The House v. NCAA settlement paves the way for student-athletes to be paid for competing in intercollegiate sports. This has created an environment of anxiety and uncertainty around how to implement such a new compensation model. Universities already have a model in placing for paying students, however; the question is whether they should use it for this purpose.
Research assistantships (RAs) and teaching assistantships (TAs) provide students, typically those pursuing doctoral and master’s degrees, with stipends and/or tuition waivers. In exchange for such compensation, these students participate in research projects (for RAs) or provide classroom teaching support to faculty (for TAs).
RAs are typically financially supported by government or industry funding awarded to faculty, often through competitive processes that involve the submission of a research proposal. Faculty then hire graduate students to conduct the research that aligns with objectives for the proposals funded by these entities.
Government agencies like the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the Department of Energy (DOE), among others, provide funding to support discovery that advances knowledge in general (as for NSF) or in support of their mission (as for the AFOSR and the DOE). There is a well-defined link between the money, how it is used, and the outputs of such efforts.
RAs are a critical component of funded-research........