissertation Year Awards," Grainger said.
"We're having some progress this year," thanks to the Alumni Association, Faculty Senate and College initiatives, Price said.
For the past several years, the council has worked toward the goal of obtaining health insurance for graduate students. The University now provides health insurance for about 80 percent of graduate students, he said.
But even while working for health insurance, the council realized there were larger funding issues the University needed to address, he said.
For example, the Chronicle placed the University at the bottom of its list of stipends for teaching assistants. While economics teaching assistants at New York University receive $18,000 per year, the University pays its economics teaching assistants $6,000.
Similarly, mechanical engineering research assistants at Stanford, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Maryland - College Park earn over $20,000 per year. Research assistants at the University receive $13,500.
As evidenced by the Chronicle's report, graduate student funding is an issue many schools have addressed, Price said, and "we're just trying to make the administration aware of how important this issue is."
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