This fund's purpose is to promote the recruitment, retention and advancement of excellent graduate students.
use of allocated funds
The funds are made available to departments to strengthen their graduate programs by enhancing their graduate recruitment and program activities overall but especially to support the enhancement of Graduate Assistantships or Fellowships. To this end, departments are given considerable discretion to award these funds to students in a manner that supports the fund's purpose. Taft does not restrict the departmental decision process, and the individual awards do not have to be approved by any Taft committee. Yearly allocations must be expended by end of the fiscal year for which they are allocated*.
Departments may use up to $2,000 of their allocation for recruiting and advertising their graduate program.
The following guidelines must be adhered to in awarding an enhancements of Graduate Assistantships or Fellowships:
1. In making a Graduate Enhancement Award to a student, departments may either increase the Graduate Assistantship stipend or supplement stipend funding to meetGraduate School minimums. Departments may also use the funds for graduate fellowships, under which the student does not perform teaching or research duties for the department.
2. When an award is made to enhance a Graduate Assistantship, it must be added to the Graduate Assistantship stipend.
3. When an award is made as a fellowship during the fall or Spring semester, the stipend must be at least as large as the minimum Graduate Assistantship stipend set by the Graduate School, for twenty (20) hours of work per week.
4. It is inappropriate to use Taft awards to make across-the-board increases to all students.
5. A student receiving a Taft award in this manner must receive at least $1,000.
* Per a 2014 – 2015 vote by the Faculty Executive Board, Taft has adopted a special rule for Taft Professors, DARS, and Graduate Enhancement: Rollover will be allowed for into a second year, and by special permission, a third year, provided there is justification for the carryover as well as project start and end dates.