CUNY Acceptances

[DisneyLeith]

Thread revival: Has anyone heard anything about funding yet from CUNY? From past years it seems these decisions have indeed been ongoing through March and into April.

[bugbear]

I'm not in English, so I hope you guys don't mind if I post here. But I've also received the ECF and am a bit concerned about the teaching in years 2,3, and 4. Since there are people in this thread with similar questions, it might be useful if I join the discussion even though I'm in a different discipline. Specifically I want to know more about how it's possible to teach 2 classes, do your own research, and finish your degree in a reasonably timely fashion. I understand that it's beneficial to get teaching experience, and can obviously be intellectually rewarding, but there is a limit to those benefits. It would be different if these were just TA positions, but from what I understand they are more or less adjunct positions with a different title, ie, you teach the entire course. I wonder how good of a job a 2nd year student could really do with their own class, although a very dedicated person could probably do a good job at it. But to be dedicated requires a pretty significant time commitment. Which the undergraduate students obviously deserve, but might not be fair to ask of a PhD student with lots of their own work to do. I just wish I had a more concrete picture of how it works and how manageable it is.

Edited March 11, 2011 by bugbear

[medieviophile]

Quick question: If the ECF is $18K, and you're still required to teach, how is this any different from working as a paid adjunct with a tuition scholarship?

It's not, except that paid adjuncts get paid a thousand or so less and the fellowship guarantees you an income. My wife is in the program. Teaching 2 classes a semester means that she takes only 2 or 3 classes per semester (and the semester she took 3 didn't go very well) but lots of students do even more. Many people have part-time jobs as well-- tutoring, publishing companies, writing centers, etc. The PhD requires 15 classes and it usually takes people at least three years and often four to complete coursework.

If anything, the teaching CUNY makes you do is great experience and training. You will suck at it for the first two/three years but so does everyone else, and at least you'll be in charge of your own class. You have a ton of freedom, but not much job security and very low pay if your adjunct job disappears for some reason (and then you can look elsewhere, but non-CUNY schools in NYC offer as little as 2k a class, which is mind-bogglingly low)

Commuting time is not too bad, since usually the two courses they give you as part of a first-year internship or a fellowship are back-to-back, and the standard is 2 75-minute classes per week per course.

Edited March 16, 2011 by medieviophile

[afiresong]

Thank you so much for this information! Is that true, that the two courses you get as part of the first-year internship will be back-to-back? I hadn't heard that before, and I'm wondering if that's always true, or if it depends on which school and which course you are teaching.

It's not, except that paid adjuncts get paid a thousand or so less and the fellowship guarantees you an income. My wife is in the program. Teaching 2 classes a semester means that she takes only 2 or 3 classes per semester (and the semester she took 3 didn't go very well) but lots of students do even more. Many people have part-time jobs as well-- tutoring, publishing companies, writing centers, etc. The PhD requires 15 classes and it usually takes people at least three years and often four to complete coursework.

If anything, the teaching CUNY makes you do is great experience and training. You will suck at it for the first two/three years but so does everyone else, and at least you'll be in charge of your own class. You have a ton of freedom, but not much job security and very low pay if your adjunct job disappears for some reason (and then you can look elsewhere, but non-CUNY schools in NYC offer as little as 2k a class, which is mind-bogglingly low)

Commuting time is not too bad, since usually the two courses they give you as part of a first-year internship or a fellowship are back-to-back, and the standard is 2 75-minute classes per week per course.

[medieviophile]

She says it depends, but they generally organize it pretty well from what she has heard from other students.

Thank you so much for this information! Is that true, that the two courses you get as part of the first-year internship will be back-to-back? I hadn't heard that before, and I'm wondering if that's always true, or if it depends on which school and which course you are teaching.

[DisneyLeith]

Has anyone heard anything from CUNY over the past month regarding funding?

[thenewkid]

Has anyone heard anything from CUNY over the past month regarding funding?

I got a fellowship offer on the 11th of March, so that's technically within the last month. I intend to decline it this evening, and I hope it'll go to you!