There may be a number of other graduate assistantships (3-6) in various positions on campus, such as the Research Office, Continuing Education, Creative Services, Women in the Arts, and ITE (Innovative Technology Enterprises). These positions will involve writing and editing and will include full tuition remission and a stipend ranging from $5,000 to $9,000. To apply, there is no special application form required. Once you've been accepted into the MFA program, you may express your interest in these positions to the MFA Director. Please provide the MFA Director with a recent resume or CV that highlights any experience you've had in writing/editing and lists the programs/software you're able to use.
Second or third year MFA students are eligible to apply for this graduate research assistant position managing and editing Natural Bridge. The position comes with a $5,000 stipend and 100% tuition remission (though incidental student fees must be paid). The person receiving this prestigious position is named Managing Editor on the Natural Bridge masthead, and works 20 hours a week in the Natural Bridge office keeping track of subscriptions, submissions, office supplies and equipment, mailings, editing, proof-reading, and much more. This can be a rich experience and valuable resume credit for those wishing to work in publishing after graduation. The best way to prepare to apply for this position is to volunteer for a year or at least a semester in the Natural Bridge office during your first year in the program. This GRA position is for one year and is supervised by the Natural Bridge editor.
Some incoming MFA students already have MA degrees in English or substantial teaching experience and this allows them to teach composition/rhetoric/grammar classes at area community colleges. Sometimes students who have been in the program a year or more and have accumulated roughly 20 credit hours toward their MFA degree are hired by local community colleges to teach composition/rhetoric/grammar classes. Lastly, outstanding students in the final year of the MFA program are sometimes hired to teach fiction, poetry and non-fiction classes through the Write Stuff program sponsored by the UMSL Office of Continuing Education. (The pay for these teaching assignments varies according to the institution. None of these assignments offer tuition remission.)
A number of comparatively low interest loans and work study opportunities can be found through the financial aid office, or at (314) 516-5526
