Advisors and Faculty Mentors
The director of Graduate
Studies, under the general direction of the Departmental Chair, is responsible
for student recruitment, graduate student advising, scheduling of Ph.D.
qualifying and thesis/dissertation defense examinations, and the maintenance of
graduate student records. The Director of Graduate Studies will be the formal
adviser to all graduate students and will approve, by signature, all individual
course programs and class schedules.
Upon entering the program, and with the guidance
of the department’s Director of Graduate Studies, the student will select a
mentor, who will guide the student in the chosen doctoral program. This mentor
may change as the student’s special interests change, and will become Chair of
the Qualifying Exam and Dissertation Committees.
In all faculty meetings dealing with student
evaluations and financial aid, the mentor will present your case and attempt to
look after your interests. If you have problems, take them first to your mentor
(or to the Director of Graduate Studies) who will know which channels of formal
communication should be used to solve the problem quickly and without fuss.
Support
Nearly all private Universities are expensive;
SMU is no exception. Everyone, students and faculty alike, is concerned about
securing and distributing financial support. The Department of Anthropology has
a limited amount of financial support available for new and returning graduate
students. Decisions to award financial aid are based on faculty evaluation of
overall student performance.
Decisions about support for the coming semester
are reached at faculty meetings at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters. A
notice of deadlines for student requests for support is posted well in advance.
If you are to receive support, the Departmental Chair will send you a letter in
late December or May.
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Opportunities for Support
- Teaching Assistantships currently pay $6000
per semester. These are sometimes awarded to first year students, but
generally for reader/grader positions. These do not carry remission of tuition
or fees.
- Graduate Assistantships
within the Department customarily pay $6000 per semester, with duties as
prescribed by the Department Chair. Again, these do not carry remission of
tuition or fees. These can be awarded to first year students.
- Departmental Tuition Awards cover tuition and
fees and are awarded to new as well as continuing students.
- Tuition Equalization Grants (TEG), available
from the state of Texas, (9 hours for one term).
- College Work Study Program funds are available
at SMU for those financially eligible.
- Research projects led by individual faculty
members provide employment to many students, frequently on a part-time basis
for one semester, then on a full-time basis in the field for a subsequent
semester or summer.
- The GARRY A. WEBER
Graduate Fellowships, ($2,000) are awarded in conjunction with a dissertation
completion award ($2,000) from the Dean of Graduate Studies (total $4,000) to
students who are in the final phase of dissertation writing. Please
see the Director of Graduate Studies or the Department Chair for information
on nomination for an award. Only a limited number are available.
- DISSERTATION FELLOWSHIP AWARDS: Dedman College
offers a small number of dissertation fellowship awards. Students must be
recommended to the full faculty by their dissertation chair and must complete
and defend their dissertation by the end of the award year.
