Academic Employment

Types of Academic Employment

  • Graduate Student Researcher (GSR)
  • A Graduate Student Researcher is a student appointed to assist in performing research under the direction of a ladder-rank faculty member or authorized Principal Investigator (PI).
  • Associate In_
  • The title Associate In_  is assigned to a graduate student of excellent scholarship and teaching promise, who is temporarily employed as the instructor of an entire lower division (0-99) course or group of students in a lower division course. Master’s degree or completion of 30 units of graduate work and one year teaching experience, including time served as a TA are required to hold an AI position.
  • Teaching Assistant (TA)
  • A Teaching Assistant is a student serving an apprenticeship under the active tutelage and supervision of a regular faculty member. A Teaching Assistant is responsible for the conduct of recitation, laboratory or quiz sections under the active direction and supervision of a regular member of the faculty to whom final responsibility for the course’s entire instruction has been assigned. No student may serve as a Teaching Assistant in a course in which they are enrolled.
  • Reader
  • The title Reader is given to a graduate or undergraduate student appointed for the ability to render diverse services as a “course assistant” which will normally include the grading of student papers and examinations. A Reader will not be assigned responsibility for leading discussion or laboratory sessions. No student may serve as a Reader in a course in which they are enrolled.
  • Tutor
  • A tutor works with individual students or small groups of students to assist them in their learning. Material covered may be topical in nature or related to a specific course. Tutors may keep regularly scheduled drop-in hours for student consultation and tutoring.

Eligibility

  • Must be full-time enrolled UC Davis graduate student.
  • Must be in good academic standing (requires a GPA of at least 3.0 in academic work, fewer than 12 units of incompletes or no grades; and status within normative time to degree standards). 
  • Student employment is limited to 50% during the academic quarter. On a case-by-case basis, students may work up to a maximum of 75% during the academic quarter. Students may work 100% during the summer.
  • Must provide evidence of employment eligibility (US Citizen, lawful Permanent Resident, eligible Visas status (J1, F1) or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). 
  • Must complete New TA orientation.
  • All graduate students, except those with an undergraduate degree from an institution where English is the sole language of instruction (according to the World Higher Education Database) must demonstrate oral English proficiency before they are appointed to Teaching Assistant or Associate Instructor positions. 
    • Oral proficiency in English must be demonstrated by meeting one or more of the following requirements:
      • Achieving a minimum score of 26 on the speaking subset of the TOEFL iBT
      • Achieving a minimum score of 8 on the speaking subset of the IELTS
      • Achieve a “Pass” on the TOEP
      • Achieving a minimum score of 50 on the SPEAK (the SPEAK is no longer offered on campus)
    • You can see more information about English proficiency requirements here.

These are minimum qualifications for the various student academic employment. Individual departments may have unique needs for their discipline. Each department has their own hiring and application process. You can see more information about student academic employment and appointments here.

Salary and Fee Remission

Students must be appointed to a single title (GSR or ASE) at a minimum of 25% FTE (10 hours per week) to be eligible for the remission benefit associated with the title. 

  • GSR Remission benefit: full remission of tuition and fees and non-resident tuition. 
  • Academic Student Employee (ASE) remission: remission of in state tuition, partial fees. Fees included in partial fee remission include: (1) Student Services Fee, (2) Student Services Health Fee, and (3) premium for the Student Health Insurance Program (SHIP). You can see 2021-2022 fee remissions here.

The Teaching Assistant, Associate In_, Reader and Tutor are part of a bargaining unit and salaries and wages are determined by the contractual agreement between the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) and the University of California as outlined in Article 29, Wages of the BX bargaining agreement. Academic Student Employee salary tables are available here. 

Graduate Student Researchers (GSR) 

There are six salary steps in the GSR title. These steps are defined in the University of California Academic Salary Scales. These tables are maintained by the University of California Office of the President. Salary levels are adjusted by UCOP at the same time and generally in the same percentage as adjustments to other academic salaries, including those of faculty. The GSR academic salary table is available on the University of California website.  

Finding ASE Employment

Learn more on finding Teaching Assistantships here.

Learn more on finding Graduate Student Research positions here.

Tutor positions

The Academic Assistance and Tutoring Center on campus hires between 250-300 tutors per quarter. Tutors receive hourly pay and partial fee remission benefits. Other tutor positions will likely be listed on Handshake.

Visit the AATC website

Associate In_

It is not common that EPM students will be hired as an Associate Instructor. Based on eligibility requirements, EPM students would be eligible in their second year of the program if they have at least one year of teaching experience. 

Reader

Finding Reader positions is similar to finding Teaching Assistant positions. To find a position as a Reader, you should check:

  • EPM Weekly Update 
  • Handshake
  • Inquire with individual faculty 
  • Apply through individual departments