Graduate Fellow Defined

As a result of the differences in graduate student support outlined above and in order to gain a clear picture of the number of fully-funded graduate fellows enrolled at Oregon State University, it is necessary to articulate a common standard and set of characteristics to describe those individuals for whom the designation graduate fellow may be appropriate.

For the purpose of formalizing an OSU appointment, the graduate fellow appointment classification will include only those individuals who meet explicit eligibility criteria.

Thus, a graduate fellow will:

1. be admitted as a graduate degree-seeking student at Oregon State University; and
2. be currently enrolled full-time at Oregon State University, completing a minimum of 9 credits per term during the academic year; 3 credits during summer session; and
3. be awarded a graduate fellowship and/or traineeship that can be independently and transparently identified; and
4. be awarded a graduate fellowship and/or traineeship that is administered in part or in full by Oregon State University; and
5. be funded by a single source of funds; and either
6. be sponsored by NSF (GRFP, GK-12, IGERT); NASA (ESSF); EPA (STAR); NIH (NRSA; NIEHS); USDA (FAS NFF); or those in partnership with the National Academies of Sciences including the Ford Foundation and the Vietnam Education Foundation; or
7. be either sponsored externally or internally by a single source of funds (such as through the OSU Foundation or other authorized funds designated by the Provost for strategic purposes) with a stipend that throughout the fellowship award period meets or exceeds the prevailing recommended minimum rate for .49 FTE graduate appointments as established annually by the Graduate School.