Presidential Graduate Assistantship Program

The Presidential Graduate Assistantship (PGA) is a merit-based award created to support the recruitment, professional development and faculty mentoring of doctoral students in all fields whose research teaching and service will contribute to advancing the ASU Charter.  The program creates opportunities to recruit and mentor doctoral students enrolling in an on-campus immersion degree program who offer great potential to advance into the professoriate and other careers. Part of the LIFT Initiative, this program ensures our continued evolution as a premier public research institution with a fundamental responsibility to the communities that it serves. Students will be chosen and appointed to this program by their admitting academic unit.

About this Program

Program Details, Eligibility and Terms

• Selected nominees will receive a 50% TA or RA position at the minimum ASU stipend (or higher) per academic year, 100% tuition support* and student health insurance.
• Funding is continued for up to four years, assuming satisfactory academic progress as defined in Graduate College and program policy manuals.
• Recipients are expected to enroll in an on-campus immersion doctoral graduate program for a minimum of 9 credit hours each academic semester (or as many as determined by their academic unit)
• Recipients demonstrate academic excellence, scholarly promise, and a design mindset focused on relevance, social impact, perpetual innovation, outcomes, and creative collaboration that promotes effective solutions in previous work and/or their desired academic study/research
• Recipients must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA
• Recipients must maintain satisfactory academic progress as defined by unit and Graduate College
• Recipients must meet regularly with faculty advisor/mentor
• Recipients will be invited to join a peer mentor group and participate in special events and training opportunities to build a community of support through networking, professional development and cohort-building activities with other Presidential Graduate Assistantship recipients and the broader community at ASU.

*NOTE:  Tuition support applies to base tuition. No student fees or mandatory program fees are covered as part of this assistantship.

Call for Proposals

The Presidential Graduate Assistantship (PGA) Program offers graduate teaching and/or research assistantships and professional development to graduate students whose research, teaching and service will contribute to advancing the ASU Charter.  The PGA award provides a 4-year funding commitment for PhD students, with the first 2 years of the assistantship funded by the Office of the Executive Vice President and University Provost via the Office of Inclusive Excellence. The academic department/school/college is expected to commit to funding an additional 2 years of support from grants or school/department funding, in the form of teaching or research assistantships.

The Office of Inclusive Excellence in partnership with the Office of the Executive Vice President and University Provost is pleased to invite proposals for up to three (3) graduate assistantships per academic unit in the areas of interest relative to the ASU Charter. Competitive proposals will reflect contributions to inclusive excellence in alignment with the advancement of the school/department’s strategic direction. 

Submission

Call for Proposals for Presidential Graduate Assistantships

Info Sessions for Faculty and Staff: Friday, August 9, 2024 from 3:00-4:30 p.m. or Friday, August 16, 2024 from 2:30-4:00 p.m. Preregistration is required.

Due Date for Proposals: Colleges/schools/departments interested in recruiting graduate students through this program must submit a proposal through this link by September 25, 2024.

Selection

A review committee of faculty, including representation from the Office of Inclusive Excellence, Advisory Council on African American Affairs and the Graduate College, will review applications submitted by September 25, 2024 and make recommendations to the Office of the Executive Vice President and University Provost. 

Final selections will be announced by Monday, October 21, 2024, allowing time for recruitment to begin in October. Awarded departments must attend a post-award information session, scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 24, from 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m., before beginning any search activities.

Contact

Academic units should contact Tiffany R. King with questions regarding the call for proposals.

Academic units who have been awarded should contact the Graduate College with questions.

Presidential Graduate Assistantships