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| External Fellowship Policy |
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| External Fellowship Policy |
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The policy below applies to students in Humanities and Social Sciences departments only. Students in Natural Science departments should contact Tom Tarduogno in the Office of Financial Aid.
Because GSAS considers funding to be a cooperative venture between the student, the department, and the Graduate School, every fellow is required to submit evidence each year of at least one good faith effort to obtain funding from a funding source external to the University. In addition to providing greater stipends, outside fellowships also offer students opportunities to hone grant-writing skills, enhance their curriculum vitae, and make invaluable academic contacts for the future.
To encourage students to compete for outside funding, GSAS provides two incentive options when the following conditions are met:
- The source of the funding comes from outside Columbia University and the funding was obtained on the basis of a competitive application.
- The student would have otherwise received a year of his or her multi-year fellowship according to departmental policies.
Option 1: Top-Off of External Fellowship
Students may receive GSAS funds to supplement the external fellowship. The maximum total award, including the combination of GSAS and external funds, is $28,500 for 2009-10. Students who select this option will not extend their GSAS funding by a year and should complete the Statement of Understanding form, sign it, and send it to the Office of Financial Aid, 107 Low Memorial Library, MC 4304 by September 15 (for the fall semester or for the academic year, or by January 15 (for spring semester only awards). A student who receive an outside award in which the stipend is greater than or equal to the FLAS stipend ($15,000 in 2009-10) will not be required to teach during the period of the outside award unless the student will not have another opportunity to complete the GSAS instructional requirement.
Option 2: Extension of GSAS Funding
This option is not available to students in the Department of Economics.
Students may select, in place of topping-off, to defer one year of their GSAS multi-year fellowship. For example, a student with a five-year fellowship commitment who gets an external award (of one or more years) in the first five years may take the award and defer one year of GSAS funding to the sixth or seventh year. Students who select this option will not be topped off.
Beginning in Fall 2007, students who receive external awards during a year of GSAS funding and who wish to extend their GSAS funding to a subsequent year, within the first seven years of registration, should complete the Statement of Understanding form, sign it, and send it to the Office of Financial Aid, 107 Low Memorial Library, MC 4304.
Students receive neither option until the form is received in GSAS. Students whose forms are not received by September 15 (for the fall semester or for the academic year, or by January 15 (for spring semester only awards) will automatically receive the Top-Off of External Fellowship option and will not defer their GSAS funding.
It is important to note the following:
- Unless the outside award's policy explicitly requires the University to permit deferral of the award, fellowship students are not allowed to defer outside funding
- GSAS funds must be used in the first seven years of the Ph.D. program.
- An external award of one or more years extends GSAS funding by one year (for students selecting option two, the Extension of GSAS Funding option). This policy can be used only once; the total extension of GSAS funding is one year.
- With the option of extended GSAS funding, a teaching fellowship year remains a teaching fellowship year, regardless of which year the funding is used. Students who receive an external award in a year when they would be teaching (according to the terms of their multiyear fellowship) and who extend their GSAS funding are required to complete the teaching obligation when they use the GSAS funding extension. For example, if a year of teaching fellowship is replaced with an external fellowship, then the extended funding year remains a teaching fellowship year.
- Students on external fellowships must be registered full-time during the term of the fellowship. If the fellowship does not cover students' tuition and fees, the appropriate full-time tuition and health-related fees (basic insurance plus access to Columbia Health Services) will be covered by GSAS. In the event that the external award pays some of the tuition and health fees, GSAS will pay the difference.
- Students receiving FLAS, Lindt, Reid Hall, Whiting, CU Travel and other awards that are granted through internal selection committees may not choose the extended GSAS funding option. In addition, teaching assistantships, such as the Cordier, PEPM, IRAAS, IRWAGS, and CESR, for example, are not considered external awards. External fellowships are defined those awarded in a competitive application process external to the University. The GSAS External Fellowship Award database includes many of these external competitive awards.
If you have questions about this policy, please see the Frequently Asked Questions.
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