Teaching Assistantships

During the academic year, ASEs may be appointed for a maximum of half-time service (220 hours/quarter).  Registration as a full-time student (12 units) is required, and students must meet academic eligibility requirements for grades, GPA and satisfactory progress.  The duration and extent of such appointments vary by academic unit.

Assistantship offers are made to students by the academic unit following formal admission to graduate study.  Students should contact their departments for further information.

Projected positions for 2021-2022

Academic Requirements

  • Minimum GPA of 3.1 for Teaching Assistants & Teaching Associates
  • Minimum GPA of 3.0 for Readers & Tutors
  • Satisfactory academic progress towards degree objective
    • A letter grade of C, S, or above in all courses completed in the last three quarters
    • No more than two (2) Incomplete grades (except where stricter school policies apply) in the last three quarters

*Please note, cumulative last 3 quarter GPA

Union Representation

All Academic Student Employee (ASE) appointments are covered by a collective bargaining agreement between the University of California and the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW).  Click here to view the entire contract.

Benefits for Graduate Students Employed as ASEs

Graduate students who are appointed as Teaching Assistants and Teaching Associates at 25% time (110 hours of assigned workload) or greater and for graduate students who are appointed as Tutors and Readers for a guaranteed minimum of 110 hours of assigned workload within the respective quarter’s service period are entitled to the following benefits:

  • Partial Fee Remission: Payment of 100% of the Graduate Student Health Insurance Program (GSHIP) premium and 100% of the Student Services Fee and Tuition components of a student’s assessment per quarter. Note that this does not include payment of NonResident Supplemental Tuition, nor does  it include payment of campus-based fees.

            Fees/Tuition Remission Chart for Full-Time Enrolled ASEs

            Fees/Tuition Remission Chart for Part-Time Enrolled ASEs

Teaching Assistant Professional Development Program (TAPDAP)

The Graduate Division is committed to preparing all TAs who teach at UCI. “TAP DAP” is a multi-day series of discipline-specific, interactive workshops designed to provide new TAs with skills and information that will help them begin their instructional careers at UCI. Please visit the TAPDAP website for more information, https://dtei.uci.edu/ta-professional-development-program/

English Proficiency for Teaching Assistantships

All graduate students, except those who have earned an undergraduate degree from an institution at which English was the sole language of instruction according to the World Higher Education Database, are required to demonstrate oral English proficiency before they are appointed to Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate titles. The aforementioned exception will apply only when the undergraduate degree has been earned within five years prior to admission to a graduate program at UCI.

In order to establish eligibility for appointment as a UCI Teaching Assistant (TA) or Teaching Associate, students are required to pass a campus-approved test, or if eligible, by an exception.

For more detailed information on these exams of spoken English proficiency, including the respective passing scores and how to determine if a student is eligible for an exemption, please review the English Proficiency Chart.

To help UCI graduate students strengthen their oral English proficiency, UCI offers a Program in Academic English/ESL.

• Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-based Testing (TOEFL iBT) is administered by ETS in U.S. centers and abroad;

• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is available in over 140 countries including the U.S.;

• Spoken Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK) is available at UCI only after a student is admitted;

•Test of Oral English Proficiency (TOEP) is administered at UCI and is only an option if a student fails to pass the TOEFL iBT, IELTS or SPEAK.

A student earned an undergraduate degree from an institution at which English was the sole language of instruction according to the World Higher Education Database within five years prior to admission to a graduate program at UCI.

Students who have received an undergraduate degree in an institution with English as its sole language of instruction and who are more than five years beyond degree may request an exemption to the policy; such exemption requests will be considered by the Program in Global Languages & Communication.

Students appointed to Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate positions for advanced language courses where the entire course is conducted in a language of instruction other than English are exempt from the English language proficiency requirement in this policy.

Process for requesting an assessment: The graduate program requesting an exemption for a graduate student should email TOEP@uci.edu with the following information: (1) the student’s information (name, UCI ID number, email address) and (2) confirmation that the student has received an undergraduate degree in an institution with English as its sole language of instruction and is more than five years beyond degree. The staff in the Program in Global Languages and Communication will then contact the student directly to set up an appointment for an Oral Screening, which will be assessed by instructors or academic coordinators in the Program in Global Languages and Communication. The outcome of the Oral Screening will be sent to the Graduate Division within 5-7 business days of the assessment.

If the head of a unit or appropriate delegate finds sufficient grounds to believe that any graduate student appointed as a Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate does not have spoken English proficiency adequate for undergraduate instruction, they must require the student to undertake a remediation process, in consultation with the Program in Global Languages & Communication and approved by the student’s academic unit, prior to additional appointment as a Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate. Such a determination should be made on the grounds of inadequate proficiency alone (as indicated in student evaluations, faculty observations, or the like). This remediation process will be required regardless of how the student was initially certified for oral English proficiency (that is, regardless of earning an undergraduate degree at an institution where English was the sole language of instruction or by achieving a passing score on one of the tests noted above).

Process for consulting with the Program in Global Languages and Communication regarding a remediation process for a Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate: The graduate program requesting consultation regarding a remediation process for a Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate who is believed to not have spoken English proficiency adequate for undergraduate instruction should email TOEP@uci.edu with the following information: (1) the student’s information (name, UCI ID number, email address), and (2) the contact information (email) of the delegate from the hiring department who is requesting the consultation and/or overseeing the remediation process for the student. The staff in the Program in Global Languages and Communication will then contact the student to set up an appointment during which the student will meet with an Academic Coordinator in the GLC Program who will review, discuss, and/or assess the student’s oral English proficiency. After meeting with the student, the GLC Program will provide a recommendation for a remediation plan to the delegate from the hiring department and the student’s home department/program.

If the academic unit awards a Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate appointment to an incoming graduate student who fails to be certified in English proficiency, the unit must honor its financial commitment to the student even though the student will not be allowed to serve as a Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate. It is therefore advisable for units that expect incoming graduate students to serve as Teaching Assistants or Teaching Associates in their first term either to require those students be certified prior to awarding Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate appointments, by passing one of the tests noted above, or to make the Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate appointment conditional upon certification and upon meeting all other academic qualifications for employment. Units must provide clear notification of these conditions in their financial support offer letters to incoming students. Units are strongly encouraged to include the following or similar language in all financial support offer letters:

A condition of all fellowships and Teaching Assistant/Associate and Graduate Student Researcher appointments is that the student maintain satisfactory academic progress, be continuously enrolled as a full-time graduate student, and meet all other university criteria (including but not limited to adequate English language competency for Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate appointments) to receive campus-based funding. Continued employment is also contingent upon satisfactory performance as a Teaching Assistant/Associate or Graduate Student Researcher.

Guidance for Hiring Self-Supporting Graduate Professional Degree Students as ASEs

Upon appointing a student in an SSGPDP as an ASE, immediately contact Employment and Fellowships Manager Sonia Lepe in the Graduate Division, at slepe1@uci.edu, or 949-824-8120, so that the appropriate remission is generated and posted to the student’s account.

SSGPDP students should only be considered in the event that it is impossible to identify and appoint 1) a qualified PhD student, not necessarily in the same school or discipline; and 2) a qualified state-supported master’s student, not necessarily in the same school or discipline.

SGPDP students must meet the same academic standards as state-supported graduate students hired as TAs. Students must also meet the same English proficiency requirements as state-supported students in order to be appointed as a TA. Note that waiving the English proficiency requirement for admissions purposes does not exempt a student from meeting the TA requirement for English proficiency.

SSGPDP students serving as TAs must undergo the same TA training as state-supported graduate students and demonstrate that they have a sufficient teaching foundation (i.e., TAPDAP).

Salary and remission should be covered by the hiring unit.

  • If the SSGPDP student will be an ASE for an SSGPDP, then the salary and remission must be paid with SSGPP program revenues or other discretionary funding sources available to the program.
  • If the SSGPDP student will be an ASE in a state-supported program, then the salary may be charged to the regular TA instructional salary funding source; however, remission must be paid from other discretionary funds.
  • In no case shall remission costs be paid by campus TA remission budget allocations.

 

  • The fee remission paid on behalf of an SSGPDP student will be paid as all other remission is paid, i.e., as a fee credit posted to the student’s Student Billing System (SBS) account. Under no circumstances will the funds be provided directly to the student. The amount of fee remission is equal to the amount of remission paid on behalf of a student in a state-supported program for the Tuition and Student Services components of a student’s fee assessment.
  • The remission should be based on in-state remission and should not include NRST.
  • As with a student in a state-supported program, if the student in an SSGPDP is charged and does not waive out of GSHIP, the GSHIP amount will be included in the fee remission. In no case will fee remission exceed the total charges the student pays to the SSGPDP.
  • If the fee remission total exceeds the total program fee(s), the remission will be reduced accordingly.