Almost 70 ISU teaching assistants have found themselves owing more than $1,700 each in tuition after their scholarships were revoked and allocated to other graduate scholarships.

John Mayfield, associate dean of graduate studies, said because too few students qualified for the scholarship, it was allocated into more useful areas.

“The program reached a smaller number of people [than other scholarships],” he said. “It didn’t seem like a well-constructed program.”

Mayfield said several graduates were improperly classified as teaching assistants.

“Some departments were calling students TAs even though they didn’t teach,” he said. “We didn’t think that was fair.”

Mayfield said the scholarship was available only to students who had entered ISU graduate school for the first time during the 1999 fall semester and had taught half time in the 2000 spring and fall semesters. He said the criteria left most TAs ineligible for the scholarship.

Mayfield said the money used to pay the tuition for the 67 TAs has been put into other scholarships within the graduate college, and the reallocation “impacted the English department more than any other department.”

Kathy Hickok, English department chairwoman for the Committee of Graduate Assistants, said she was “very disappointed” with the decision to take away the scholarships.

“Our TAs do an excellent job,” said Hickok, associate professor of English. “They deserve to have their tuition paid for.”

Hickok said students affected by the scholarship cut have been e-mailing each other to discuss the decision.

Mayfield said he is meeting with Hickok and English department Chairman Charles Kostelnick later to discuss options for the English TAs.

“I’m confident that if we think about it, we can come up with a solution,” Mayfield said.

He said the recently approved tuition increase may also provide options for the graduate college by “finding its way back in the form of tuition scholarships.”

Mayfield said it is important for the college to give scholarships to the largest number of students possible.

“I would like to see such funds as we have used in the most effective way possible to recruit the most outstanding graduate students to Iowa State,” he said.

Hickok said removing the scholarship may prove detrimental to the program.

“It’s very disappointing to [the TAs],” she said. “I hope we don’t lose some of our best people over this.”