Teaching Assistantships

M.A. Program

Due to the limited number of teaching assistantships, not all students admitted to the M.A. program can be offered an assistantship. We do keep a teaching assistantship waiting list for all qualified students. Students on the waiting list are notified as soon as a position becomes available. Those students in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese who receive a teaching assistantship will (unless the letter of offer stipulates otherwise) normally be eligible for - two years - (4 semesters) of TA support (excluding summer teaching), contingent upon academic progress in departmentally approved classes, satisfactory teaching, and the availability for University funding. There will be no extensions to the four-semester limit of assistant support.

Ph.D. Program

Those students in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese who receive a Teaching Assistantship will (unless the letter of offer stipulates otherwise) normally receive support for - three years - (six semesters) of TA support (excluding summer teaching), contingent upon academic progress in departmentally-approved classes, satisfactory teaching and availability of University funding. A fourth (final) year of assistantship support may be authorized at the discretion of the Graduate Committee if the doctoral student has passed the comprehensive exams by the end of the third year of support and has demonstrated satisfactory progress on the dissertation. Those Ph.D. candidates who have exhausted their assistantship support can leave an application with the Department Administrator to be considered for part-time teaching assignments on a contingency basis.

PLEASE NOTE: You cannot sign your teaching assistantship contract until there is proof that you have registered for the required number of approved courses for the semester of the contract.

Language Proficiency

Spanish and Portuguese

Candidates seeking a Teaching Assistantship in Spanish or Portuguese must upload a link to recorded statement to the online application or e-mail the sound file to marthah@unm.edu. Native speakers of languages other than English must also provide a recorded statement in English of equal length. The recording should be 5–10 minutes long, and should consist of free, spontaneous narration. Appropriate topics include a brief biographical sketch, accounts of travel or other experiences that bear on graduate study in Spanish and Portuguese, reasons for deciding to pursue a graduate career, specific research interests, and awareness of the programs and resources offered by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of New Mexico. Applicants should try to use as wide a range of grammatical structures as possible, including past, present, future and hypothetical reference, and an appropriately professional vocabulary. No portion of the recording should be read or memorized, nor should the recording be edited in any way. If the submitted recording does not adequately demonstrate the candidate’s linguistic abilities, additional demonstration may be required, such as a supplemental recording, or a telephone or personal interview.