donteatolive

I have a corgi and now I'm concerned that I might be fat and have short legs and big ears...

So what if all of your students banded together for a gift? Would it be a $x limit per student or total? I recently banded together with my studio (university music school) and got our professor a gift card that was quite expensive but it was from all of us and she was retiring.

It sounds like for most arts and humanities you are as funded as they get, at least at my university (which is a research 1 institution). I don't know how it is for sciences etc, but in my program funding comes with either class teaching or class leading (like playing principal in the orchestra) obligations. I don't know anyone who is just getting money to study unless they applied for special fellowships outside of the school.
Depending on where you are the 20k isn't surprisingly low either. It seems right in line with every other GA I know (including myself). Is your job teaching attached to your admission as a student? When you graduate do you lose the teaching gig? Or are you contracted past graduation?

Did you major in music at UMD? They have such a top notch music program.