IU Bloomington increases minimum stipends, expands resources for student academic appointees – IU Newsroom

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana University Bloomington will increase its minimum stipend pay for graduate students who hold part-time teaching or research appointments to $24,000 beginning July 1. The increase is one of several actions taken by IU Bloomington leadership over the past two years that reflect the campus’s commitment to student academic appointees.

Student academic appointees work 20 hours per week for 10 months of the year. Photo by James Brosher, Indiana University

“We value the important contributions of our graduate students who teach or conduct research while pursuing their degrees,” IU Bloomington Provost and Executive Vice President Rahul Shrivastav said. “This increase ensures we remain highly competitive with our peers for minimum stipends, which is crucial for recruiting the best students to IU’s flagship campus.”

Student academic appointees work 20 hours per week for 10 months of the year and receive benefits including health and dental insurance. Many SAAs make well above the minimum stipend of $24,000 and may also receive departmental grants, fellowships or tuition waivers. Since 2021, the minimum stipend for SAAs at IU Bloomington has increased by 60%.

In 2022, IU President Pamela Whitten and Shrivastav implemented several recommendations that came out of the Task Force on Graduate Education. This included charging the dean of the IU Bloomington Graduate School, David Daleke, with benchmarking average stipends by discipline against other Big Ten universities and providing a report every two years to ensure IU Bloomington remains in the upper half. The latest data will be shared with the Bloomington Faculty Council later this spring. 

In addition to increasing minimum stipends, the IU Bloomington Graduate School has introduced additional resources for all graduate students.

In response to the Task Force on Graduate Education, the position of graduate ombudsperson was created. Carissa Ciampaglia has been appointed to this new position, where she will provide services such as resource navigation and coaching to address graduate student challenges and grievances.

The school also hired a director of graduate career coaching in September 2023. Brandi Smith builds strategies for career support, and she provides one-to-one appointments, cohort group coaching, and workshops that help master’s and Ph.D. students explore career pathways and design steps toward meaningful careers. She also works with campus partners to provide tailored workshops and group experiences, and she serves as co-chair for a newly formed committee focused on graduate and professional student career services on the IU Bloomington Career Services Council.