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Home > Student Life > MSI Financing Options
Financing Your MSI Education
Strategies for Seeking GSRA/ GSI Positions at U-M
Nearly every graduate student needs to finance his or her MSI education. While the School of Information offers substantial and highly competitive tuition scholarships to our MSI students and actively assists students with seeking part time employment, we simply have more students than scholarships.
Given this reality, our new and continuing students look for and have been successful in finding graduate student research assistantships (GSRA) and graduate student instructor (GSI) positions, both at SI and in other departments at U-M.
Below are success stories -- including tips and strategies on how to find GSRA and GSI positions -- from our students who have landed these positions, either before they started at SI or during their years at SI.
The table at the end of this report shows the number of GSRA/GSI positions that were obtained by MSI students over the past four years. From the names of the departments, I am amazed at the breadth of the knowledge and skills that our students have and can offer. I am very glad to see how our students aimed at the right targets given their strengths and secured GSRA/GSI positions from a variety of departments and schools at U-M.
Based on my years of experience in financial aid advising and these students' responses, here are some essential tips for your pursuit of GSRA/GSI positions:
- Know your skills
- Find the right targets
- Pay attention to School-wide E-mails
- Have a good resume and references
- Have good presentation skills
- Be persistent and follow up
- Network
- Be creative
I hope the following success stories will benefit you and inspire your creative approach to financing your education here at SI.
Xiao-wen Zou
Senior Academic and Financial Aid Advisor
School of Information
Success Stories from SI students
I graduated from the University of Michigan in 2006 with degrees in communication studies and English, and a minor in science, technology, and society. After graduation, I worked in marketing/practice development at a global law firm in its New York City and Chicago offices before applying to grad school. I was always interested in working as a GSI as I was used to being taught by them as an undergrad. I knew I would have the best chance at teaching in my own previous fields of study, so I checked in with both the English and Communication Studies Department listings on the Internet: www.hr.umich.edu/acadhr/grads/postings.html. I applied and heard back from the Communication Studies Department and was offered a position teaching Communication Studies 211: "Evaluating Information," a class which I had taken as a sophomore in LSA. I have since been awarded the same teaching position; fall 2009 will be my third consecutive term teaching 211. I would advise SI students to be aware of all the GSI application deadlines, as they are extremely early on and to apply to the departments where they have undergrad educational experience. I would also encourage anyone with previous teaching experience to apply. Also, SI students should pay attention to the newly admitted SI forum and the School-wide E-mails, as there is pertinent information being shared about available GSI positions.
Emily Alschbach
I am a nontraditional student and came to the School of Information to change careers. I have a doctorate in U.S. history and taught at university level for over 15 years, so when researching funding resources, I naturally looked for GSI positions. During my first and second semesters at SI, I applied at every department that had GSI openings where I thought my teaching experience could be of some use, but did not succeed in getting any position. But some time during my first semester, a professor who was my academic advisor mentioned in passing that there was one undergraduate course at the School that hired master's students (and not just doctoral students), SI 110: "Introduction to Information Studies," taught by Professor Frost. I contacted Professor Frost, and when the position opened, at the end of my second semester at SI, I applied for and obtained the position for the following academic year.
Dominique Daniel
Prior to coming to Michigan I worked as the director of education and public programs at a small history museum in New York City. I have a master's in history from the University of Iowa that I earned while enrolled (for four years) in a Ph.D. program. Prior to coming to Michigan, I had three years university-level teaching experience (both as a GSI and as an independent instructor), and one year of high school teaching experience.
Since I had teaching experience, I naturally looked at GSI positions, especially since they covered tuition. I scoured the Rackham and departmental
Web sites and basically just sent out tons of applications. There was no secret to the process, I was just diligent and it helped that I had experience teaching with excellent teaching evaluations, as well as a prior graduate degree.
Last year I was a GSI in the Communications Department, in the fall for Comm 475 and in the spring for Comm 102. This coming year I will be a GSI for SI 110.
Kate Donovan
I was a GSI for the Great Books Program (under the auspices of the Classics Department) in the fall terms of 2007 and 2008. As an undergraduate student in the LSA Honors Program, I had taken all of the courses offered in the program, and I worked for the Honors Program throughout my undergraduate career. There was a happy alignment of the stars when I came back to Ann Arbor and needed funding for SI, and Great Books just happened to have instructors back out at the last minute...two fall terms in a row. I was unable to find a position for the winter semester when I was looking (Great Books downsizes for the second half of the year), and only one of my other GSI applications got me an interview, but no offer.
I do have a strong undergraduate humanities background, primarily in lit and theatre, and so that subject knowledge was what made me eligible to teach the Great Books material. I also had a year of EFL teaching experience. However, it has always seemed to me that it was more the circumstances that got me the job than my particular background.
Kate Hutchens
I worked as a GSI for Chinese language class at Asian Language Culture department. I found the position through the department's Web site (www.lsa.umich.edu/asian ). Usually they would keep posting on their Web sites about open GSI positions, although sometimes those positions are not really finalized until they know the enrollment of each class. Normally there are high chances of open GSI positions for Chinese, Japanese, and a couple of other Asian Languages. There are culture courses, too, but as far as I know, GSI positions of those classes are usually filled by students from their own departments. The application for the GSI position in the ALC department is quite simple. Generally you need to fill out an application form, attach a resume and optional recommendations, and then just submit it. Minimum requirements for language GSI positions are native or native-like language skills, including listening, speaking, and writing. One thing I would like to point out is that for this position typically, it could demand more time than other courses and does require a lot of dedication. You should expect to work every day rather than leaving everything to the last day of the week to finish in one hour, there is just no way can you teach a language course like that.
In terms of campus-wide funding search, here are some of my tips, generally:
- Search campus-wide for opportunities. Many departments have open-GSI positions.
- Try every possibility with an active and positive attitude.
- Networking -- recommendation counts!
Bei Li
I have had two different positions with the Slavic Department and I found them in different ways. The first one I found just by checking their site periodically. I was also checking the sites of all departments which I thought I might be qualified to teach in based on my degrees in Psychology and in Russian. I found a list of all departments and their job posting practices, but that didn't prove to be too helpful and I began just checking the department sites about once a week. I applied to several positions with the Slavic Department and was asked to interview for one, which was then offered to me. As I was working for the Slavic Department, the professor for whom I was a GSI recommended that I speak to the Langauge Program coordinator for the Slavic Department about GSI positions, as she is always searching for GSIs. I did that and that's how I got my second position the following semester, and I have been retained at that position since and will continue there next year.
The best advice I can give is to check frequently, continue checking after the semester begins (my first position wasn't even posted until the second week of the semester), and try and talk to people directly and not just trust the information posted on websites. I would also suggest to be persistent in following through after applying. I nearly lost out on my second position because my paperwork got misplaced somewhere and the right person never saw it, until I emailed and asked about the status and was then asked to come interview.
Jacob Solomon
In early 2008, an E-mail was sent out to School of Information students requesting that all those interested in becoming a graduate student instructor for SI 110: "Introduction to Information Studies," send their applications to Professor Robert Frost. I was in the fortunate position of having taken SI 110 at U-M as an undergrad, so Professor Frost was very interested in both my perspectives on improving the course and what I could bring to the teaching staff as a GSI. I had a video-conference interview with Professor Frost and a week later he informed me that because of my prior experience and technical background, I was chosen for one of the two available GSI positions.
I'm originally from Suttons Bay, Michigan, where I graduated among 83 other students in my class. I came to the U-M on a track and field scholarship in 2003, from which I was honored with two academic all-team awards, as well as an Angell Award. I graduated in 2007 with a major in anthropology and two minors, in classical archaeology and in science and technology studies. Prior to graduating, I was accepted into the School of Information, in which I would combine my tech-saviness and anthropological skills to pursue a degree in Human-Computer Interaction. Prior to graduating in 2009, I completed a four-month internship in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, as a product marketing manager with Belkin International and started the now self-sustaining Talking Points group, which is developing a contextual information and urban orientation system for the visually impaired. I now work for an Ann Arbor-based company called ForeSee Results as a usability auditor.
Jason Stewart
At the start of my second year (fall '08), a partnership between LSA, the Ginsberg Center, and Professor Resnick at SI did not get a grant that would support a GSRA position for me to continue development on a Drupal social networking Web site I had helped build in the winter '08 course, SI 631: "Content Management Systems." I had previously done a fair amount of software design and development for Sakai and knew Chuck Severance, a recent SI faculty member who was very connected with the Sakai community. I ran into him in a West Hall hallway and asked if he knew of anything going on with Sakai that I may be able to get into. He did not know of any Sakai positions, but was working on a project of his own through the Medical School's Office of Enabling Technologies. He mentioned that the OET had funding and that he was in need of someone with my software design and development skills to work on the project, called, CloudSocial. I was indeed interested, and, by the end of the week, the GSRA position was set up.
Because there is no formal system for advertising or finding GSRA positions, students need to take their own initiative in landing GSRA or other funded positions. In my experience, it takes understanding what your skills and interests are and finding faculty members that share your interests and need your skills. There may not always be an exact match, but that's where courses and volunteer positions come in. By taking a course or volunteering on a project that you share an interest with faculty on, you can learn more about a faculty member's interests while gaining skills that are valuable to serving the needs of the project. If a strong relationship is built in the first year, it can pay off in the second year with a job either with the faculty member or with another organization that the faculty member knows about.
Gaurav Cedric Bhatnagar
I worked with Beth Yakel as a GSRA during winter 2009, my final semester in the MSI program. I got the position somewhat serendipitously: I had been working with Beth over the course of the year on a master's thesis project, and when she had a position available, she contacted me about it to find out if I was interested.
Working closely with a faculty member is probably the best way to put yourself in a position to get a GSRA appointment. Beth knew my interests and my research strengths, so she knew that the GSRA she had available would be a good fit for me. If you can't work on an independent study with a professor, it can also be helpful just to sit down with them and talk about your research interests, so that they will keep you in mind when they are looking for help. GSRA appointments don't seem to be posted very frequently -- professors, especially in LIS and ARM, tend to fill them based on who they know, so if you can make sure they know you, you have a much better shot at it.
Kathleen Fear
I worked as a GSRA under Professor Tom Finholt during fall '08 and winter '09 semesters. Social networks has been an interesting field for me. It was only the attractive offerings in SI. So I took Professor Lada Adamic's networks class during my first semester at SI. After completing the course, I was eager to work on a networks-related research project under Lada. At the same time I contacted other professors in SI for research project opportunities. Around the same time, Professor Tom Finholt was looking for a student familiar with social network analysis skills; Lada recommended my name for the position. This was an hourly position starting April 2009. So I started working in April '09 and I continued working in the spring/summer (along with a full-time internship). Then when the fall '08 semester started, I asked Tom if he had an open GSRA position. He had two positions requiring social network skills and he offered me one of them.
I've been seeking funding opportunities since my admission until I got 100 percent funding. I considered as a job. I spoke to my classmates, students who has GSI/GSRA positions and professors. A student working as GSRA who helped and supported me to get this position. Although I tried all possible funding avenues, I got lucky with the position that was most appealing to me.
About me: I'm an MSI winter 2009 graduate, with a specialization in HCI. I'm from India, where I completed a bachelor of engineering in computer science.
Mouly Kumaraswamy
I would be happy to provide tips to fellow students. I attended one of the GSI/GSRA tips lunch sessions my first year and it was very useful.
My persistence is what led me to my GSRA position for 2008-10. Following the advice of other GSI and GSRAs, I applied for every opportunity for which I seemed remotely qualified. I applied to 10-12 my first year at SI. For two or three positions, I made it to the second round, but for many of them, the only response I received was a rejection letter. I knew that I might apply to the some of the same positions the following year, so I kept of spreadsheet of all the application details and the various cover letters and custom resumes for each. For the few where I'd made it to the second round, I wrote notes on the interview and how I could better present myself the following year with my deeper understand the position and responsibilities. A few weeks before the fall semester started my second year, I met with a couple recent alumni who work on campus. I had previously worked with them in a couple classes and on a volunteer project. They mentioned that their office was considering a GSRA position. I told them I was VERY interested and VERY excited about the work they were doing. A few days later they came back to me and told me that it looked like they would fund a part-time position but not a GSRA. In the meantime, I received an E-mail for another GSRA position at SI. I applied, not thinking I would get it, and a couple days later, I had a semester-long GSRA offer for this other department. I contacted the first place and told them that I had this other offer but that my preference was still for them. I met with a few people at the first office for an impromptu interview and they offered me a year-long GSRA position. I took the year-long position which has been renewed for a second year while I finish my dual degree program. My final tips are:
- Be persistent
- Your routine behavior and connections with your faculty and classmates doesn't go unnoticed -- use your social network
- If there's a research project you really want that isn't able to offer GSRA funding yet, demonstrate your skills and passion for it and the funding may come through after all
- If you secure a position, demonstrate how valuable you are to the team so that they think of you for future terms
Kathleen Ludewig
My GSRA was on a project that I started winter semester as an independent study -- while the independent study was concluded, there was a good deal of software development work to do and so I continued the project under a GSRA. I had originally started this independent study as a response to a request to si.all for an experienced programmer.
I think if you have strong technical skills in project management, software development, or Web site creation/design, you should make sure you express interest in GSRAs, since these are valuable skills which are often in need. I would also recommend keeping an eye on the SI E-mail lists as often multiple opportunities for developers and designers are published each semester.
I am a software developer for SourceForge, Inc., and worked on the GSRA while doing my degree. I found having a programming background greatly enriched my experience in SI.
Nate Oostendorp
When I was first accepted to SI, I explored as many funding opportunities as I could find. I started by exploring the funding options at Rackham's Web site. I did several searches using the Fellowship Finder (secure.rackham.umich.edu/Fellowships/ff/) but did not come up with many results. I also sought out scholarships for women in technology, since my background is in technology (Web site design) and I was interested in HCI. I believe that I did apply for a local women in computing scholarship but did not receive any response from the selection committee.
I extensively searched for possible GSRA positions, since I am an out of state student and knew that obtaining such a position would be my best option for paying for school (U-M has one of the best compensation packages for GSRAs/GSIs in the country). I checked the human resources site (hr.umich.edu/acadhr/grads/postings.html) for departments that I might be eligible for positions in and asked around SI while I was at visiting days. This did not prove very fruitful -- the HR website contains very little information.
Ultimately, I learned about my position (Web designer GSRA for Rackham) through an E-mail on the SI E-mail list. I believe the posting was E-mailed out about two days before applications were due. Luckily, I had just finished building my Web portfolio (yellowbreeze.com), so I was able to apply very quickly. I don't believe I would have gotten the position if I did not have a portfolio to include in my application.
Before coming to SI, I worked as a Web designer for two years, so my skill set was perfect for the GSRA position. I also have an undergraduate degree in computer graphics technology, which has been very helpful in my career. I am not sure what is typical for students finding GSRA positions, but I know that the Web team at Rackham almost exclusively hires SI students (they have for the last several years). They are unique in that they explicitly reach out to SI to advertise their openings.
Laura Rodrian
I am Eileen Quintero, currently working at the Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy at the University of Michigan Office of the Vice President for Research. I recently earned an MSI in HCI at the School of Information. In my second semester I was offered a one-year GSRA position after working on an hourly basis for a research faculty in the Museum of Paleontology. I managed data and created several relational databases. I showed enthusiasm and talent, and had gained considerable expertise in the data through the hourly work. All of these qualities made me a good candidate for the GSRA position when my research faculty sponsor was awarded a position by her teaching department, ecology and evolutionary biology. Thus, my greatest tip is to search for work that is interesting and question the faculty regarding any future GSRA opportunities either from that faculty sponsor or one of their colleagues. Showing dedication and a creative investment to problem solving will heighten the chances of being chosen for that project, or for another project through a recommendation to another project.
Eileen Quintero
About myself: I am an international student at School of Information, specializing in Human-Computer Interaction. Originally, I come from India where I did my under graduation in communication design from Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. Before coming to SI, I worked as an interaction designer in companies like Yahoo!, Trilogy, and MindTree. As I planned to focus my career to research related to HCI and social computing, I joined SI. I have my interests in user research, information visualization, interaction design and applying it in a rural context.
I work as a graduate student research assistant at the IT Department of Rackham Graduate School. My role at the department consists of Web development and usability evaluation. The job is interesting as we manage the online applications for students and faculty. It exposes to a lot of real-time challenges of satisfying the user base of elite faculty and bright students. The job entails knowledge in form design, usability, and Web development.
I found this job through an ad posting on the SI mailing list. I applied for this job and gave interviews over the phone. Rackham looks out for incoming students for Web development, Web design, and print design jobs.
Getting funding is always a decisive factor for international students. At least it was in my case! I was active in looking out for opportunities where I could apply. Here are the following methods which worked for me.
- Talk to current students at SI and ask them about their experiences. It worked for me as one of the SI students informed me about the position for which he was working and was planning to move out.
- Actively look for job postings on SI mailing list. Apply to the jobs and be a bit open about the kind of work you are interested in.
- It was interesting in my case as the job description sounded more like a web development job for which I did not have a great experience. As I took the interview to learn more about the job, I realized that a major part of it was to perform usability evaluations on the current forms.
- Look on sites of other departments. There are job postings there sometimes.
- Follow up with the SI faculty or faculties in other departments which relate your previous work or area of interest. Inform them about your interest in working with them and see if there is any opportunity.
Manaswi Shukla
Term |
Unit |
GSI |
GSRA |
Fall 2005 |
Communication Studies |
2 |
|
English Language & Lit. |
1 |
|
History of Art |
1 |
|
LSA CAAS |
1 |
|
Public Policy |
|
1 |
Rackham |
|
2 |
School of Education |
|
1 |
School of Information |
1 |
|
|
Fall 2005 Total: 10 |
6 |
4 |
|
|
|
|
Winter 2006 |
Communication Studies |
2 |
|
English Language & Lit. |
1 |
|
LSA CAAS |
|
1 |
Rackham |
|
2 |
School of Education |
1 |
|
School of Information |
1 |
2 |
|
Winter 2006 Total: 10 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
Fall 2006 |
Communication Studies |
1 |
|
English Language & Lit. |
1 |
|
LSA CAAS |
|
1 |
Rackham |
|
2 |
School of Art and Design |
1 |
|
School of Information |
|
2 |
|
Fall 2006 Total: 8 |
3 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
Winter 2007 |
American Culture |
2 |
|
Communication Studies |
2 |
|
English Language & Lit. |
1 |
|
LSA CAAS |
|
1 |
Psychology |
1 |
|
Rackham |
|
2 |
School of Information |
|
4 |
Slavic Languages & Lit. |
1 |
|
|
Winter 2007 Total: 14 |
7 |
7 |
| |
|
|
Fall 2007 |
Asian Languages & Cultures |
1 |
|
Classical Studies |
1 |
|
Communication Studies |
2 |
|
English Language & Lit. |
1 |
|
Psychology |
1 |
|
Rackham |
|
2 |
School of Information |
1 |
8 |
Slavic Languages &Lit. |
2 |
|
|
Fall 2007 Total: 19 |
9 |
10 |
|
|
|
|
Winter 2008 |
Biology |
1 |
|
Communication Studies |
1 |
|
English Language &Lit. |
1 |
|
Psychology |
1 |
|
Rackham |
|
2 |
School of Information |
1 |
9 |
Slavic Languages &Lit. |
4 |
|
|
Winter 2008 Total: 20 |
9 |
11 |
|
|
|
|
Fall 2008 |
Asian Languages & Cultures |
1 |
|
Classical Studies |
2 |
|
Communication Studies |
4 |
|
Ecology & Evolutionary Bio |
|
1 |
Rackham |
|
3 |
School of Information |
2 |
6 |
Slavic Languages & Lit. |
1 |
|
|
Fall 2008 Total: 20 |
10 |
10 |
|
|
|
|
Winter 2009 |
Asian Languages & Cultures |
1 |
|
Biology |
1 |
|
Communication Studies |
2 |
|
English Language &Lit. |
1 |
|
Rackham |
|
3 |
School of Information |
2 |
7 |
School of Public Policy |
1 |
|
Slavic Languages & Lit. |
1 |
|
|
Winter 2009 Total: 19 |
9 |
10 |
|
Winter 2009 |
Fall 2008 |
Winter 2008 |
Fall 2007 |
Winter 2007 |
Fall 2006 |
Winter 2006 |
Fall 2005 |
GSI |
9 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
7 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
GSRA |
10 |
10 |
11 |
10 |
7 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
TOTAL |
19 |
20 |
20 |
19 |
14 |
8 |
10 |
10 |
Last updated: Sep 03, 2009
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