Payroll
For those with a fellowship and/or assistantship appointment, payday is normally the 16th of each month beginning with September 16 and ending with May 16. You will receive one-ninth of your salary each month if you have an academic year (nine-month) appointment. If your appointment is for one semester (four and one-half months) your January check will be for one-half month. (Assistantship salaries are subject to tax; fellowship stipends are usually non-taxable). If you have questions concerning your salary, see Erin Tarr, the Department's Administrative Aide and office supervisor.
You have received or will receive a Check Distribution and Address Information Form, which requests personal information such as office addresses, office telephone numbers, etc. BE SURE TO LIST YOUR OFFICE ADDRESS AS 200 GREGORY HALL. If you list your individual office address, receipt of your mail will probably be delayed several days, or even could be returned to sender.
Mail and Other Written Communication
All mail, U.S. and Campus, for Philosophy faculty/staff/students is delivered to 105 Gregory Hall for internal distribution by the secretarial staff. The U.S. Mail address for our Department is:
Department of Philosophy
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
200 Gregory Hall, MC-468
810 South Wright Street
Urbana, IL 61801
When you give your office address to anyone, be sure to include the street address, and stress the necessity of using it to avoid long delays in mail delivery.
Mailboxes have been established in 200 Gregory Hall for each graduate student. The boxes are arranged in alphabetical order and the names are printed in black text on white labels. All mail (including department memos, pay checks or pay receipts, miscellaneous announcements, etc.) received for you will be placed in your box.
Office and Classroom Space
The main office of the Department, which houses the Chair and the office staff, is located in 200 Gregory Hall and is open from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon and 1:00 p.m.- 4:30 p.m. Most faculty offices are located on the second and fourth floors of Gregory Hall.
Graduate students holding fellowships and teaching assistantships are given office space in shared offices, which are located on the fourth floor of Gregory Hall. Office assignments are worked out by the President of the Graduate Philosophy Organization (GPO) and the Graduate Program Secretary.
Most Philosophy courses meet in Gregory Hall. Seminars (500-level courses) usually meet in 402 Gregory Hall.
Library/Lounge Facilities
The History and Philosophy Library of the University of Illinois, is located in Room 424 of the University Library. Current issues of nearly all philosophy journals are also received and kept in this library. Back issues of journals and the rest of the University Library's extensive holdings in philosophy are shelved in the stacks of the main library (in the same building), and may easily be located by means of the library's computerized cataloging system.
Room 107 Gregory Hall is our combination library/lounge. It may be used both for conversation and for reading.
Graduate Student Computer Lab
The department has established a Computer Lab for use by graduate students. This lab is located in 405 Gregory Hall. Graduate students who wish to use this lab may obtain keys to the facility from the Department's Graduate Program Secretary. For security reasons, it is absolutely essential that the door be locked at all times. Responsibility and cooperation on the part of all users is necessary.
Clerical Assistance
The office staff is prepared to help you with answers to procedural questions concerning registration, course credits, changes of program, student records, and other aspects of University operation. Your advisor, the Director of Graduate Studies, or other members of the faculty will answer questions concerning your academic program.
The office staff will assign you a Department ID code that will enable you to use the copier machine. The copier should be used for class and professional/job-related materials only.
Teaching Assistant Duties
Teaching assistants (TAs) who are assigned to assist instructors as graders or preceptors are expected to devote an average of ten hours per week to their duties for each quarter-time assistantship they are awarded. They are expected to attend the classes of courses in which they are assisting; to hold weekly office hours; to help with the grading (under the supervision of the instructor), doing it as promptly as possible; and, in the case of preceptors in larger courses, to conduct weekly discussion sections. If questions or problems arise in connection with the work expected of them, TAs should attempt to settle them through discussion with the faculty members they are assisting. If problems persist, they may be discussed with the Department Chair. Continuation of assistantship support will be dependent in part upon the satisfactory performance of assistantship duties.
Teaching assistants who are teaching independent sections of 100-level courses are under the general supervision of specified faculty members, and are encouraged to discuss the planning and teaching of their sections with these faculty members (especially when teaching them for the first time). In general, teaching TAs have the same responsibility for their classes and students that faculty members do, and will be expected to discharge their instructional responsibility conscientiously and completely. They should expect to prepare, duplicate, and collate their own syllabi, handouts, exercises, exams, etc. The secretarial staff may be able to assist in the preparation ofsome course-related material (within reason, and as the other demands upon their time permit), but usually will not have time for duplicating and collating or for extensive typing.
Registration
Registration is done on-line. To be able to do this, you first have to have a Network ID and a password. You will find these in your mailbox. If you need assistance with registration, please ask a fellow grad student or the Graduate Program Secretary for help.
Email Accounts
To obtain an email account, you must first have your Network ID and Password (which you found in your mailbox). You can then go to CITES (Campus Information Technologies & Educational Services) located at 1304 West Springfield Avenue, Room 1420 Digital Computer Laboratory, and they will help you get an account.
Course Loads
Graduate students (other than those in the Third Stage of the Doctoral Program) are normally expected to take three courses each semester. This may or may not include a foreign language course or a course in some other department; but at least two courses in the philosophy department normally should be taken each semester. Graduate students should not deviate from these general rules without first consulting with their advisors and receiving the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies. (deviations may jeopardize financial assistance, as well as good standing in the Graduate College and satisfactory progress in the department).
Colloquia
Each year the department schedules a fair number of colloquia, at which papers are presented and discussed. Some of those making presentations are guests and visitors from other departments and universities, and some are from our own department. Graduate students are expected to attend them, and are encouraged to take part in the discussion of the presentations.
Graduate Philosophy Organization (GPO)
The GPO plays a very important role in graduate student life and affairs in the department. All graduate students are strongly encouraged to take an active part in it, attending its meetings and participating in its activities.
Advising
Graduate students should regularly seek the advice of members of the faculty, at all stages of their graduate studies, especially in planning their programs, selecting their courses, deciding upon their dissertation topics and committees, and preparing for their post-graduate careers. Faculty members with whom they should consult include the Director of Graduate Studies and their advisors, but are by no means restricted to them alone. For various purposes, graduate students may also find it helpful to consult with the Department Chair and Associate Chair, the Chair of the Graduate Program Committee, the Chairs of other department committees, and members of the faculty who teach and work in particular areas, or who are knowledgeable of departmental, university, or professional affairs. New graduate students should be sure to consult with the Director of Graduate Studies (who acts as their advisor during their first semester) immediately upon arrival. All graduate students should bear in mind that advice sought and received at the right time may be very valuable, and can help to avert or alleviate difficulties down the road.
Each fall semester you will be asked to make an appointment with your advisor to go over your program of study. You will receive a form to take to your appointment with your advisor. Ask your advisor to sign the form and return it to the Graduate Program Secretary.
All graduate students enrolled in Philosophy 599 in a given semester are required to submit to their advisors a statement reporting their progress that semester on their dissertations and describing a plan for future work on the dissertation. This report is to be submitted at the end of the semester. It must be signed by the student and the student's advisor and will be entered by the advisor in the student's permanent file.
Graduate Student Regulations
Many questions graduate students commonly have can be answered by reading the Department's Regulations Concerning Admissions and Advanced Degrees. If you need a copy, you can obtain one from the Graduate Program Secretary.
The Graduate College publishes a regulation booklet and a calendar. These publications may be very helpful to you. Copies may be obtained in the Graduate College Office in Coble Hall.
Financial Aid
Recommendations concerning financial aid for those applying for admission to our graduate program are developed by the Graduate Admissions Committee. Continuing graduate students receiving financial aid who have not exhausted their five years of eligibility must reapply for continued aid each year. Their re-applications, and application for aid or forms of aid made by continuing students who are not already receiving them, are reviewed and considered by the Graduate Program Committee, which advises the Department and Chair in these matters. (See ourRegulations Concerning Admissions and Advanced Degrees for our policy on the continuation of aid). Continuing students who have exhausted their five years of eligibility, and who desire further aid beyond that point, should make their interest known in writing to the Chair of the Department, who acts on such requests as the teaching needs of the Department may require, as the supplemental resources available may permit, and as the circumstances of their cases may be deemed to warrant. Any continuing student who has questions relating to financial aid should consult with the Chair of the Department.
Problems
If you encounter problems or have questions relating to your activities in the department, there are many people to whom you may turn. You should not hesitate to bring them up; and you should also try to turn to the most appropriate people for help with them. In many cases, you might do well to start with your fellow graduate students, the President of the Graduate Philosophy Organization, the Department's Graduate Program Secretary, the Department's Administrative Aide, or your advisor. In others, the appropriate person might be the Director of Graduate Studies, the Chair of one of the committees, the faculty members you are assisting or those with oversight responsibility for the teaching of our various introductory courses, or the Associate Chair of the Department. If none of these is able to answer your questions or give you the assistance you need, you should feel free to see the Chair of the Department, or to consult with the staff in the Graduate College office. We may not have an answer or a solution to everything; but when we don't, we usually can refer you to someone who will be able to help you.