Graduate Opportunities

Students may apply on a quarterly basis. Assignments are based on School need and are offered solely at the discretion of the School of Biological Sciences. While an instructor may request a student as an IA, such a request does not guarantee placement, nor does it constitute an offer of apprenticeship or employment. See Eligibility requirements below.

For more information on Summer Session opportunities, please visit the Summer Session IA page.

PhD Students from BMS/Neuro/SIO

The School of Biological Sciences has TA service agreements for doctoral students with the Biomedical Sciences Program, the Department of Neurosciences, and the graduate program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Doctoral students in these programs should contact their graduate coordinator in the spring quarter prior to the academic year in which they would like to assist as a TA to inquire about eligibility and the application cycle. The application for students in these identified programs is typically open in June prior to the academic year.

Graduate Students in Other Programs

Biological Sciences has a large pool of applicants within the School, both master’s and doctoral students, from which IA positions are staffed. The number of applicants far exceeds the number of open positions, so hiring of students from outside the School is rare. Students may apply through the Instructional Assistant Data Management System. See Eligibility requirements and Quarterly Application Timelines below.

All assignments are based on instructional needs and are offered solely at the discretion of the School of Biological Sciences. While an instructor may request a student as an IA, such a request does not guarantee placement, nor does it constitute an offer of apprenticeship or employment.

The teaching program is designed to expose each student to a variety of instructional environments including small group instruction in a laboratory setting as well as leading discussion sections and review sessions for lecture courses. To achieve this, students assist as a Teaching Assistant in a total of three courses during their graduate career, which is equivalent to one year of experience.

A link to the application for the upcoming academic year will be sent via UC San Diego email to all Biological Sciences PhD students who need to complete program requirements as an IA. The application is typically open in June prior to the academic year of the assignment.

Biology PhD students with an active fellowship grant or training grant that may preclude additional employment such as TAship, please email biogradsupport@ucsd.edu.

Biological Sciences has a large pool of applicants within the School, both master's and doctoral students, from which IA positions are staffed. The number of applicants far exceeds the number of open positions, so hiring of IAs from outside the School is rare. At this time, the School of Biological Sciences is not accepting applications from non-students.

Prospective BS/MS students who meet the above graduate eligibility requirements are able to apply on a quarterly basis.

Assignments are based on School need and are offered solely at the discretion of the School of Biological Sciences. While an instructor may request a student as an IA, such a request does not guarantee placement, nor does it constitute an offer of apprenticeship or employment.

Once an application is submitted, a "Held to Interview" pending status will appear on those applications are are pending application into the BS/MS program. This status is an administrative note and no student action is needed.

For more information on Summer Session opportunities, please visit the Summer Session IA page.

Salary

Graduate Students who are assigned as paid TAs can find information about salary and pay rates on the Division of Graduate Education & Postdoctoral Affairs’s (GEPA) website under Salary & Fee Remission.

Tuition Remission

Graduate Students who are assigned as 50% TA are eligible for Tuition Remission. Once an official offer has been accepted, The School of Biological Sciences will submit the Tuition Remission request on the behalf of the student to the Division of Graduate Education & Postdoctoral Affairs’s (GEPA). The School of Biological Sciences does not directly administer remission or fees to a student account.

More information on Tuition Remission can be found at the GEPA Fee Payment webpage.

Questions regarding tuition balances should be sent to GEPA Financial Support.

Note: the Department can only make the Tuition Remission payment request after a student has officially accepted their TA offer in the Instructional Assistant Data Management System (IADMS). As such, students should take prompt action to accept their offer when they receive the notice from IADMS. Delay in accepting the offer before the tuition/fee deadline each quarter can result in a delay in the processing of the Tuition Remission payment, and could result in an assessment of late fees, which the student may be responsible to pay.

Benefits

Graduate Students who are assigned as paid TAs can find information about Benefits on the Division of Graduate Education & Postdoctoral Affairs’s (GEPA) website under Benefits.

Biology PhD students with an active fellowship grant or training grant that may preclude additional employment such as TAship, please email biogradsupport@ucsd.edu.

Actual duties for a particular course may vary and will be defined by the supervising instructor. Typical duties may include:

• Attend lectures
• Lead discussion section(s) or lab section(s)
• Hold office hours
• Assist with development of exams
• With faculty oversight, develop new (written) course material for use in discussion sections/ homework/ exams/quizzes/ review sessions
• Proctor and grade exams
• Meet regularly with the instructor
• Assist with course management
• Mentor undergraduate instructional assistants
• Other applicable duties as assigned by the instructor
• 20 hours per week (average)

Note that IAs are not expected to reply to electronic inquiries from students at all hours or to exceed maximum workload in replying to email. Please note allowable working time (found in the offer email), work with the supervising instructor to budget time for tasks accordingly, and feel free to refer students with extensive questions to office hours and/or section time.

Performance Evaluations and Standards

All Instructional Assistants are evaluated by the instructor of the course and by the students enrolled in the course via online evaluation surveys conducted at the end of the quarter.

Graduate TAs are typically assigned a 50% FTE appointment and commit an average of 20 hours per week to their assignment (220 total hours in the quarter). Most of the hours are accrued during the 10-week quarter and finals week. If required, instructors will inform TAs of the need to assist in the pre-quarter week.

Note that IAs (Graduate and Undergraduate) are not expected to reply to electronic inquiries from students at all hours or to exceed maximum workload in replying to email. Please note allowable working time (found in the offer email), work with the supervising instructor to budget time for tasks accordingly, and feel free to refer students with extensive questions to office hours and/or section time.

Assigned students must complete assigned campus and School level training requirements.

Students assisting for the first time in a lab course must attend a one-time Safety Training for Laboratory Instructional Assistants and complete other online safety training requirements. More information will be sent to assigned TAs.

• A School of Biological Sciences’ team member will contact you by email for instructions on employment paperwork.
• Readers are paid biweekly and must submit timesheets. A School of Biological Sciences’ team member will provide information on pay dates and timesheet submission. For questions, please email biotimekeeping@ucsd.edu.
• Graduate students employed in Teaching Assistant title code 2310 are covered by a collective bargaining agreement between UC San Diego and the ASE/UAW.
• TAs are paid monthly. A School of Biological Sciences’ team member will provide information on pay dates and timesheet submission. For questions, please email biotimekeeping@ucsd.edu.
• Names and addresses of all ASEs are released to the UAW as a condition of employment in title code 2850.
• See the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) website for additional information concerning Academic Student Employment (ASE).

Eligibility

Graduate students must meet the below eligibility:

• Enrolled in a minimum of 12 units (upper-division and/or graduate level) at UC San Diego during the quarter of assignment.
• Prior completion of the same or equivalent course of the UGIA assignment. Instructor may require completion of certain courses with stipulated grades (often a grade of A or B expected). See also,Alternative Qualifying Courses
• A cumulative 3.00 UC GPA at the time of application and during the quarter of assignment.
• Registered UC San Diego graduate student with fees paid in the quarter of assignment.

Employment Paperwork

Hiring must be complete prior to the start of the quarter, including verification of original identification documents. IAs who need to complete hiring paperwork will be contacted via @ucsd email. Some students may already be active in the UCPath Payroll system. In such cases, no additional paperwork is required. Please watch your @ucsd email for information on logging into UCPath (UCSD Payroll system), enrolling in direct deposit, and using the timekeeping system.

TAs are paid on a monthly schedule and do not report time via timesheet. See Payroll Calendars for more information on the payroll schedule

For questions, please email biotimekeeping@ucsd.edu.

Give special attention to the average number of hours per week that the assignment will entail. This information is listed in the original offer email and on the appointment notification. Increasing the maximum number of hours is not an option! TAs who believe they may exceed the maximum number of hours of assignment must consult with the supervising instructor to ensure that workload remains within the guidelines. Early communication with the supervisor, prior to exceeding workload maximums, is essential.

Application Status Listed as "Held to Interview"

Prospective students who have applied to the BS/MS program and submitted a TA application will have an IADMS application status as "Held to Interview" until decision of their BS/MS program application is finalized. No student action is needed.

Students must continue to meet all TA graduate eligibility requirements to be considered for a position.

Assignments are based on School need and are offered solely at the discretion of the School of Biological Sciences. While an instructor may request a student as an IA, such a request does not guarantee placement, nor does it constitute an offer of apprenticeship or employment.

IA Resources

The IA Resource page includes information about office hours, make-up sections, review sessions, technology, etc.

Dr. Stanley Lo is the Faculty Advisor for Instructional Assistants. The Faculty Advisor is a point of initial contact for inquiries related to professional development as an IA, science of teaching, classroom effectiveness, or other questions and concerns related to ethics, behavior, or academic integrity.

Contacting the Supervising Instructor

IAs may or may not receive direction from the supervising instructor prior to the start of the quarter. If the instructor does not reach out prior to the quarter, IAs should feel free to contact the supervising instructor via email, or to simply attend the first class meeting. Specific discussion section assignments are coordinated directly with the supervising instructor.

TA Partial Fee Remission

TA Fee Remission is requested by the student's home department for students in qualifying employment. No action is required by students.