There are a few graduate assistantships available in TAM. Half-time appointment is 20 hours per week of service to the department. Quarter-time assistants work 10 hours per week. Teaching Assistants (TAs) are assigned to faculty in various subject areas within the department. Master’s TAs assist faculty in preparing teaching materials and in course evaluation. They are expected to participate in the planning of course subject matter and may be asked to teach a class or assist students in laboratory work. They are generally not assigned full responsibility for teaching 4 to 6 credit hours. The Research Assistant (RA) is assigned to an ongoing or a new research project. The student’s thesis research may be related to that assistantship, but is not necessarily a part of it. Depending on when the research assistant comes to a research project, he or she may be involved in the planning, collecting, data, analysis of data, or writing of the final report.