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Decentralized Fellowships

Decentralized fellowships are administered by the Graduate School, but are defined—and awardees are selected—by the program. Graduate advisers have the vital role of identifying and nominating eligible students.

Advisers should check with the dean’s office for procedures, stipend levels, guidelines and deadlines regarding the various types of decentralized fellowships.

Recruitment Fellowships

Decentralized Recruitment Fellowships

These fellowships are prestigious awards funded by the Graduate School to attract top quality graduate students to the university. Students not currently or previously enrolled in the Graduate School are eligible. Candidates must rank in the top 10 percent of students in their discipline, and most disciplines are eligible.

One-Time Payment Fellowships

These awards are one-time payments made at the beginning of a semester and should be limited to the top 10 or 20 percent of the student pool.

Fellowships for Current Students

Decentralized Continuing Fellowships

These variable awards are offered based on major accomplishments since entering the Graduate School. Each program selects the candidates to whom to offer these awards. Students should rank in the top 10 percent of their class. Most disciplines are eligible.

Award Procedures

The dean of each college or school has the flexibility to define fellowship award packages to best allocate fellowship funds within their units. Each college- or school-defined award package describes how funds for that package will be allocated for stipend, tuition credit payments, or one-time payments for insurance or other payments by semester, and whether that package is available as a recruitment fellowship, continuing fellowship, or can be used for both types of awards.

College or school defined fellowship award packages

Funds allocated to the colleges will be held in separate subaccounts within the Graduate School, and will carry over from one fiscal year to the next. Decentralized award decisions vary by college and school.

Graduate School Awards System

These awards are offered at the local level. Students may be contacted about their offer for one of these fellowships without first notifying the Graduate School. Once the student has accepted the offer, however, the award should be reported using the online awards system, accessible in EASI.

Decentralized Fellowships Tutorial

A tutorial is available to assist advisers and coordinators in using the online system. View the award packages available for your college/school and report any problems to Elizabeth Korves.

Reporting

You must report awards for recruitment fellowships separately from continuing fellowships.

Reporting is a simple four-step process:

  1. Verify UT EID — Go to the appropriate award report application and enter the student’s UT EID to verify that you are referencing the correct student.
  2. Supporting Documents — Upload a copy of the student’s offer letter. (This step is recommended but not required.)
  3. GS Fellowship Funding — Enter the following information:
    • Award Type: Select the best descriptor for the award for reporting purposes.
    • Funding Years: Indicate the funding years (1-5) for the fellowship.
    • Select Packages: Select 1-3 fellowship award packages for each year of funding.
    • Show Totals: Show “Graduate School Fellowship Totals” to review the packages and total cost for the awards selected.
    • Confirm: Use “Make Changes” to go back, or if all is correct, confirm and continue.
  4. Certify and Submit — Certify and submit the award report. You will find here a link to view your report if you’d like to print a copy for your records.

The Graduate School will contact the student to confirm the details of the award, will process the appointments, and will coordinate waivers of out-of-state tuition (within limits of waiver availability).