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Susan Huntington Dean’s Distinguished University Fellowship
| Number of Years | 3 years (first, second, and dissertation years) |
|---|---|
| Provisions | Coverage of tuition, most fees, monthly stipend while on fellowship |
| Health Insurance | 85% contribution by Ohio State |
Fellowship Requirements
Fellowship students must be in attendance on the Columbus or Wooster campus and be pursuing a graduate degree in the program specified in the fellowship award letter from the Dean of the Graduate School. Exceptions to the residency requirement might include language study or research at another institution; however, fellows must continue to enroll at Ohio State and follow the policy for attendance of their classes.
Fellows have minimum credit hour requirements. Master’s and pre-doctoral candidacy fellows must enroll for a minimum of 12 credit hours during autumn and spring semesters and 6 hours during summer session when utilizing Graduate School fellowship support. Doctoral post-candidacy students must carry a minimum of 3 credit hours each term of fellowship support.
Fellows are expected to abide by the professional codes of ethics and responsibilities of the university and those commonly accepted in the fellow’s field of study. These codes include, but are not limited to, the Graduate Student Code of Research and Scholarly Conduct and the Code of Student Conduct and Codes of Academic Misconduct. Fellows must also maintain good academic standing (Graduate School Handbook 5.1) in the Graduate School and make reasonable progress (Graduate School Handbook 5.4) toward the graduate degree.
Fellowships provide a competitive stipend and fee authorization for the full-time effort of the graduate student toward requirements for their degree. Graduate School fellows must not hold another paid student appointment or student employment during the term of the fellowship appointment. Supplemental stipend support for effort aligned with the graduate degree is permitted. However, there may be no work expectations associated with the supplemental pay. The Graduate School supports GTA and GRA experiences occurring during intervening years.
Termination
The Graduate School reserves the right to terminate fellowship support before the end of the award period for the following reasons:
- The fellow is no longer enrolled in Graduate School.
- The fellow is registered for fewer than the required minimum number of credit hours.
- The fellow fails to maintain reasonable progress towards the graduate degree or fails to maintain good standing.
- The fellow receives a terminal degree.
- The fellow changes graduate programs without obtaining written approval from the appropriate graduate programs and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.
- The fellow accepts employment or any other type of financial support.
- The fellow has been found in violation of the professional codes of ethics and responsibilities of the university. These codes include, but are not limited to, the Graduate Student Code of Research and Scholarly Conduct (Graduate School Handbook Appendix C) and the Code of Student Conduct. Violations are determined through the formal disciplinary and/or grievance procedures established by recognized bodies of the university.
Stipend
Stipend. The yearly stipend will be made available to the student as outlined by the type of fellowship (Appendix D) in the award letter.
Fellows are paid on the last working day of the month. For fellows who start their appointment in the fall semester, the first and last stipend payment is on the last working day of August and is a half stipend. Students who begin their fellowship in summer will receive the current fiscal year stipend rate from mid-May through mid-August and the upcoming fiscal year stipend rate from mid-August through mid-May.
If the fellow leaves the fellowship early, the stipend will be prorated to reflect the date of departure.
Tuition & Fees
Tuition & Fees. The Graduate School authorizes the payment of resident and nonresident tuition, any learning technology fees, and the general fees.
Fellows are responsible for all late fees if they are the result of being under-enrolled (e.g., enrolled for less than the required number of hours as specified in the Minimum credit hour requirements [Section 11.3]) or a failure to make payment by the deadline. Tuition and fee authorization benefits may not be refunded to the student.
Withdrawal Costs. Should an active fellow choose to withdraw or be asked to leave the university for cause during the semester, all tuition and fees previously paid by the fellowship for that semester (or summer term) will be reversed and those fees charged to the student. Additionally, the fellowship stipend will be prorated to reflect the date of departure. Contact Fellowship Services for withdrawal costs.
An exception is a fellow in their final year who has fulfilled their responsibilities for graduation. With the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee Chair and their advisor, the student can terminate the program before the end of the semester without any withdrawal costs.
Expenses and Fees Not Covered by the Fellowship. Food and housing, application fee, books, equipment, lab fees, parking, and other personal expenses are not paid by the fellowship. Ancillary fees (including Student Activity, Recreational, Student Union, COTA, Student Legal Services, and remaining health insurance) are not covered by the fellowship.
Monthly stipend amounts indicated do not include deductions for other student fees (Student Activity, Recreational, Student Union Facility, COTA Bus Service, remaining health insurance, and Student Legal Services). For detailed information about fees, see the Specific Program Tuition and Fee Locator on the Registrar’s website. If a payroll deduction does not occur automatically, contact the Bursar’s Office to set up a payment plan to account for ancillary fees not covered by the fellowship.
Appointment
The fellowship appointment for students who begin their fellowship in autumn is mid-August through mid-August of the following year. The fellowship appointment for students who begin their fellowship in summer at the request of their program can be from mid-May through mid-May of the following year.
If the fellow graduates prior to the end of the fellowship period, the fellowship will terminate (see exception to withdrawal cost) at the end of the semester that graduation occurs.
The fellowship offer applies exclusively to graduate study in the graduate program making the nomination. Any change in a student’s enrollment status, including entry into a combined program or transfer to another program, must be approved by the Graduate School prior to that change and could result in the loss of the fellowship and/or full fee authorization support.
Benefits
Health Insurance. Graduate fellows are eligible for the university’s subsidy of Student Health Insurance (SHI) premiums, which is currently 85% of the Comprehensive Student Health Insurance premiums. The fellow’s portion of the student health insurance is divided into equal payments and deducted from the monthly fellowship stipend. Graduate fellowships are non-service appointments and, therefore, fellows are not eligible for worker’s compensation or disability insurance. All domestic students who have coverage through a non-university health insurance plan and who want to waive SHI coverage can do so by completing the online waiver process on the SHI website.
Parking. Graduate fellows may purchase a student or a staff parking permit. Information regarding the parking permits can be obtained from CampusParc.
Library. Graduate fellows have staff library privileges.
Tax Liability. According to the Federal Tax Reform Act of 1986, fellowship stipends are considered taxable income. However, because fellowships are considered awards, the university does not withhold income tax from the monthly stipend for most students. Students will not receive a W-2 Form. Students may be required to file federal and state estimated quarterly income tax forms. Information and forms on quarterly filing can be obtained from a tax advisor or at Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Information about fellowships and taxes can be found at the IRS website. Students may also be required to pay the Columbus city tax (City of Columbus tax website).
Fellows should use their last payslip from the calendar year in Workday when filing their taxes and working with their tax professional. This will list the fellow’s final earnings.
We also encourage fellows to review IRS Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education, for additional information regarding reporting requirements for the fellowship. For federal taxes, students may go to IRS websites: www.irs.gov and http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf, which include the specific link to quarterly payment forms.
If fellows have questions regarding Workday or don’t have access to their payslip anymore, please contact HR Connection for assistance.
It is essential that all fellows that are international students declare their citizenship status in Workday when completing their initial hiring application, and complete Glacier when prompted. Some international students may have federal tax withheld from their stipend payments depending on residency status and government policies. If students do not input their citizenship status on initial hire, or complete Glacier in a timely manner, federal tax withholdings may be increased to account for previous months where withholding did not occur. International students who have federal tax withheld from their fellowship stipend will receive a 1042-S form at the end of the year to report fellowship income to the IRS.
The Graduate School encourages fellows to work closely with a tax professional as we are not knowledgeable in providing individual tax advice or instruction.