What are the typical stipends for civil and environmental engineering graduate students?
While sources of financial aid vary among our graduate students, we commit to supporting all students.
The current yearly graduate fellowship at Duke CEE is typically $53,930, which includes $8,280 per year for registration and other fees, $23,650 in tuition, and the remaining $22,000 as stipend. Each graduate student will gain valuable teaching experience at Duke through the leadership of undergraduate laboratory or recitation sections during at least two semesters of their time on campus. We give funding preference to outstanding Ph.D. (or M.S.-Ph.D.) students, but M.S. students are often supported as well.
We offer aggressive incentive packages for outstanding Ph.D. students with external support such as National Science Foundation Fellowships.
Can I take courses from other departments within the Pratt School of Engineering and across Duke?
Yes. We encourage students to build an interdisciplinary educational experience that suits their needs. Duke offers a wide range of opportunities for students to take advantage of our centrally located School of Medicine, the Sanford Institute for Public Policy, the Nicholas School for the Environment and Earth Sciences, and Duke departments of chemistry, physics and mathematics, etc.
As a graduate student, what are my teaching responsibilities?
Teaching is considered an integral part of the graduate experience. It prepares future Ph.D. holders for a possible academic career by providing experience in lecturing, teaching laboratory experiments, and tutoring individual students. It helps develop skills in communicating ideas and fair grading.
Teaching assistants are used in undergraduate courses to:
* Set up and conduct laboratory exercises;
* Conduct recitation classes;
* Grade homeworks;
* Supplement the faculty office hours
As part of graduate training, each doctoral graduate student is required to serve two semesters as a teaching assistant (TA), while each Master's graduate student is expected to serve one semester in that capacity. A typical teaching workload of a TA is about 10 hours per week.
Typically courses with fewer than eighteen students do not have a teaching assistant, however every laboratory course with regular experiments requires a teaching assistant. Every MS student is required to TA one time and every Ph.D. student is required to TA two times. In addition, Juniors and Seniors usually TA for certain courses: Engineering Communications (EGR 150), Architectural Engineering I (CE 161), and Architectural Engineering II (CE 162). Undergraduates have also occasionally TA'd for Solid Mechanics (EGR 075L), Matrix Structural Analysis (CE 131L), Concrete Design (CE 133L), and other undergraduate courses.
The student's Master's, QEC or Ph.D. Committee reviews the teaching evaluations of a TA provided by students and the principal instructor. All TA assignments have to be deemed satisfactory to fulfill the teaching requirement. In case the committee or the DGS does not consider the requirement fulfilled, the student will be asked to serve again as a TA.
For more information and guidance on teaching assistantships, review the Guidelines and Policies for the Professional Development of Teaching Assistants developed by the Graduate School.
What are the residency requirements for graduate students?
In accordance with Graduate School policies, minimum residency requirements must be met before graduation. They are one academic year with at least two successive semesters for a Master's degree and one academic year beyond the Master's for a doctoral degree. Please note that this residency requirement is independent from an additional requirement of six (or five) semesters of paid tuition.
What if I need to take a leave of absence during my graduate studies?
Students may apply for a leave of absence by filing the Leave of Absence Request form, available at the department office. A leave of absence for a period of time no longer than one calendar year may be granted because of medical necessity, full-time employment, receipt of an external award, or other acceptable reasons. The Graduate School has established additional guidelines regarding leaves of absence, available online.
