Cunningham Doctoral Assistantships provide an opportunity to recruit new graduate students by offering a multi-year funding commitment. With a department match, the Graduate School will fund tuition and stipend for up to two years. The department selects the pay step and has the option of offering a one- or two-year academic- or calendar-year assistantship funded by the Graduate School, with a matching commitment from the department.
Nominations are being accepted now for students who have applied for Spring 2014 or Fall 2014 admission. In addition to new admissions, students who were nominated for AY 2013-14 but were not selected can be re-nominated for a Cunningham assistantship that would start in Spring 2014.
Nominations should include the following information about the student:
- name of applicant
- VT degree sought
- previous university
- recommendation letter from department addressing eligibility requirements as follows:
- Planning to enter a doctoral program at Virginia Tech (preferably from a non-VT master’s or bachelor’s program)
- Outstanding academic record and strong academic potential for successful completion of a doctoral degree
- Academic department nomination
- Financial need
- U.S. citizenship
For Spring 2014, the decisions about nominees will be made within 2-3 weeks of receiving the nomination. For Fall 2014, decisions will be made no later than February 1 (50% of offers) and by March 1 for the remaining assistantships. Send requests directly to Dr. Karen DePauw at kpdepauw@vt.edu.