Stipend Gap Coverage

WVU HSC Stipend Gap Coverage for PhD Students

WVU HSC PhD Student Stipend

The policy of the WVU Health Sciences Center (HSC) is that graduate students enrolled full-time in its PhD programs are provided stipend support (currently $30,000) and associated fringe benefits for the duration of their didactic curriculum and dissertation research. The student’s stipend during the first full year of doctoral studies is paid for by the HSC Office of Research and Graduate Education (ORGE). After this time, the financial responsibility lies with the student’s faculty advisor. The stipend support for PhD students at the HSC will be primarily through students’ appointment as WVU Graduate Research Assistants (GRA). Students are also encouraged to compete for other sources of support, including WVU Graduate Fellowships, WVU Graduate Training Program (T32) Trainee Appointments, Graduate Teaching or Service Assistantship (GTA or GSA), and extramural pre-doctoral fellowship awards. The university provides tuition waivers for up to 6 years to full-time PhD students.

Stipend Gap Coverage (SGC)

While faculty advisors are primarily responsible for providing stipends after students’ first full year of doctoral studies, SGC is a mechanism to ensure students receive stipend support to complete their dissertation research if their faculty advisors experience a gap in their research funding and do not have other resources available to support the student. Under those circumstances, faculty advisors may apply for SGC through the HSC ORGE with the support of their department chair.

General Guidelines and Restrictions

• Applications are accepted two times each year for consideration.
  • For SGC requests with a start date of July 1 through December 31st of a given year, applications must be received by March 1st, 2024.
  • For SGC requests with a start date of January 1 through June 30, applications must be received by October 1st. However, we ask that you submit a request as early as possible before your funding expiration date.

  • SGC will be approved for 6 months per request. If an extension of the funding is needed, the PI should notify the ORGE and provide an update on the progress toward the goals submitted in the original SGC request.

• It is expected that the mentor has proactively worked with the respective student to apply for internal and external fellowships and assistantships, which they are eligible for, including positions on institutional training grants, and the ORGE International Fellowship.

• Before applying for SGC, all other avenues of support should be explored through conversing with the respective department chair, deans, collaborators, or others in a position to support the student financially.

Additional Information

• Faculty desiring to train graduate students are expected to budget for stipend support for graduate students in grant applications when allowable. The ability of the faculty member to provide students' years 2 and 3 stipends is required for the faculty to accept a new student. When the student officially joins the laboratory/research team, this funding must be in hand.

• Faculty with students receiving SGC are not eligible to accept new graduate students.

Required Application Components

Completed applications for SGC must be submitted through the ORGE website through the electronic portal. Please be prepared to provide:

1. A comprehensive overview of the student’s progress, including any publications. Include the expected dates of candidacy and/or graduation.

   a. Note if the student has received any ‘U’ grades in research or has been on academic probation.

2. The goals set with the student for the upcoming year, including key milestones and their anticipated timeline.

3. A complete list of the faculty advisor’s research funding and external and internal support within the last three years. Please include starting and ending dates and the annual direct cost for each grant.

4. A complete list of grant applications submitted by the faculty advisor that are pending review and grant applications the faculty advisor plans to submit in the next 12 months. Make a note of scored grants pending resubmission.

5. A Letter of Support (LOS) from the primary chairperson that assesses the merit of the SGC request. The Chairperson should also note any discussion about resources the faculty is receiving from the department and other sources outside of stipend support. Chairs can submit this LOS directly to Julie Lockman or can provide it to the faculty member to upload with their online submission.

Application components must be submitted electronically through the online system. Apply here.

Review and Funding Decision

• Upon receipt of the SGC application and chairperson’s LOS, applications are reviewed by administrative staff within the ORGE for completeness and eligibility.

• The Assistant VP for Graduate Education will review the merit of the application and the chairperson’s endorsement and make recommendations to the Sr. Associate VP for Research and Graduate Education, who will make final funding decisions.

• Funding decisions will be conveyed within approximately 4 weeks of application receipt.

This policy will be reviewed annually and updated as needed as the University and HSC’s budget model evolves.