Although we cannot make any guarantee, it is the department's intention to provide up to five (5) years of financial support towards completion of the Ph.D., contingent upon availability of funding and the student's making satisfactory academic progress and remaining in good academic standing with the department/University. Normally, this support will be provided in either the form of a half-time (20 hours per week, .50 FTE) Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) or a half-time Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA). Current GA/TA salary information is available from Mary Guerrieri (PG4gdWVycz0iem52eWdiOnpuZWxAeWN5Lm5ldm1iYW4ucnFoIj56bmVsQHljeS5uZXZtYmFuLnJxaDwvbj4=, 520-621-2828). Most of our students supplement this support by working full time on research projects during the summer (with a GRA appointment). It is the policy of the department to provide students who receive an outside fellowship or scholarship with sufficient support in assistantships so that the total benefits package will be at least comparable to that of someone with a .50 FTE GTA or GRA who receives a summer GRA stipend.