Ask a Dean Category: Fellowships and Funding
How do I rectify an overpayment on my taxes as a result of an overpayment from Cornell?
Category: Fellowships and Funding, Tax Date: June 2021
Hi Deans, I was contacted last fall by my department to say that that one of my paychecks had been an overpayment. I was given no information about the paycheck they were specifically referring to but was told someone from payroll would contact me to discuss how I was to repay the overpaid amount. I…
What information can Cornell provide about unemployment insurance and other assistance for unfunded students?
Category: Fellowships and Funding Date: March 2021
Dear Ask a Dean, As discussed in GPSA last week, many departments across the university seem to be facing troubles providing funding for their graduate students next year, including both situations where students need additional time due to the pandemic as well as departments having less money available to cover all of the assistantships they…
How and why does biweekly gross pay change?
Category: Fellowships and Funding Date: March 2021
Dear Deans, I am a Ph.D. student working as a GRA this school year. I noticed in my recent payslips in Workday that the biweekly gross pay decreased from $1,573.45 in last semester to $1,541.98 this semester. I do not think my funding source has changed. I am not complaining about such a small change,…
Is Graduate School conference funding available for virtual conferences?
Category: Fellowships and Funding Date: February 2021
Hello Deans, Is the Graduate School conference funding available for virtual conferences (to cover registration fees)? Thank you, Presenting From My Kitchen Response Dear Presenting From My Kitchen, I’m pleased to share that the conference travel grant has been available for virtual conferences since last summer. Information can be found on our Conference Grant website:…
Does Cornell allow graduate students to accept contract or consulting work a few hours per week?
Category: Fellowships and Funding, Other/Miscellaneous Date: February 2021
Dear Deans, It’s my understanding that professors are able to contract out or do consulting work a certain number of hours a week. I know grad students at other schools who are also able to contract or consult a few hours a week. In the interest of getting some industry experience, is this something Cornell…
What are the criteria for Spring 2021 TA assignments?
Category: Fellowships and Funding Date: January 2021
Hello, Recently my department released the list of grad TA course assignments. However, some TA assignment/course pairings did not seem to make sense based on instructor request or student expertise. When I asked the department for more information on how TA assignments are made I received an ambiguous answer. I was told that there are…
What are the funding dates for assistantships and fellowships for the spring semester?
Category: Fellowships and Funding Date: January 2021
Hello Deans, Happy New Year! I’m hoping you might be able to provide details about funding dates for assistantships and fellowships for the upcoming semester? Especially given the substantial shift in the semester calendar, I’m hearing a lot of questions about when appointments “start” and when we can expect funding to resume. Apologies if this…
Could we be provided clarity on who was eligible for and received the emergency summer fellowships?
Category: Fellowships and Funding Date: July 2020
Dear Deans, I was wondering if we could be provided some clarity on who was eligible for and received the emergency summer fellowships that was announced by Dean Kahabka in April. DGSs from two different graduate fields (totaling over 100 Ph.D. students) have shared that none of their students were approved for the fellowship despite nominations…
Can we take a “leave of absence” without losing our scholarships/fellowships?
Category: Fellowships and Funding Date: July 2020
Hi, Can we take a “leave of absence” for Fall ’20 and Spring ’21 without losing our scholarships/fellowships? -Learning about my options Response Dear learning about my options, There are two types of leave of absence available through the Graduate School: a health leave of absence or a personal leave of absence. Both types of…
Will I have a gap with no stipend due to the delayed start of my assistantship appointment?
Category: Fellowships and Funding Date: July 2020
Dear Deans: I saw in Cornell’s announcement of plans for the next academic year that classes will be starting on September 2. This is about a week later than usual, and I’m concerned that the start of my assistantship appointment will be delayed as well. I’m seeing predictions on Twitter that I’ll have to deal…