Student Employment Titles
UC Davis offers a variety of employment opportunities for students.
Teaching Assistant (TA)
A Teaching Assistant is a full-time registered graduate student, chosen for excellent scholarship and teaching promise, serving an apprenticeship under the active tutelage and supervision of a regular faculty member. Teaching Assistant is not responsible for the instructional content of a course, for selection of student assignments, for planning of examinations, or for determining the term grade for students. 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, including the performance of Teaching Assistants, has been assigned. No student may serve as a Teaching Assistant (TA) in a course in which they are enrolled.
Salary placement for a TA is determined by experience at greater than 25% FTE in a teaching title (TA, or Associate In). Summer Sessions employment does not count toward quarters of experience in determining salary placement.
0-2 quarters experience = Salary Point 1
3-5 quarters experience = Salary Point 2
6+ quarters experience = Salary Point 3
Campus provides partial fee remission of tuition, campus fees, and student services fee for appointments greater than 25% FTE for a given term. This threshold can be met through a combination of TA, Reader and GSR appointments.
Appointments are limited to 50% FTE during an academic quarter. On a case-by-case basis students may work up to a maximum of 75% FTE by exception approved by Graduate Studies. International students cannot work greater than 50% FTE. Students may work more than 50% FTE without exception during Summer Sessions.
TAs are exempt employees. They receive pay monthly. TAs must submit monthly time-sheets. However, they do not report hours worked they only report leave taken.
More information about Teaching Assistant employment including eligibility and current salary scales is available from the UC Davis Graduate Studies website.
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 the responsibilities of leading discussion or laboratory sections. A student may not serve as a Reader in a course in which they are enrolled. Like a TA or GSR, a Reader also must be registered as a full-time student.
Readers are non- exempt (hourly) employees. They receive pay every two weeks. They must submit time sheets and report hours worked. Different hourly salary rates are set annually for graduate and undergraduate readers.
Campus provides partial fee remission of tuition, campus fees, and student services fee for appointments greater than 25% FTE for a given term.
More information about Reader employment including eligibility and current salary scales is available from the UC Davis Graduate Studies website.
Graduate Student Researcher (GSR)
A Graduate Student Researcher is a full-time registered UC Davis graduate student appointed to assist in performing research under the direction of a ladder-rank faculty member or authorized Principal Investigator. Graduate Student Researchers are selected for high achievement and promise as creative scholars; they may collaborate in the publication of research results as determined by supervising faculty members. Students must be registered in the previous spring quarter to be eligible for a summer GSR appointment. Incoming students may begin summer GSR prior to fall enrollment once they have submitted their Statement of Intent to Register.
Minimum salary placement for a GSR is determined by experience at greater than 25% FTE. Summer Sessions employment does count toward quarters of experience in determining salary placement.
0-2 quarters experience = Salary Point 1
3-5 quarters experience = Salary Point 2
6+ quarters experience = Salary Point 3
Departments/Graduate Groups and Programs/PIs have discretion to place GSR at higher salary points than the minimum placement, including placement at Salary Points 4-6. Consideration of equity among other GSRs working in the same lab/project should be considered when placing a GSR at a salary point above the minimum required.
Once a student is placed at a salary point, they cannot be paid at a lower salary point, even if moving to another GSR appointment outside of the department.
GSR experience is determined once per year (end of spring quarter) for the following academic year.
Campus provides partial fee remission of tuition, campus fees, and student services fee for appointments greater than 25% FTE for a given term. This threshold can be met through a combination of TA, Reader and GSR appointments.
GSRs can be appointed for effectively any length of time. Best practice is to appoint for a quarter or in whole-month increments whenever possible. Avoid appointments of less than one month.
GSR appointment percentages must be commensurate with workload assigned. The assigned workload should equate to whole hours per week, using a 40-hour standard workweek. Best practice is to use the following:
50% FTE (40 hours x .50) = 20 hours per week
40% FTE (40 hours x .40) = 16 hours per week
25% FTE (40 hours x .25) = 10 hours per week
10% FTE (40 hours x .10) = 4 hours per week
GSRs are exempt employees. They receive pay monthly. GSRs must submit monthly time-sheets. However, they do not report hours worked they only report leave taken.
More information about Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) employment including eligibility and current salary scales is available from the UC Davis Graduate Studies website.
Student Assistant
Students Assistants are not categorized as academic personnel.
Positions in the Assistant Series can be graduate or undergraduate and are characterized as follows:
(1) the appointment is temporary and may involve irregular working hours;
(2) work schedules are flexible enough to support the academic program of the student while meeting the needs of the department; and
(3) the work ranges from simple, routine and repetitive tasks to complex assignments requiring extensive academic and/or technical training or experience.
Assistant Series positions are designated as casual/restricted and are reserved for registered students and students on
PELP (Planned Educational Leave Program).
The Assistant Series consists of three levels with the distinction between levels based on the relative degree of difficulty
inherent in the manual, clerical, advising, public contact, technical, and/or research-related duties performed. Most
positions fall into the STDT 2-4 levels, with the STDT 4 level reserved for highly responsible positions requiring extensive
training and specialized knowledge or experience.
More information about the student assistant series is available at the UC Davis Human Resources website.