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New Grad Onboarding

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Faculty Advising
Funding
NSF Fellowship Application
Health Insurance
Housing

Faculty Advising

You will be introduced via email to your temporary advisor in June. You probably already know who this is and may already be interacting with them.

Our faculty, staff, and grads co-authored “How to get good advising: information about the grad student – advisor relationship.” This is an in-depth explanation of how to best interact with your faculty advisors. It is worth your time to read it entirely.

Here are some things to know about our initial advising scheme:

  • Our program assigns a temporary advisor to all new graduate students.
  • The temporary advisor has administrative, advising/research advising, and mentoring roles.
  • As much as possible, we try to assign students to faculty who share some of your interests. Most of the time temporary advisors become permanent advisors, and sometimes not. What’s important is that you have a good relationship with your temp advisor so you feel comfortable asking for what you need, especially during your first year.

Here are some of the things your temporary advisor can do for you, not in any particular order:

  • Help fine-tune the scheduling of your classes for the year (Registration info here).
  • Make sure you’re OK by checking in regularly to see how you’re doing in the program, coursework, adjusting to grad school. You’re encouraged to ask for meetings! (It is one of your temp advisor’s responsibilities to be available for meetings).
  • Discuss your research interests with you and help define them.
  • Point you to resources, especially with regard to research opportunities.
  • Point you to other faculty (in the Allen School or on campus) who might have interesting (to you) research.
  • Chat about the Allen School past and present, or anything else that you have questions about.
  • Help you start thinking about quals, a quals project, a quals advisor.
  • Start research!

The list above is by no means everything a temporary advisor can do–it will depend on you and the advisor and what you need to succeed in our program. Remember that you have to ask your advisor if you need help. The faculty are pretty smart, but most are not great at reading minds. 😉

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Funding

We offer you three years of guaranteed funding from the Allen School as well as additional funding provided you continue to make satisfactory progress toward the degree.

You may not yet know if you’ll be working as an Research Assistant or a Teaching Assistant, and that’s ok! Your temporary advisor may be waiting to hear back regarding grant proposals, and that information may come late in the summer (or even a little later).

Folks on fellowships will need to answer this question after the end of their fellowship periods (typically the end of spring quarter in year one).

Research Assistantships (RA)

Faculty can offer you an RA and some may have already. You can ask faculty if there is RA funding they can offer you. RA funding is for a specific research project, so you would be required to work on that project while being paid by the grant. You and your temporary advisor should discuss this. Once you know who your temporary advisor is, you can start discussing the possibility of an RA for this fall. Otherwise you can sign up for a TA position when the call goes out in August (read below for more details).

Teaching Assistantships (TA)

Being a TA is a good way to look around without being committed to any specific project. There is a 20-hour-week commitment of time, but some students prefer to have this freedom until they find a suitable project. 

Each quarter, all Allen School graduate students are sent an email from Pim Lustig, Curriculum and TA Coordinator, soliciting TA signup for those interested in a position for the following quarter. The call for fall quarter TA sign-up should be sent out sometime in August. You will need your CSE NetID and password to access the signup site.

For new students who have a fellowship or who have secured an RA offer, Pim’s TA message can be ignored for autumn. But please continue reading as you will need this information later.

All Ph.D. students must complete two quarters of TA/teaching before graduation, so you should keep this requirement in mind and plan with your advisor the best time to complete it.  If you respond to Pim putting your name in the TA pool for a given quarter, and you do not remove your name from the pool by a given date (this will be noted in Pim’s TA signup email), then you are obligated to TA in that quarter.  If you are still negotiating a RA position by this deadline, please tell Pim and he may be able to give you an extension.

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NSF Fellowship Application

New Grads who are U.S. Citizens or permanent U.S. residents, please consider applying for an NSF fellowship this fall! (requires a CSE NetID to access)

The deadline is early to late-October, which doesn’t give you much time after you arrive. Resources for preparation:

  • Past CSE NSF winners have pulled together some sample resources. (available once you have a CSE NetID in May)
  • Professor Mike Ernst wrote some great advice a while back.
  • CSE students typically organize a paper swap for grads and undergrads applying for an NSF. Watch for the announcement in early October. 
  • See the NSF GRF Program website for more information, especially requirements are eligibilty as these requirements have changed in recent years.

Here are some additional points to keep in mind:

  • The NSF GRFP is one of the most prestigious science fellowships in the country. Winning one is very good for your CV. More importantly, it also gives you a lot of freedom early in your graduate career to focus on coursework, check out the numerous research opportunities available at the Allen School, and to work with whom you wish, regardless of whether there is funding in that area. It helps our school fund other grad students and it adds to the stature of our program, too. There are lots of good reasons to apply.
  • Your best letters of recommendation will come from professors from your undergraduate institutions, so you might want to make sure they’ll be ready, willing, and able to write you a recommendation before you leave your current school.
  • If more students apply in a specific area, that area gets proportionately more fellowships.

Thanks very much for thinking about applying! You should also consider applying for other fellowships in addition to the NSF.

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Health Insurance

The Graduate Assistant Insurance Plan (GAIP) provides health insurance to students and their dependents as long as a full-time registered student holds a TA, RA, or fellowship.

Coverage begins this year on October 1 and ends September 30 of the following year.

The UW and the Allen School pay the monthly premiums–100% for students and 65% of the premiums for dependents, including same-sex partners.You pay for these premiums over the nine months of an academic year. Your coverage is year-round, regardless of whether you are registered in the summer.

Insurance premiums are paid over the nine months of the academic year although coverage extends over 12 months, including the summer, regardless of whether you are registered in the summer. Annual enrollment is automatic if you have a TA, RA, or fellowship in each quarter.

If you enroll dependents, you will pay 35% of their premiums each month through paycheck deductions. During the summer, you will need to pay the premiums in one lump sum due at the beginning of the summer.Enrollment of dependents is done online (you will receive reminders to enroll dependents via email), once your employment paperwork has been completed (more on this later) and your funding source has been entered into the UW Payroll system. Premium amounts are found on the GAIP webpage.

You may also need to contact the insurance carrier, LifeWise, directly for questions about claims, insurance identification cards, etc. For all contact information, updates, announcements, etc. (in addition to direct mailing of documents and memos to you), go to the GAIP homepage.

Again, please ask questions if you have any.

International students: you can use ISHIP insurance to cover the time between when you arrive and when the program’s insurance begins on October 1. If you are already registered for Autumn courses, this begins on September 1. Please review this page for more information.

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Housing

Housing in Seattle can be a little tricky! Our graduate students have produced a housing guide that details what you can expect and offers great advice! You should read it. It is the most exhaustive resource available to you, specifically catered to your needs as a graduate student.

How do you find housing?

If you elect for University housing, HFS may ask for a letter that indicates you’re starting our graduate program. Just email us at grad-advising@cs.washingotn.edu and let us know! You will find your student number on the status page of your on-line application

You will also be contacted by an Allen School grad student mentor who will be another great resource for housing-related questions!

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