How big is your discipline's package?

[MaximKat]

If they say that "appointment is renewable for an additional four years subject to academic progress and evaluation of your assistantship duties as indicated by departmental and supervisor

[rising_star]

Also likely gives them an out in case of a severe budget crunch.

[engguy]

obligation by department as determined by original letter of recommendation

the rest of the message you received looks very standard; the above seems somewhat strange. i would ask current students if they have any ideas about what this means. it does sound like they're giving themselves an out here.

that said, i would think it quite odd indeed if a school arbitrarily yanked funding for TAs -- the program's reputation would go down the toilet. TAs are very cheap labor, it's a good deal for the school, and it's one of the main carrots they have to attract students. i would be more wary of rising student fees not covered by your tuition waiver, cuts to health benefits, and other ways they can and will try to sneak in pay cuts. again, ask around.

my current school is trying to get serious about performance reviews of grad students, and this may be a growing trend... here it's mostly to ride herd on the many students who have actually gone far beyond the original 4-5 year deal with their funding. so i wouldn't worry too much.

[timuralp]

Haha I suppose I should've replied earlier. I got one of those letters last year too. Essentially, don't worry about it. They should've sent you something else that reads along these lines: "The Assistantship appointment, regardless of assignment, is renewable for an additional four years subject to academic progress and evaluation of your assistantship duties as indicated by departmental and supervisor

[MaximKat]

They should've sent you something else that reads along these lines

Long story short, all of their students get funding until they graduate if they're making progress.

Yeah, it is exactly the same. Thanks for the info.

obligation by department as determined by original letter of recommendation

the rest of the message you received looks very standard; the above seems somewhat strange. i would ask current students if they have any ideas about what this means. it does sound like they're giving themselves an out here.

The first quote (about being renewable for 4 years) is from the letter of recommendation. So I guess the phrase that caught your attention is about the duration of funding.