Student Support
COSMIAC, a research center under the School of Engineering at UNM, supports many undergraduate, Masters, and PhD seeking students. When on contract, these students perform duties according to their specified training, education, and expertise. A student must be registered for courses in order to be eligible for employment. During the summer session, students do not have to take courses. However, if a student is not taking courses during the summer session, that student must be registered for the following Fall semester.
Undergraduate students are paid an hourly rate set by the center director, and paychecks are distributed bi-weekly. Current rate as of December, 2022 is $17 per hour. Students are required to turn in timesheets every two weeks. The Payroll Timekeeper and Approver Schedule can be found here: https://payroll.unm.edu/mypay/pay-schedule.html. Students are allowed up to 28 hours per week during the Fall and Spring semesters, and 40 hours per week during the summer semester and intercession. Student contracts include a Fringe Rate determined by the University. Currently, Fringe for the Fall and Spring semesters is 1%, and 8.1% during the Summer semester when students are not in class. If undergraduate students take summer courses, the fringe rate continues at 1%.
Graduate Assistantships provide the students a monthly stipend, health insurance, and tuition. Minimum salary guidelines for the University are: http://grad.unm.edu/funding/assistantships.html. Stipends are flexible, and set by the Director of COSMIAC. The current monthly stipend for the Fall and Spring semesters is $1,800 per month. This is for 20 hours a week, or 50% FTE. This amount can increase up to $3,600 during the summer semester for full-time research as long as student is not taking classes. Fringe Rates and Health Insurance rates are set by the University, and can be found here: http://osp.unm.edu/pi-resources/index.html. Tuition rates are charged per the Tuition Rate agreement found at https://bursar.unm.edu/tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fee-rates.html. Tuition Differential is included, which currently stands at $100 per credit hour. Currently, COSMIAC pays 6 credit hours of tuition during both the Fall and Spring Semesters.
