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Grad students are absolutely that. During my grad student days in a STEM program at a large state university, professors were occasionally able to "buy-out" of
by rahulnair23 10y ago
Grad students are absolutely that.
During my grad student days in a STEM program at a large state university, professors were occasionally able to "buy-out" of their regular course load and forfeit a percentage of their salary. The department head would then hunt for the next best thing - usually an unsuspecting grad research assistant to cover the offering.
- pgbovine 10y agoThat's not exactly how it works. Professors can use grant money to buy out of teaching; they are not forfeiting their base salary. That money will be (indirectly) used to fund other instructors, which may be grad students. It's not like the department head forces an unsuspecting grad student to teach; if they choose to teach, they will be paid for their teaching (tuition + stipend) so that they do not need to be funded by their advisor's grants. The money has to come from somewhere.
- mountaineer22 10y agoSo, the student gets the class at a discount?
- Kephael 10y agoTypically the student gets their classes for free, plus a stipend on top of that.
- microDude 10y agoI think they meant, "Does the 'undergraduate' student get a discount for a class that is being taught by a Graduate Student rather then the original faculty staff". As everyone here knows, NO.
- mattkrause 10y agoYou don't always get paid--a lot of programs require 2-3 semesters of TA duty, even if you don't need the funding. That said, I found teaching to be pretty fun and helpful in solidifying my own understanding so it was helpful (but I'm sure the school also likes the free labor).
- avani 10y agoFun fact: buying out usually means "use grant money to cover hiring an adjunct for a term," not forgoing salary. Adjuncts are cheap (they cost less than a grad student, since they don't get benefits), and a successful research semester tends to make that money back with interest in overhead from the next grant submitted.
- Cyph0n 10y agoWho said a grad student gets benefits? At my college at least, grad students are basically students with - if they're lucky - a stipend and a tuition waiver.