Kent State University - School of Journalism and Mass Communication

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Graduate Assistantships

Download the Graduate Assistantship Application (PDF)

Students enrolled full-time in the Kent JMC graduate program are eligible for paid graduate assistantships. Assistantships are offered on a limited, competitive basis. Graduate assistants receive full tuition scholarships and are paid a nine-month stipend. In return, graduate assistants work 20 hours per week in the School in research, administrative and teaching-related activities.

Assistantships are generally guaranteed for two years, provided the student maintains a 3.0 GPA and performs work adequately.

Conditions of Appointment

• All graduate appointees must remain in good standing in the School and be enrolled as a full-time student. Non-degree and guest students are not eligible for appointments. Upon satisfactory progress towards the degree and performance of assigned duties, students may be reappointed. Appointments or reappointments, including tuition scholarships are not automatic and are based on an evaluation by the assigned instructor.
• All graduate appointees must be enrolled in a minimum of eight hours of course work per semester.
• Since graduate appointments are intended to provide support to enable students to spend the maximum amount of time in pursuit of graduate studies, it is considered inappropriate for a full-time graduate appointee to be additionally employed. Graduate appointees may not hold an additional appointment at Kent State University which exceeds 20 hours per week.
• Students who are awarded assistantships can normally expect to receive two years of support, assuming there is satisfactory progress towards the degree and in the performance of assigned duties. Notification of non-reappointment will be given to students before April 1st each spring semester.

The Walton D. Clarke Fellowship

The Walton D. Clarke Fellowship for WKSU provides two semesters* of full, in-state graduate tuition and a total two-semester stipend of $6,747 to a qualified graduate student in Kent State University's School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The successful candidate is required to maintain full-time graduate student status (8 hour minimum graduate credits each semester) with a minimum GPA of 3.0. In addition, the Walton D. Clarke Fellow will gain valuable work experience in WKSU's newsroom by performing 20 hours of service at the station each week, for a total of 300 hours per semester.

Walton D. Clarke founded WKSU in 1950, and this Fellowship--his legacy--fulfills his intent to support the education of future radio broadcasters. Funding for the Fellowship comes from a combination of support from Kent State University's School of Journalism and from the Walton D. Clarke Founders Fund at WKSU. The first Walton D. Clarke Fellow, Mandy Jenkins, was awarded the Fellowship for academic years 2002-03 and 2003-04. While she was a Fellow, she earned an Honorable Mention from the Society of Professional Journalists for her radio feature: "Green Bean Casserole." Ms. Jenkins is now working at the Cincinnati Enquirer, where she is the Online Editor for Special Projects. Of her experiences at Kent State's School of Journalism and WKSU, she says that "...without my Walt Clarke graduate fellowship at WKSU, I would not be where I am today." She continues, "After graduate school, I was able to leapfrog my undergrad classmates to start my career working as an online producer at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel...had I not gone to graduate school or had my fellowship, I estimate that I would likely still be at a small newspaper, trying to work my way up to a bigger paper or a management position. I couldn't be more thankful."

*The Fellowship is renewable annually.

To apply for for the Walton D. Clarke Fellowship, please complete the KSU Graduate Assistantship application.