Faculty Fellow (FF)

Faculty fellowships are awarded to entering students and entail no service obligation, beyond satisfactory progress in study and research. Faculty fellows are restricted from holding instructional appointments.

Teaching Fellow (TF)

A teaching fellowship is awarded to students who, as part of their academic requirement and training, perform duties ranging from reading and grading assignments to running discussion sections or labs, or teaching sections of undergraduate courses excluding Literature Humanities and Contemporary Civilization, the required Core Curriculum for undergraduate students at Columbia. The expected time commitment for these duties is roughly 15 to 20 hours per week on average.

Teaching Guidelines 

The appointment and training of teaching fellows are governed by University-wide guidelines, which are supplemented by teaching guidelines specific for each department. These teaching guidelines outline the Graduate School’s recommendations for administering departmental teaching programs and selecting and providing training to teaching fellows. For details specific to individual departments and programs, teaching fellows should consult their department’s teaching guidelines. The GSAS Teaching Center provides supplemental training services for teaching fellows on the Morningside campus, which include workshops and individual consulting.

Preceptor (PR)

A preceptorship is awarded to students appointed to teach a section of Literature Humanities or Contemporary Civilization (these are both full-year courses in the Columbia Core Curriculum). This appointment is renewable for one year, but appointment to teach in the second year is contingent on satisfactory performance in the first year. Students may apply to be a preceptor only if they have or expect to have the M.Phil. by the May prior to being appointed as a preceptor, and if they will be in no more than their sixth year of registration during the first year of the preceptorship. Students may not hold preceptor appointments after year seven. For additional information concerning the Columbia Core Curriculum, please see their Web site at http://www.college.columbia.edu/students/academics/core

Research Fellow (RF) 

A research fellowship is awarded to students who, as part of their academic requirement and training, perform work on a faculty research project not necessarily related to the student’s dissertation and not supported from external grants and contracts. The duties associated with research fellowships average 15 to 20 hours per week. Research fellowships are most common in the natural and social sciences.

Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) 

A graduate research assistantship is awarded to students supported for the most part by an external research grant, but requiring some support, mainly in tuition and health fees, from GSAS. These assistantships are awarded, for the most part, by the natural sciences departments.

Dissertation Fellow  (DF)

Dissertation fellowships are awarded to students engaged in researching or writing their dissertations. Usually only students who have successfully defended the dissertation prospectus and demonstrated that they have made a good faith effort to obtain external funding are eligible to receive dissertation fellowships. Dissertation fellowships are most common in the humanities and social sciences. Dissertation fellows are not permitted to hold teaching appointments. 

Summer Fellow (SF)

Summer fellowships are awarded to students prepared to embark on some special training or on some aspect of their dissertation such as defining its subject. Students may retain GSAS funding in combination with non-GSAS awards up to a specified cap.

Questions about the availability of all GSAS awards should be directed to the director of graduate studies of the student’s program.